o.k., Here' s nity grity details:
There are three types of oak; red, white, and live.
I will excllude live oak, as it's not readily available.
The red oak "group" consists of trees such as northern red oak, water oak, black oak, willow oak, southern red oak, and a few others.
The white oak group includes white oak, swamp oak, post oak, bur oak and a few others.
Both white and red oak have large pores in the wood, however, white oak's pores are filled with a chemical called tyslosis - which makes the wood impervious to water. This is why whiskey barrels, old war ships, and other items were made of white oak, not red. Red oak's pores remain open and will soak up water if a piece is stood up in water (kind of like a straw does).
It all boils down to white oak being much better lasting outdoors. Red oak will not last, plain and simple. Before I'd buy any oak, I'd ask and see what type it is. Red oak has it's uses; I use it all the time with woodworking, but it is not the same as white
By the way, "rough" will not help either one. You can plane white own down to being a beautiful board, and it will still last outdoors. The rough vs. surfaced board is an old wives tale. Rough is cheaper, though!