[ajug-members] CentOS or FreeBSD for Tomcat on production ?

[Sid Womac]

Robert Gash wrote:
> I think the crucial issue with FreeBSD and Java is the absence of an
> official Sun port of the JVM.  Not only does this complicate reporting
> bugs/issues that you may encounter, but it also means a much longer delay
> for patches or new releases.  For example, the newest FreeBSD JDK 
> release is
> only 1.5.0, whereas you have much greater choice with Linux (Sun, IBM,
> JRockit).

I can vouch for JDK pains on FreeBSD.  Have had a dozen or so BSD 
machines in a variety of environments, and JDK support is always an 
issue.  There is the "native" JDK port for BSD, but the more common and, 
frankly, stable route is enabling Linux compatibility, installing the 
Linux JDK, and applying the necessary patches.  The Linux JDK has always 
been more up to date than whatever has been ported native to BSD.

Apache and Tomcat...  mod_jk on FreeBSD can very finicky.  Sometimes, 
you just cannot get it to compile.  Further, it can be hit or miss with 
which versions of Apache, Tomcat, and the mod_jk connector will work 
together.  It's something of an Easter egg hunt to mix and match 
versions trying to find one that will work.

Another potential point of pain is if the machine is on a restrictive 
network with inbound / outbound port filtering (not just proxies for 80, 
etc).  The BSD port system is pretty neat, but 'cvsup' is virtual 
unusable on a restrictive network, as it requires non-standard outbound 
port access.

However, I still like BSD immensely.  Security is great (OK, not as good 
as OpenBSD) and was not an afterthought in the OS design.  All in all, I 
find it fairly elegant from an OS level.

But...  I probably wouldn't choose it for production Tomcat / App server 
type functionality, especially if there might be bleeding edge 
capabilities required (ie  the latest JDK or nifty third party modules). 
  Unless, of course, you like rolling your own at times.

cheers
Sid