I'm only responding the the terminals half of your inquiry. What kind of
terminal you want to use depends on what you want to be able to do at the
terminal.
X terminals run the X11 server, allowing users to use them to run X client
processes on your server. (If you run the X11 interface on your Linux box,
you know what I am talking about. If you don't, you should, so you can see
what an X terminal would be like. "man X" will get you started.)
X terminals require a TCP/IP connection to the server. Ethernet is the usual
way to do this, but you can, in principle, run a X11 connection over a
serial line using PPP. I've seen articles on the Web about turning old, slow
PCs into X terminals, but I don't recall if they've tried using serial
interfaces or Ethernet. If this is what you really want to do, send me a
followup and I'll try to track down the URLs.
In any case, X terminals are not likely to be cheaper than old, used 486s.
As terminals go, they are relatively sophisticated devices.
On the other hand ... if all you want to do is run programs that run from
the command line (that don't require a GUI), you don't need an X terminal.
Any standard serial terminal will do, and you can connect them to servers
using the server's serial ports. All it takes is a cable and a small change
to the /etc/inittab file (possibly as small as uncommenting a line,
depending on which distribution you have). Terminals aren't as lentiful as
they once were, but I imagine you can find used ones at modeeate prices.
Look for VT100 or VT102 compatibility. Or you can run old PCs (like 286s or
even 8086s) that can run a simple terminal program like telix (I've thought
that this would be a handy use for really old, doorstop-quality laptops.)
So in the end, it comes down to what you mean by "run the Internet." If you
mean run Netscape or an equivalent, then you need GUI functionality, and
your choices are 486s or X terminals. If you mean get e-mail, run a text
browser like lynx, and read newsgroups, then the serial terminal option
would work for you.
HOpe this helps. Good luck.
At 11:26 PM 12/28/98 -0500, Michael Trausch wrote:
>I've been trying to find reading materials on different types of
>terminals that I can connect to my Linux machine, and one that was
>mentioned in the Serial HOWTO and another HOWTO that I read was an X
>Terminal. The only 411 I could acquire from these documents is that X
>Terminals (or emulations thereof) run best on an Ethernet connection...
>personally, I thought the concept was impossible (but, then again, I
>*do* come from a Windows environment... ::sigh::).
>
>Anyway, I am wondering if there are any really useful resources on the
>Internet that describe the functionality of X Terminals, and I'm
>wondering where I could get such equipment. My use of an X terminal is
>simply so that I don't have to buy 10 other 486's to run Linux in every
>spot where I want to run the Internet.
------------------------------------"Never tell me the odds!"---
Ray Olszewski -- Han Solo
762 Garland Drive
Palo Alto, CA 94303-3603
650.321.3561 voice 650.322.1209 fax [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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