What to do with spare box to help me learn?

[rayman2k2]

Okay, so I have a spare BP6 with dual Celeron 400mhz's chips. I want to install Linux on it so that I can understand it better but at the same time, I want it to actually do something in terms of my network - partially because I just want to learn (I know that sounds crazy, but bear with me)

Possible idea's I had were:
-File server (though not a necessity as I already have one)
-Home automation server (if I do this, I'll hook my sprinkler system up to this along with some lights and what not - however I'm not sure if it will be Linux-friendly)
-Firewall (though what will this do to my pings?)
-Web Server (but will it handle things okay? I have 6mb up/394kb down, and all it would be hosting would be pictures for family to view, besides would Comcast be okay with this?)
-FTP Server (but what would I use this for exactly?)

 

[Oneos]

Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Service is for personal and non-commercial use only and you agree not to use the Service for operation as an Internet service provider, a server site for ftp, telnet, rlogin, e-mail hosting, "web hosting" or other similar applications, for any business enterprise, or as an end-point on a non-Comcast local area network or wide area network.

But really ehy don't care as long as you don't guzzle up bandwidth.

So:

File Server: Even if it isn't a necessity, it would be a good reason to learn how to us Samba on different Linux distros.

Web Server: Yes, Comcast will more than likely be ok with this, as long as you don't go using tons of bandwidth (which I doubt you will just from pics).

FTP Server: I find this useful if I ever need to copy things on and off my computer from just about anywhere. Very easy, and you won't need any third-party software in location you don't own.

For Web/FTP you could try Ubuntu Server. In the disc menu it has the option: Install LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL PHP) Server. This auto configures most things you'll need for a webserver. After that just setup an FTP on it and you're good.

You can find all of your TOS here: http://www.comcast.net/terms/

If you have any questions just ask.

 

[AMD_Gamer]

IPCOP and other firewalls would be good

 

[rayman2k2]

hm...good ideas thus far...


any more? also, since it's pretty old, will it be able to handle a gui decently?

 

[seanx]

There are plenty of small window managers for linux.

I believe one Ive used is FluxBox that was light on resources. I ran that on an old 486 laptop so Im sure your machine can handle it.