I have run Linux servers for years both personally and professionally. GNU / Linux is the same core code in all Linux distros, yet different distros cater to various needs better than others. Fedora would not be my first choice in a server capacity. It would be somewhere down the bottom of the list for this purpose so, I wouldn't use it. I agree that Gentoo takes too much time and effort in maintaining the system to be effective for server use. If you find that you have to update say, 20 packages, your system is compiling software for hours. Not a good thing when it's supposed to be pumping out email, churning databases, or serving web pages.

If you have good knowledge of Linux, Slackware is what I would recommend. It's not flashy (I don't run X on servers - BTW) on the command line, but it's powerful and effective. Even less maintenence work? A Debian based system works very well. Keep it lean on software, let the Debian / Ubuntu / Other maintainers do the compiling for you, and apt-get / aptitude is easy enough.

I am currently running Ubuntu 6.06 LTS as my web server. I have been for over a year now and have been very happy with the results. I also have a few Xubuntu 6.06 servers running for a few clients. I choose Xubuntu (Ubuntu with the lighter-duty Xfce desktop) because the client feels better seeing a GUI on the server, though they NEVER have to use it! Gotta love Linux.

Anyway, I don't know specifically what to tell you on a Fedora server but I'm sure it's not too tough to figure out. Good luck to you, whatever you decide.