[ale] building a Linux lowend web browsing station

[Watson F. McKeel]

Greg,

To tell the truth, I have a second project at Free Bytes that I need some help with. Do you know anything about Samba administration? I am on the tail end of building a fault tolerant Samba server, and I am at a loss when it comes to server administration. 

If you want to help, drop by on a Saturday around noon. Call Free Bytes for directions: 404-846-8414. 


Thanks,

Watson


----------

From: Â  Greg

Reply To: Â Â Â Â Â  ale at ale.org

Sent: Â  Wednesday, January 22, 2003 9:12 AM

To: Â Â Â  ale at ale.org

Subject: Â Â Â Â Â Â  RE: [ale] building a Linux lowend web browsing station


Well, first off , try not to post using HTML.  I have changed it.  Some

dudes are running non-GUI mail clients, bless their little CLI hearts.


Configuring for different NICs and modems too means that you cannot burn one

single image and install it (ghost it).


I know that Suse will give you a bare-bones system.  I think that slackware

& gentoo will do this also.


All Linux will run on lowend systems (I am running on Pentium 90's to 233's

and even some 486's), but the more flash and glitz you want (X Windows), the

more strain it will put on the system.


BSD's are good too.


Network installs and a script will work to a degree.


A ghost will work too (that is what I do at home). But you will still need

to configure it for different NICs/modems, though maybe it could be

scripted.


If you need help, then send me some info on who to contact on volunteering.


Greg Canter



-----Original Message-----

From: ale-admin at ale.org [mailto:ale-admin at ale.org]On Behalf Of Watson F.
To: ale at ale.org

McKeel

Sent: Wednesday, January 22, 2003 8:46 AM

To: ale at ale.org

Cc: Director at freebytes.net (E-mail)

Subject: [ale] building a Linux lowend web browsing station



Hello all,

I do volunteer work for a local nonprofit, and we have a BIG task that has

been set before us. We are going to build 500-700 computers that will serve

as web browsing stations. We want to use Linux to do it because it is so

configurable.

The hardware involved:

        many different makes and models

        Pentium 90 to 133MHz

        32 MB RAM

        500-800MB HD

        sometimes NICs, sometimes modems

        printer

We don't want these boxes to do anything other than surf the web and print.

My questions:

What distributions should we look at to get started on this? Are there any

out there that pride themselves on their ability to run on lowend systems?

Also, I do not relish installing anything 500-700 times, even if it is

Linux. Any tips on how to do mass installs (like a generic disk image of

some kind, or maybe network installs)?



Any thoughts at all are greatly appreciated,

Watson McKeel    -volunteer at Free Bytes


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