The only scary part about Debian, IMHO, is installation. Which isn't that bad -- it's no worse than most distros were a few years ago. Mostly X and other hardware can be a pain, and if it's a server maybe that doesn't even matter. And if you go with a commercial host, they might install it for you.

After installation I think Debian is quite easy, and generally harder to mess up compared to other distros.

I love debian. I run stable (woody) on my desktop and testing (sarge) on my laptop. If I were to install a new version I would try the new Debian CD Installer (http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/). I used it for my laptop and it worked quite well (and that was beta-3, now it's up to release candidate 1). I also like the fact that security updates are as easy as

apt-get update

apt-get upgrade

Chris

Debian is my distro of choice, as long as you don't want any of that nasty Java nonsense. It *will* work with the J word, it's just rather hard. If you stick to the LAMP model then it will work like a charm. Stick to the testing distribution for stable software (or stable if Sid has been released ...)

The installer isn't a problem. Burn a Knoppix CD, stick it in the drive and away you go. If it doesn't auto detect all of your hardware then get another box ;-) Once you can boot and run from the live CD it is really rather easy to then change to a hard drive installation. Instructions are on the Knoppix web site.

I've used Red Hat and Gentoo extensively. Gentoo was way better once it was up and running but waiting for the source to compile initially is too much of a headache for a commercial environment. I'm inclined to use Debian for my next Linux project at home and from what I've heard and read I don't think you'll go wrong with it.

Especially being the hairy-chested, command-line man that you are!

If you're looking at having blogs (plural), you might want to look beyond WordPress which is a single-blog system.

b2evolution is derived from the same base (b2/cafelog) as WordPress, but is much more full-featured. Which unfortunately means it takes a bit more thought to get set up. But it's probably worth it in the long run.

Err, Simon, you wan't to install WordPress 1.2.1 as soon as it's released;

http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2004/09/30/security_holes_in_wordpress_blogging_tool.html

I had similar problems with IMHO installations. I was unable to configure it and finally ended up with pbp message board.

cxJ00x comment3 ,

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The older autos had a particular visual appeal as well as a great deal more style I actually like the old autos much better.