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Which server OS do you prefer?
Hi guys,
I’m curious about your standard workflow when you first receive a new bare‑metal or virtual server.
Reinstallation method
Do you typically use a low‑level tool or script—such as add‑based image writer—to completely wipe and reinstall the OS? If so, what does your automation look like (e.g., custom Bash scripts, Ansible playbooks, PXE boot setups)?Operating system preference
Which server OS do you prefer out of the box, and why? For example:
- Ubuntu Server (e.g., LTS releases)
- CentOS / Rocky Linux / AlmaLinux
- Debian
- Fedora Server
- Windows Server
- Others (please specify)
Which server OS do you prefer?
- Which server OS do you prefer？164 votes
- CentOS5.49%
- Debian65.24%
- Windows3.66%
- Ubuntu21.34%
- Others4.27%
- Do you typically use a low‑level tool or script—such as a `dd`‑based image writer—to completely wipe164 votes
- yes20.73%
- no79.27%
Comments
Ubuntu | No
At the end of the day, depends on use case.
i love almalinux because i can larp as a 'professional enterprise linux sysadmin™'
it's true
The only sensible option is Debian for general use and Alpine for small containers and less than 1gb ram servers
I use Fedora on most of my servers. Or a flavour of RHEL if i need to build packages for RHEL.
Debian 12.
Saw an article about Xubuntu the other day, reviews?
It's just Ubuntu but way more lightweight
I use Debian for servers and Ubuntu for desktops.
OS/2 warp 4
Debian and Alpine...
I prefer AlmaLinux because it’s stable, secure, and works well for web hosting. It’s fully compatible with control panels like cPanel, DirectAdmin, and Webuzo.

The penguin-one
started from CentOS, after they stopped switched to debian and never looked back.
PVE
it used to be Ubuntu but now it's Debian on servers
slander
Edit: whole business runs almalinux.
Debian thx!
I understand that Debian's smaller size and reduced bloat are appealing and more stable, but I find the package manager somewhat confusing and prefer to avoid compiling software from source. Therefore, I use Ubuntu.
AlmaLinux of course.
Ubuntu/Debian
be nice to me or I’m making more ads for ExtraVM
debian
Been using Ubuntu on servers for so long that I would need a good reason to switch.
Depends on the use case of course, but most often Debian/Ubuntu or some BSD. Sometimes RHEL or a derivate due to licensing or support.
Installation is most often from a plain iso, but I have a bunch of shellscripts that automates some common tasks that I simply paste into console or fetch via scp. Again, depends a lot of the use case.
Debian or NixOS
Ubuntu
Makes sense only for bare-metal servers, but if supported (trim capability), I always prefer blkdiscard. For very sensitive details you should've had it encrypted at rest (LUKS for FDE or application-specific encryption for partial encryption) and not care about wiping at all.
Depending on the mood, it's either Debian or Ubuntu
Usually the debian image provider by the host, when I need windows I'll use a reinstallation script to get windows running in my native language
Roughly 90% of my systems are on Debian, the remainder 10% AlmaLinux. I am interested in learning more about FreeBSD now.
I've attempted to install Ubuntu Server only once onto a production server some 5 months ago - because of the long support promised and live patching... - and that has gone horribly wrong: Ubuntu managed to break a package internally (!) at the networking level; created stupid difficulties on bridging the v4 connectivity to NAT64 on some Debian installs; and ultimately caused an entire server to grind to a halt at the disk level.
Even Debian Unstable is better than Ubuntu. Canonical is seriously getting their foot wrong.
Never, never again. Been with Debian at that server since that and it's absolute peace.