Ubuntu is one of the most popular in recent years. I like Ubuntu over other distributions because of its near-constant release date, says 6 months. However, 6 months seem to be too short for enterprise applications. They don't want to upgrade OS every 6 months or so. That is a reason why Dapper Drake must be long term support. However, there is another important reason between Dapper, Edgy and later release including the latest Feisty.

Most enterprise applications or commercial applications do not upgrade its code or low-level library or programming technique for so long. As a result, they may not be compatible with later kernel, e.g. 2.6.x. The trick that used in legacy applications is to force the kernel to run in compatible mode by specifying environment LD_ASSUME_KERNEL. For example, an application must be executed under Linux 2.4.1.

export LD_ASSUME_KERNEL=2.4.1
./legacy_app

Unfortunately, recent linux kernels have dropped this technique since the kernel changed too much. The latest kernel that supports LD_ASSUME_KERNEL=2.4.1 is the one in Dapper. That's why Dapper is a must to have. For example, you need Dapper to run MaxDB.

Tags: ubuntu, linux, dapper, maxdb