Putting together my first Linux box, need advice

[miston]

I know nothing about Linux.

I'm about to get a laptop that I plan on using for everything else on, but I want to put together a cheap desktop to do nothing but download stuff and burn DVDs/CDs.

It will have to connect to to my wireless network, which I have not yet bought, so any recommendations on which wireless router/card to purchase would help, if it matters.

Do I have to get a certain CD burner / DVD burner or will any newer one work in Linux?

So far all I've got for this box is an ATX case and a Celeron 900 mHz. Should I use the Celeron or get some cheaper, faster motherboard combo? Are they're any sites selling motherboard combos specifically used for Linux?

Any help greatly appreciated!

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

The only piece of hardware you mentioned that you should have to worry about compatability-wise could be the wireless card. Pretty much any motherboard and cd burner should work fine.

 

[silverpig]

Yeah, the wireless card can be a pain with linux, but it should be possible. The celeron will be fine.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Here is some information on wireless in Linux (for the madwifi drivers). There are probably a couple other drivers for wireless cards, since Linux uses a decentralized development model (which I hate, but had some advantages too). So good luck finding "official" information that's worth a darn.

cdrecord/cdtools has the capability to write to DVDs, I think. So check compatibility with that.

A celeron would be fine, especially for what you want it to do.