I am looking at using either Debian or CentOS for a production server and I've heard mixed reviews of each one.
I've heard CentOS performs better under load, however I am aware that Debian has a much larger package repository.
Personally, I am partial to Debian since I am less familiar with Red Hat distros, but wanted to reach out on Server Fault to see which I really should be using.
In the end, you're the one that has to secure it. As such, the one you know how to secure properly is the best choice.
I'm a Debian man, so the below may be slightly biased towards Debian.
They'll both perform the same and when you compare CentOS + EPEL with Debian + Backports, the package repositories are about as diverse as each other.
Debian has a slightly shorter release cycle, so you'll get newer packages more often. It's really down to your personal choice. If you're more comfortable with Debian, then go with Debian.
