Debian

Debian GNU/Linux is a free operating system with a focus on stability. It's based on a sophisticated package management system that lets you choose from three releases of varying stability. The software packages included in the stable release have been tested thoroughly and are ideal for a server environment, whereas testing and unstable releases have more recent versions of software which usually contain some bugs. Ironically, Debian's unstable release is often more stable than many other distributions' final releases.

Installation Guides

Debian 3.1 + Zoneminder 1.22.x Installation Guide (ZM from source - without ffmpeg) using stable packages

Debian + ZM Installation Guide (using a debian ZM package requiring unstable ffmpeg/libavcodec2/liblame0)

Installation Notes

/etc/init.d/zm script - slightly modified from the original to correctly echo output on debian

http://www.zoneminder.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5391

http://www.zoneminder.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6215

http://www.zoneminder.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5892

./configure --with-mysql=/usr

--with-webdir=/var/www/zm

--with-cgidir=/var/www/cgi-bin --sysconfdir=/etc

--with-ffmpeg=/usr/local

--with-webuser=www-data

--with-webgroup=www-data CPPFLAGS="-I /usr/local/ssl/include -I /usr/local/lib"

Additional Notes

http://www.zoneminder.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6261