Linux or Windows

[torsten_e]

Hey all,

i would like to test Alfresco. Which operating system did you recommend, Windows oder Linux

[saravanan]

I would recommend to try alfresco in Ubuntu 7.10 or Debian. There will be some problems in Linux for starting CIFS, Openoffice, smb , but you have solution for them in the wiki.
http://wiki.alfresco.com/wiki/Running_OpenOffice_From_Terminal
http://wiki.alfresco.com/wiki/CIFS_linux
http://wiki.alfresco.com/wiki/Changing_Bind_Addresses_and_Ports_for_Samba_and_FTP

[veronika_zenz]

Can you explain why you would recommend using Linux?

Are there any operating-system -dependent features in alfresco?
e.g. Is there any difference in the handling of microsoft office files depending on the operating system on that alfresco is installed?

cheers, veronika

[theorbix]

As far as I know there are no functional differences between the Linux and Windows versions of Alfresco.

The product has the very same features on both platforms.

[mikeh]

That's correct - in fact the core engineering team is split roughly 50/50 between Windows and OS X, so we're pretty sure there's no differences!  :wink:

Mike

[norgan]

Depending on what you have for systems available, I would recommend as follows :

1) For Install on a VIrtual Maschine:
Use linux, since it gets along with less ressources than a windows install in the vm AND mysql is usually installed automatically.
For a Open Suse Linux installation, do the following:
a create vm with 768 MB ram, 10 GB Harddrive, split in 2gb chungs, fixed size
b install standard Opensuse, ensure following packages are included :
** Gnome or KDE,
** mysql
** OpenOffice 2.x  (not 3.0, if possible !)
** Java 1.5.0_15 (not 1.6 !)
** freetype (all available packages) (optional, if you want to have flash-preview in share application)
** freetype2 (all available packages)  (optional, if you want to have flash-preview in share application)
** jpeg 6b (optional, if you want to have flash-preview in share application)
** giflib  (all available packages)  (optional, if you want to have flash-preview in share application)
c install "Alfresco Full Linux Setup" into /opt/Alfresco
d check Paths to java and alfresco in /opt/Alfresco/alfresco.sh, apply_amps.sh
e change DBMS settings for mysql (/opt/Alfresco/tomcat/shared/classes/alfresco/extensions/custom-repository.properties & custom-hibernate-something)
f call /opt/Alfresco/apply_amps.sh
g call /opt/Alfresco/alf_start.sh

done

2) On an existing windows mashine
The Installer under windows is pretty exhaustive.
for a short tryout just install the fullinstall for Windows
for a longer tryout, install mysql first and use mysql as DBMS

Why choose Windows ? The installation process is easier for a quick testinstall. Just start the exe and be done with it.

Why choose Linux on a VM ? Configuration Management and Backup/restore is much easier. The VM can be easylie frozen (snapshot), copied, played around with in varying settings / tests / whatever and backuped in the whole. So you can go back to earlier states of your system by just starting an older version of the VM. And if you are tired of having it on your computer, just move it to some other location, server or other.

[boden]

I recommend Linux as I've had more trouble with Alfresco on Windows… for instance CIFS starts right up on Linux, but is wonky on Windows if file sharing is already enabled. 

Any old machine you've got laying around with 768-1GB of memory will work for evaluation.  Toss Ubuntu Server on there and if you have even rudimentary command line skills with Linux you can be up and running Alfresco in just a few minutes.  I prefer this route because a server OS is much more lightweight and you can throw most of the system memory at Alfresco, which seems to like more than the default 512MB.  Plus with a fresh install of a small server OS there is less chance of the host machine's configuration interfering with Alfresco.

If you're not too familiar with Linux, however, the Alfresco installer for Windows works very well, and all things considered Alfresco should behave the same on either system.