Spare PC? what to use it for?

[downhiller80]

I've gained a celeron 500 system. TNT M64, 64MB ram, 8GB HD, 17"......

Been sitting here for a few days now - what should I do with it?

Think I'll get linux (at last) and have a play. What distribution do you recommend?

- seb

 

[Demon-Xanth]

My address is... :d

 

[hungrypete]

add another 196mb ram and make it a game server! Set up IIS on it and get a stopwatch, see how long it takes to be hacked (make sure stop watch measures ns)

I would recommend redhat 6.2, I'm no linux whiz, but a friend is, and he seems to genuinely hate all releases since 6.2, says theres too much crap and too many holes to close.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

Damn, take it easy on IIS!

Send the box to me, PM me for my address

 

[ttn1]

First off, there is no such thing as a spare PC.

Learning Linux would be an endeavor you will never regret.
Setup webserver/fileserver.
Create a server for all those mp3 and divx movies.
use it as a dedicated CD-burning machine or internet machine.

I agree that if you learned with Redhat 6.2 then using the newer versions can be a pain. The problem I have seen with 7.1 is opening holes for services, not closing them. 7.1 has some very nice features, once you learn how to use it.

ttn1

 

[tomcat]

I would grab another video card and use the monitor it for a dual monitor setup on your main system.. you can use the rest of the box as a remote linux server or something.. or just an ICS box, setup Remote Administrator on it and login whenever you need to change something

 

[StageLeft]

Sell it. With the $500 (?) you get invest it and in 35 years it will be worth $32k.

 

[Wowzaa]

if you can get a constant 11.5 % for the 35 years, yep.

 

[PG]

I also vote for Linux.
Go to your nearest Barnes and Noble. They have the official Coral Linux Book on sale for about $8. Online it's still $49.99 for some reason. It has the 1st ed. of Corel Linux instead of the 2nd ed., but you can download the 2nd ed. if you want.
I know Corel Linux is pretty much dead, but I really like the book. It is relatively easy to read and follow. They even talk about networking and sharing files with computers that have a different OS. Also, if you go to here they have downloadable guides. One is a nice server guide and covers info not in the book.
It might not be the best Linux distribution, but with the documentation in the book and the downloadable PDF's you could learn a lot relatively easy.
Red Hat and Mandrake also have downloadable PDF guides, but I think they are harder to understand.

 

[iamwiz82]

<< Sell it. With the $500 (?) you get invest it and in 35 years it will be worth $32k. >>



and in 35 years that 32k will be worse about $5000 in money in todays economy. Think about it, 20 years ago, a car cost $5000, today it costs $25000.

 

[StageLeft]

Oops, my math was off - it will actually be worth $16k, not $32k.

Anyway, it will be - in worth in 35 years - worth closer to $8k rather than $5k.

Plus, if you're gonna be like that don't ever invest your money!

 

[hungrypete]

cars were $5000 in 1981?

 

[Keego]

Spare PC's suck.. they just sit there losing value every day. Sell it.

 

[downhiller80]

tomcat - I like that idea!

Unfortunately the monitor's knackered, really dark display. It'd be ok for playing with linux but I don't want to compromise my perfect set-up with that heap of junk

- seb

 

[Martin]

Mandrake 8 is probably the best one out there for people just starting out.

I agree, learning linux will not only be fun (actually, frustrating, but fun will follow after frustration), but also very useful. Also, you can set up a bunch of servers (web, ftp, mail etc) or make it into a router with freesco.