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On 24/04/13 09:17, Neil Winchurst wrote:
On 23/04/13 19:05, bad apple wrote:That last was a joke, I hope. You know I haven't touched Windows for years, the last version I ever tried was Windows 98.So, did you decide what you're actually going to install on this box once you've finished hooking up the new DVD? Windows 8? CheersCurrently I have a DVD of Mint 14 Xfce, so I will probably have a play with that. But, eventually, I plan to have a go at setting the old machine up as a home server. This is partly as a learning process, but if I can see that it would be a good idea I will make it permanent.So the next learning curve will be about home servers!! Wish me luck.Thanks to all who replied for their help. Before I close up the tower I will change the CMOS battery, once I can locate it,Neil
For a server you can't go wrong with Debian, the new version (Wheezy or 7.0) is hopefully going to be released on 4th or 5th May [1]. That will give you a nice stable system with some up to date packages etc. A gui is only an apt-get away (or you could opt to install a gui during the installation of the OS).
If you've got a reasonably quick broadband connection I'd suggest doing a Netinstall. The ISO image for that is smaller than the standard Debian images (which come as lots of CD ISOs, a few DVD iso, or I think maybe one or two Blu-ray ISOs). Looking at the Netinst ISO, it's currently around 270MB for the 32-Bit Debian Testing (which is what Wheezy is at the moment until it's released).
Or maybe you like living a bit more on the bleeding edge, you could always try Linux Mint Debian Edition, which is Linux Mint built on top of Debian Testing, it's constantly evolving and they release a new ISO every couple of months. That will give you a GUI and you can still run the standard server stuff on it (well you can on normal Linux Mint, Ubuntu, Fedora, <insert favourite distro here> etc etc too for that matter).
While a lot of people don't tend to install a GUI on a server, if you're learning about servers then maybe it could come in handy, you could have a terminal window or two open and maybe a browser to refer to online guides and stuff if you get stuck.
[1] http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2013/04/msg00006.html Rob -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq