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This can be (and has been) argued to death.
Each BSD variant and GNU/Linux distro has their strengths and weaknesses. Some are faster (source based distros with kernels and apps compiled on / for that machine such as Gentoo). Some are more secure by default (say OpenBSD), others still are (arguably) easier to maintain and administer.
Use what you are comfortable / familiar with. If you don't know what you are doing, let your host run with what they support and are comfortable with.
With today's cheaper hardware costs, speed though measurable, is almost a non-issue. So while most Linuces may handle loads of MySQL calls better than FreeBSD (though initial benchmarks in the upcoming version 7 release look to bring a change to this) it shouldn't be the sole determining factor. Likewise, security - arguably better on a stock FreeBSD box than a stock Linux box, is also a non-issue if (and they sure as hell better) your techs / admins know what they are doing.
Like has been said, there are many other variables - apache, php and mysql configs for starters, that come in to play with regards to both performance and security.
I like minimalism and stability, so I'm personally more comfortable on say a FreeBSD or Slackware box than I am on a Fedora or Debian based box. Others feel the opposite.
Hosts also have to consider the end user - bloated and pre-compiled fancy schmanzy control panels are not always available for all distros.
Whatever one chooses is not necessarily right nor wrong, just right (or wrong :P ) for them. The fact that there are choices is the beautiful thing.
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