Looking for a decent Linux distro for a webserver

[dderidex]

Been a *while* since I've played around with Linux, and got it in my head it might be fun too a bit, again, since I've acquired an older PII box that would serve perfectly fine as a web server!

I'm currently running an Apache web server on WinXP, so know Apache pretty well....but am not as familiar with my distro options in Linux anymore. Or, heck, if what I'm looking for is even POSSIBLE.

Requirements:
- Free (duh)
- Low overhead (box only has 256mb of ram, PII-333)
- Must be able to be remotely administered from a WindowsXP PC (the box is 'headless')

For the 'remote administration' element - I'm used to using WinXP's Remote Desktop (home use) or Symantec's PCAnywhere (for work), and really expect that level of functionality. Only without having to buy it!

 

[Monkey34]

A free ^^^ since you mirrored a question I've been thinking about.

 

[smllpx]

Debian, woody(stable) if it is a production box or sarge(testing) is it is an development box. While I don't use remote desktops because I am comfortable with the command line, you are going to want some sort of variant on vnc (Virtual Network Computer), it should provide you with a desktop view. You could also use cygwin's freex xserver and export your display to your windows machine. You won't be able to totally get away without learning some command line instructions, so be prepared.

Another solution might be Ubuntu which is based off of debian and is planning more regular releases.

The reason I am recommending Debian (+ variants) is because the apt-get package installer is very nice and should keep you relatively out of dependency hell.

Here is how you would install the nano text editor:
root@locahost# apt-get install nano
(you might have to type Y to install other packages, but most of the time it works pretty well)

 

[versello]

I'd check out SuSE 9.2... it's free and pretty much idiot-install/configure-proof.

 

[sotonin]

root@locahost# apt-get install nano

i haven't seen a flavor of linux that didn't have a system like this.

wether it be, yum install nano or up2date install nano, or whatever. hmmm

 

[Rombus]

Im a huge fan of Gentoo, ive got two servers running on it now. Great package system and instal can be customized for your machine depending on what stage you pick.

 

[smllpx]

Im a huge fan of Gentoo, ive got two servers running on it now. Great package system and instal can be customized for your machine depending on what stage you pick.

I really don't think Gentoo is right for the OP's needs. I would recommend a less "advanced" distro. But if you want to dive a little further into the guts of linux. Gentoo is pretty nice, you know, for not being FreeBSD

i haven't seen a flavor of linux that didn't have a system like this.
...

really? package managers that automatically install dependencies are a relatively new feature .

for some reason I cannot put my finger on, I just don't like yum as much as apt-get. Plus apt-get has been downloading dependencies for a while now. up2date started out as a pay service. I have just been really fond of debian since I moved from fedora. I haven't played with SuSE so I can't really speak for that.

 

[Whatsisname]

can you handle a command line only remote session? Virtually every distro these days has SSH which is the standard remote shell these days.

For the 'remote administration' element - I'm used to using WinXP's Remote Desktop (home use) or Symantec's PCAnywhere (for work), and really expect that level of functionality. Only without having to buy it!

 

[dderidex]

Honestly, probably not. It's been FAR too long since I've worked with a command-line interface. Given that I've already got a perfectly workable solution (Apache on WinXP) and am just looking for something to play around with....well, I don't want to invest TOO much time relearning everything.

 

[Whatsisname]

well then if your point of doing this is to learn linux in the process, then you might as well not do it because linux is all about the command line.