I know this may be a stupid place to ask, but I have to ask. I'm looking for a new Linux distro to use and support. I've been a loyal purchaser of SuSE Linux Pro for the last 3 years. I've paid my $90 loyally, in part because I wanted money to actually go to someone working on OSS, but also because I thought it was a good bargain, to get a quality, tested distro for that cost.
The problem is that lately SuSE is sliding down the path towards being considered Fedora-like by Novell. So when I install SuSE I don't know if I'm going to get security updates next week or the week after. My $90 may have just gone to be a 6-month or 1-year beta tester. I need more stability than that.
So I'm considering CentOS based on some articles I've read lately, as my solution. What I'm looking for is a good solid distro that COULD do some multi-media if I go hunt down the RPMs or if there's a YUM repository (I'm familiar with Fedora), but mostly a solid distro where I can do Java work daily and where the distro is memory efficient, solid and stable. And also where if I decide to run it for a year or more I won't be forced to upgrade. Now I believe CentOS promises all of these. My concerns, in terms of it being a safe bet are...
#1 - Is there any reason to fear Red Hat bringing the hammer down and thus ruining the party? I'd love to see an FAQ or something to the effect that legally there's no way for Red Hat to block what CentOS is doing.
#2 - Is the community strong? I'm new to the community and when I look on distrowatch it's way down the list. But is this accurate or is CentOS picking up steam? I get the feeling it's picking up steam. The reason this is important is because I'd hate to pick it only to watch it wither and have to go distro-hopping again. Once again, looking for stability.
Any responses that can help me decide are appreciated. Thanks.
Preston