ok I'm planning to set up a server in a month or so. it's going to be a web, ftp, VNC server and probably have a few other things ie. Mail, maybe new or time... but I'm curious as to know which Linux Distribution is good for my needs? I want it to be relatively easy to set up. I'm mostly likely going to use a Dual Celeron system with the BP6, IBM 13 GB HD, 256 MB RAM, 3dlabs oxygen VX1 video card, 3COm ISA NIC...

In terms of compatibility which Linux Distro would be best for me to use? I want good network performance also. I'm also looking at other alternatives so if you have suggestions please let me know. I don't want to go the easy way either like Mandrake or Redhat. I'd like it to be a learning experience but not one where I'm pulling my hair out and choking someone....

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SystemLogic.net - Editor

2 Pentium III 1 Ghz 2 Alpha HeatSinks with 38 CFM Delta Fan | Abit VP6 | 512 MB PC-166 | Antec SX1030B with 4 High Output 80mm Sunon Fans | 2 30 GB IBm 75 Drives in RAID 0 | Plextor PlexWriter 16/10/40A | Mitsumi 40x CD-ROM | Generic 3.5" Floppy Drive | VisionTek Geforce 2 GTS 32 MB | Sound Blaster Live! Value | 3com NIC | Diamond Supra Modem | 19" Sony Monitor | Klipsch Promedia V.2-400 Speakers | PcMods.com Sound Sensitive Blue

"No more yankie my wankie. The Donger need food!"

More people are killed annually by donkeys than die in air crashes.

You could try Abit's Gentus. It's specifically designed around their mobos, particularly the BP6 and VP6. They had cancelled it a few months ago, but it just recently resurfaced. It's based on Red Hat, so it's pretty easy to use too.

You also might wanna try SuSE linux,I'd used it from version 5.3 (mid 90's) and never had second thoung 'bout it.simple,not too much gui-system tools,and pretty close linux that i like (I started slackware) but easy to maintain too.Give it a try http://www.suse.com

Alright VNC server is not what you should use at all. Get RedHat, Mandrake will work like crap as a server, it's a newbie client os, not server. RedHat is whatcha need, as for not using VNC, SSH w/ xterm = basically vnc, but much MUCH better. Gentus is based off RH 6.2 w/ a modded kernel that supports the HPT370, RH 7.1 includes the 2.4.x kernel which has native support for it.

yea so SSH w/ xterm is the way to go eh... I dunno I'm familiar with redhat but I'd like to try out the other distros. I'm also thinking maybe just get FreeBSD... So RedHat 7.1 will work with my setup without much trouble? I'm also concerned about security holes and such, so the safer the better...

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SystemLogic.net - Editor

2 Pentium III 1 Ghz 2 Alpha HeatSinks with 38 CFM Delta Fan | Abit VP6 | 512 MB PC-166 | Antec SX1030B with 4 High Output 80mm Sunon Fans | 2 30 GB IBm 75 Drives in RAID 0 | Plextor PlexWriter 16/10/40A | Mitsumi 40x CD-ROM | Generic 3.5" Floppy Drive | VisionTek Geforce 2 GTS 32 MB | Sound Blaster Live! Value | 3com NIC | Diamond Supra Modem | 19" Sony Monitor | Klipsch Promedia V.2-400 Speakers | PcMods.com Sound Sensitive Blue

"No more yankie my wankie. The Donger need food!"

More people are killed annually by donkeys than die in air crashes.

Anyway point oh release from redhat will suck. Luckily 7.1 ain't one and is an excellent release. Yes, you won't have any problems with the hardware you have listed here.

My new favorite distro is Trustix (trustix.net)..

I'd also like to try EnGarde Linux, once they make it so during the installation process you can edit the sizes fo the partitions.. (and dual boot ..

Ryan

Tom:

Have you checked this site out?



Dedicated Linux servers

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Serious Soldier

well I meant I'm using my own equipment as a server hehehe I don't think I've got the cash to pay for one like that. Besides it's not gonna be used commercially or anything like that. It's just gonna be a development machine for me and my friends.

Tom....sorry, I wasn't really talking about the site,
but the software that they use.

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Serious Soldier

oh ok hehehe

yea so I guess RedHat would be a good choice. It's just that i've used previous versions of it and I know it but I want to learn other ones as well. Oh well, the others would probably be too complicated for me anyway and I don't want to spend that much time on it.

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SystemLogic.net - Editor

2 Pentium III 1 Ghz 2 Alpha HeatSinks with 38 CFM Delta Fan | Abit VP6 | 512 MB PC-166 | Antec SX1030B with 4 High Output 80mm Sunon Fans | 2 30 GB IBm 75 Drives in RAID 0 | Plextor PlexWriter 16/10/40A | Mitsumi 40x CD-ROM | Generic 3.5" Floppy Drive | VisionTek Geforce 2 GTS 32 MB | Sound Blaster Live! Value | 3com NIC | Diamond Supra Modem | 19" Sony Monitor | Klipsch Promedia V.2-400 Speakers | PcMods.com Sound Sensitive Blue

"No more yankie my wankie. The Donger need food!"

More people are killed annually by donkeys than die in air crashes.

Tom....

Have you ever tried the Suse Linux?

I've posted another thread on it.

Yeah.. replied to that

I'm not really sure what my thoughts are on it. I've only gotten to use the 7.x release briefly.. (have the install dvd in my cd-wallet.. just haen't used it much I guess..) but have stayed away since what I'm looking for in a distro is NOT millions of desktop apps.. which is what SuSE has.

If I want to run linux.. it's generally for a server.. which SuSE might perform well as.. however I don't see a need to bog a server down with so much excess.. I'd rather stick with a bare-bones distro.. (trustix or something..)

Ryan

I take it that Trustix supports that? The system I'd like to give it a shot on has a 1GB drive and a 4GB drive. *BSD won't let me easily put different mounts on one drive and not the other...not like DiskDrake and YaST (Through fdisk) have.

Trustix sounds tasty. I wonder how secure it is compared to, say, FreeBSD. Any takers?

Ryan, I'd certainly like to hear more about your experiences with Trustix. If only there were drivers out for Alacritel (Alcatel) based DSL modems, then I'd have gone to Linux on my server in a heartbeat. Otherwise, I'm gonna have to use a Windoze box as a relay.

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"And knowing is half the battle!"

Heh.. that's the one problem with linux today I think.. hardware support

In terms security, Trustix follows the model common in the BSD series.. have the default install be secure. All services but those required for normal operation are disabled by default. Instead of Sendmail, it uses Postfix as the default MTA (considered by some to be more secure.) Generally, it's an extremely minimal installation. No frills, no gimmicks.. only the basics need to run a server. Anything else you might need you can download. (It doesn't come with X either.. the developers essentially think "X Has no place on a server "..

One thing that I've had to get used to is that the text editor PICO isn't installed by default.. and I've been meaning to teach myself Vi.. so, this is giving me an excuse to...

More info can be found in the trustix users guide @ trustix.net...

(I can talk more if you like.. just don't wanna bore you Essentially though.. it's NOT a desktop distro. Made for a server.. period.

Ryan