New to linux

[Blakhart]

I am wondering if my game server would not be better with redmond than with 98SE or ME?
It consists of a p2 350 with 128megs and a 850mb hdd.
The only cards are a tnt2 agp and a zonenet nic. No cdrom or floppy or anything else after an os install. I want redmond as it is better for newbs and I need no frills as it will be a game server 24/7.

1. Is the drive big enough? What file sys should I use?
The game software takes 166 megs. Nothing else need go on the drive.

2. Will linux work with what I have as a machine?

3. Will it be more secure? It is behind a dsl router.


If this is what you wanted to do and this is what you had to do it with, how would you go about it?

Thanks

[DrZaius]

Hi Blakhart,

I would recommend using Linux Mandrake. The latest version gives you an option in setup to install the files needed for a workstation, server, POP server, web server, etc. I'm not sure about the hard drive space, but I think it can fit if you remove the useless programs or even stick to just the console (no X-Window). It would be more secure if you know what you're doing (by reading online help files and such), but in the wrong hands it can be just as if not more unsecure than Windows. You'll be relatively safe if you're behind a router and use Mandrake's default security settings.

Hope that helps.

[Blakhart]

Thanks Docka Z!
I think my friend has mandrake on cd so there I go.

[MaXimum SMOKE]

Good luck on that one. If I had to guess, I'd say you probably don't have enough hard drive for a comfortable install. It's a guess, at best, as I haven't had the opportunity to preview, Redmond. Was this supposed to be a 'lean' install distribution? Curious, is this like Quake3 that has a Linux version, done by Loki? My Mandrake distro is currently using 1.4 gig on the basic root partition (alone) (everything, but the boot and swap partitions). Mind you, my install is rather 'heavy', eveything but the server apps (for a suggested install) from the download edition. I like to figure at least a couple of hundred megs for a swap partion, on top of that. I really don't know what the bare minimum swap would be for a server not running active video. Removing unneeded programs, saves considerable space on an install, of course. Personally, I wouldn't suggest a task like this for a Linux beginner, unless you have knowledgable help, close at hand. A lot of security is dependant upon shutting down un needed Linux services. You would want to do this anyhow. Note some game software will not congure at all if it doesn't see the video and sound support it needs. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

[Computer Hobbyist]

I am afraid MaXium Smoke is right. Your harddrive is probably too small for a first time user. A smart, experienced user can cut Linux down to a pretty small foot print. I even know a guy who set Linux up to run off a zip drive on his proxy server and removed his harddrive all together. Statica or Dr. Ziaus could probably configure a Linux set up on the small drive, but if I was you, since HDDs are so cheap, I'd probably buy a new larger drive. This is sort of like eating the iguana in the Paul Hogan movie. "You can eat it, but it tastes like -rap. "

CH

[Blakhart]

Hmm well I can find a small drive say a 3 or 6 gig and use that. About time that 850 went but it just keeps running!
I thank you for the candid suggestions.
I will be back with more I am sure.