Hi silent11.

I would have to recommend Mandrake or Red Hat. Both distributions are widely supported and the install process is quite easy. If you are a 'newbie' to non-windows operating systems, you'll probably find the improvements most welcome.

Both ship with modern configurations ( perl, MySql, ssh, Postgresql, samba, etc. ) and if you would like something additional, there is always the RPM 'route' ( in addition to the customary tar balls ). Virtually any *nix or *bsd based machine will be able to handle your needs. Perl was 'spawned' ( bad pun. Sorry ) on a *nix machine and it still enjoys a richer existence there.

My friend Eric moved from Red Hat to Mandrake and has never regretted it. The 'power pack' version of Mandrake is so full of useful apps., one feels almost guilty when they see all they have at their disposal.

I have also heard good things about SUSE and Debian. *BSD is an excellent op.sys. but ( from what I've heard ), it's geared toward the experienced user ( this could be incorrect as I haven't installed it - yet ).

Either way, you should investigate several distros to find the one(s) you feel most comfortable with. In the long run, I think you'll be glad you did.

Hope this helps,
-Katie