Best os for running bukkit.

I recently found an old computer and i decided to run a minecraft server on it. I was wondering what the best os would be.

Specs:
Intel Pentium D Processor 820
(2M Cache, 2.80 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)

4G of ram
2 Tb HDD

imo CentOS but pretty much any non-windows OS

mkay thanks

CentOS or Linux

CentOS IS Linux.

I'd say CentOS or Debian

Anything Linux

Any Linux distro you like, personally I prefer CentOS.

Linux CentOS

Debian has recently become much more popular, so I'd recommend that.
But as said, CentOS is also really good.

FreeBSD isn't too shabby.

*chuckles*

*giggles*

MineOS is working on a new release, looks promising

HEY, what you giggling about

Centos !

Correct

I use ubuntu server, works fine.

ubuntu, centos and and debian are all basically the same thing so don't get too caught up on which variant you use.

ubuntu makes me sad i like to be able to log in as the system root user BY DEFAULT but maybe thats just me

You can do that :s Or if you mean the desktop version ? Why would you need to use root for browsing the web

lol i guess its just a personal thing, i like to know im in control

I personally prefer Debian or Ubuntu Server, but any Linux flavour works fine.

I've been using CentOS and it is working very well. Thank for all the information.

CentOS runs the best for me, as i've tried it on Windows Server, XP, and CentOS, and short periods of Debian.

Can we stop bumping this?

Most, if not all Linux distros will perform the same! I have tried Debian, CentOS and Ubuntu......all perform the same. It all comes down to what kind of package management you want.

Apt? -- Debian/Ubuntu
Yum? -- CentOS

Because you said something silly of course.

CentOS or Debian Squeeze without desktop environment

Use MS-DOS.

Kidding. I use Slackware. I'd recommend either Slackware or CentOS since I've used both (Slack on my own machine, CentOS on a VPS I used for a while) and both seem equally capable.

I tried Windows Server 2008 and it was a disaster, even though someone ON HERE said it was a good choice after I mentioned Windows 7 being horrible for server hosting. Whoever that was: you were wrong. CPU hog, disk hog, and I had to restart server once a day because of memory leaks even though I only allocated half my RAM to Bukkit.

Windows uses a lot of ram to begin with, doesn't it?

how about this though guys:

Windows XP (stripped down to bare bones)
2GB Ram
80GB Hard Drive
10mbps upload speed
19 plugins
21 player slots
24/7 Dedicated Home Server

and guess what? NO LAG! so why do you guys say windows sucks? admittedly windows vista and 7 both require a hell of a lot of ram than it should do but windows xp is beast for server hosting! it uses less than 64mb of ram in itself and may i ask, how much does cent os use?

I don't think anyone said Windows sucks, and your logic is t3h flawed.

You are missing (at least) two key points.

First, you are using a desktop operating system that is not optimized for server applications. (Also it's XP, a now dated OS that probably wont take full advantage of certain advances in computing/hardware in the last decade) Even if you tune the crap out of it and manage to get good performance, a server OS would have given that to you out of the box.

Second, you are using an OS with a desktop environment, which for a Minecraft server is nearly a complete waste of resources and only useful in cases where the server admin is not proficient in using a command line interface.

Sure, you have no lag with only 21 players (really not that many), because you have a great connection and a decent machine.

Whatever the case, you'll find you have probably even (noticeable or not) less lag with a true server OS.

Linux tends to be great for this sort of thing, because it's open source (aka not an illegal copy, which odds are your XP box is ), and the support communities are excellent. That's why it's so highly recommended.

You can rig up a ride-on lawn mower to keep up with traffic, but I'd still rather be driving a car .

I suggest CentOS.

Linux from scratch install using compile time flags specifically for your cpu

Unix based system will always be better than Windows because it has better ram optimalization. On Windows you use most of resources all the time and big cleanup is done when you shutdown or restart system. Unix based system are designed to work for days/weeks.
My server is running on CentOS for about 2 weeks without restarts. They are mostly needed to make some major changes.