[App_rpt] distro preference?

[David Powell-Williams]

Eric:

My sense is that most main-line distros will support Asterisk and app_rpt.
With the caveat that distro selection is also a somewhat personal choice:

I have compiled Asterisk and the app_rpt, usbradio suite of programs
successfully on Debian (Etch).  I have found little value in an X windowing
system with these programs, although I recognize that many GUI add-ons exist
for Asterisk. It's just that they don't seem relevant in the context of
radio linking.

The nice things about Debian are: the apt package manager and the guarantee
that security bug fixes will the only changes to the stable distribution. My
experience with apt has been much more satisfying than with rpm/yum.

Another advantage is that Debian adheres to the Linux File System (LFS)
layout whereas Red Hat derivatives have some peculiarities.  

If you are dedicating a PC to Asterisk and radio linking, it seems like
unnecessary overhead to use distros such as Ubuntu/Kubuntu/SuSe which
primarily target the desktop user.  

Finally, and I don't want to raise any hackles here, the RH derivatives have
had a rather chequered support history over the past few years. RH has gone
primarily into the commercial market, Fedora has come and mostly gone,
leaving CentOS as the best RH derivative choice presently.  

HTH & 73,

Dave
VE7MQ.