Commercial Distributions

You may find that some of the larger applications such as DB2, Oracle, SAP and suchlike are certified against specific Commercial Linux Distributions. This is done mainly for support reasons as these proprietary packages have different requirements than most Open Source applications.

One requirement that larger businesses have is a longer release cycle than is usually expected within the Open Source community. One of the key capabilities of the Open Source world is the ability to react quickly when resolving problems or adding new features and functions to applications. In the business world where upgrade cycles can sometimes be measured in years rather than days this flexibility can be a hindrance.

There are a couple of Linux Distributions that cater for the longer upgrade and maintenance cycles favoured by larger businesses. These Distributions generally come with a defined support structure from the vendor and can range from telephone support during business hours at the entry level through to full 24x7 online support at the high end.

Two of the main commercial distributions are (complete with the marketing info cut & paste from their websites...):

RedHat Enterprise Linux

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is the leading platform for open source computing. It is sold by subscription, delivers continuous value and is certified by top enterprise hardware and software vendors. From the desktop to the datacenter, Enterprise Linux couples the innovation of open source technology and the stability of a true enterprise-class platform. The Red Hat Enterprise Linux product lifecycle provides seven years of support for every release. New versions are introduced on a predictable 18-month schedule. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4—released in February 2005—is the latest release.

SuSE Linux Enterprise Server

If you are looking for a rock-solid, fully supported operating system that you can trust with even your most critical applications, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server is the one for you. Put this in your data center, and find out what "uptime" is all about. Unlike Linux for hobbyists, hackers, or home users, this is an enterprise-class Linux server. It's a Linux server you can count on, knowing it's been through months of regression testing, test cases with applications like Oracle and SAP, and hardware tests on all the major processor architectures. All with the sole purpose of giving you a Linux server of the utmost stability and reliability, that Novell is proud to stand behind. SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 9 is designed top to bottom for mission-critical use and minimal downtime. If that's what you're looking for, it's time to take a good look at SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.

As always with Open Source, you are free to make up your own mind about the validity and value of such claims.