In my earlier post I have instructions for installing GemStone/S on a Slicehost virtual private server. In that example, I took the default Linux distribution of Ubuntu 8.04.1 LTS (hardy). People often ask if GemStone/S requires a particular distribution. The answer is “No.” Instead, GemStone identifies which distribution is tested (SuSE Linux ES 10), and which libraries are assumed (kernel version 2.6.16.27-0.9-smp and glibc 2.4-31.5). Because Linux is free and open source, there are a wide variety of variations.

In fact, the discussion of Linux Distributions is sufficiently complex that it has its own page on Wikipedia. As long as a distribution includes the required libraries, it should support GemStone/S. The variations are in how the system is managed and how the packages are installed. If you have a Linux Distro that you like, then presumably you know how to use it. If you don’t have much experience (and I’m in that camp), then it might be better to use something known to work (and for which there are good resources to help). In my Slicehost example, I took the default and found that there were excellent instructions on how to set up the server.

If you use another distribution, feel free to post your experience in the comments.