The initial release of RedHat 7.0 included several 
   'pre'-release versions of gnu software, namely 
   gclib 2.2pre and gcc 3.0pre. Looking at their website, 
   it appears as if they have gone back to glibc 2.192 
   and gcc 2.96. This was a dumb move on their part, 
   and I suspect that it won't happen again. However, 
   there may be issues with all of the vendors when 
   gcc 3.0 is final, as it is a major rework. RedHat has 
   the largest installed base, and therefore may be 
   preferable as a target OS. My guess would be that 
   if our products are to be supported on a particular 
   flavor of Linux, I suspect that it would be RedHat.
   
   Debian is probably the most comprehensive Linux. It 
   pre-dates RedHat by nearly 2 years. I never used it, 
   but have heard good things about it as a server.
   
   Caldera OpenLinux is also a mature release. It also 
   has released something called eDesktop, which is a 
   toolset similar to Mandrake's. It's desktop version 
   is targeted for Windows users, so from a client 
   standpoint, this may be a good choice. I believe it 
   is the only version that specifically supports AMD 
   processors.
   
   Mandrake has some very nice admin tools and an easy 
   setup, but I have also heard that some of these tools 
   are buggy. Mandrake has a low installed base, as well.
   
   Suse (soo-sah) is a German distribution that is widely 
   supported, and I have considered buying the PPC 
   version for myself (I have RedHat 7 and Mandrake 7.1). 
   I believe it supports more processors than any of the 
   others and has excellent reviews.

   The Geek's Review (based on a workstation target):
Brand            Comments                                   Score
===============|===========================================|======
Caldera    2.4 | Good Workstation features, stable release | 8+
Suse       7.x | Largest European base, supports PPC,Alpha | 8+
RedHat     7.x | Largest installed base, frequent patches  | 8
Debian     2.2 | Very comprehensive, stable release        | 8
Mandrake   7.x | Nice toolsets, low installed base         | 6
Slackware  7.x | Geeks Choice, but poor hardware support   | 5
TurboLinux 6.x | Don't really know enough about it         | ?

   As an endnote, the support of the manufacturers should 
   probably be a major consideration in any decision. IBM, 
   Compaq, Dell, and Toshiba all support RedHat. However, 
   I believe only IBM is supporting it on Workstations 
   (so far). IBM supports RedHat, Caldera, Suse, and 
   TurboLinux. Compaq supports RedHat, Suse, and Turbo-
   Linux. Toshiba and Dell only support RedHat.