[Koha] Support status on CentOS or RedHat

[Mark Tompsett]

Greetings,

The largest problem with running under a non-Debian-based distribution of 
Linux, such as RedHat variants, is support. The first headache you will 
encounter is installing the required libraries. Last I checked, it was 
around 18 or so of them require installation magic beyond a default 
installation on CentOS and/or Fedora. The second headache you will encounter 
is when you hit a problem, you may discover it is because of your non-Debian 
OS, because they did it differently that what the coders of Koha encountered 
using Debian-based OSes. Additionally, you may find only a few of people who 
use RedHat to run it, and they may or may not respond in a timely fashion to 
your problems.

Debian, in particular, and Debian-based variations (Ubuntu is another 
popular one) are your best bet for finding support, and having a less 
painful installation. So is RedHat discouraged? Yes, why would we encourage 
headaches which we generally don't have the time to solve, because we mostly 
use Debian-based OSes? However, we believe in freedom, and if you wish to 
take on the mantle of pain, feel free. More power to you. :)

For a more painful experience port it to run natively in Windows. ;)

GPML,
Mark Tompsett

P.S. I did actually attempt the Windows, but gave up because the pain was 
worse than CentOS and Fedora. I only attempted them to see if it could be 
done, and yes, I was successful eventually. I don't recommend trying, unless 
you are seasoned Linux administrator.