> I'm about to pick some Linux or BSD distro at random to put on an > older personal desktop machine I'm about to wipe, though. (It's > factory-issue HP Pavillion 4535 hardware, if you want to make a > recommendation.)
I just installed Ubuntu Desktop on an HP Omnibook 500 to be used as a low-power web server in the basement. Ubuntu installed without a hitch, I'm using a wired connection, so I haven't tried the WiFi, and my other usual obstacle is getting accelerated 3d going, but since this is a server, I haven't tried that either. The Apache2.2 install went well, and there's a new system of enabling modules by creating symlinks in /etc/apache2/enabled-sites and enabled-mods. It took a while for me to figure out that mod_proxy is now locked down, and I had to open it up a bit just to use Rewrite for some virtual hosting that connects apache2 to Zope instances, but that was the only painful part. My old 700MHz Omnibook only has 384MB of ram, and it's using all of it, but not swapping. All around, another great Ubuntu experience. I do agree with Josh that Gentoo is the one true way, but my current Gentoo box is in a state where I've munged the kernel so badly that it can't compile a new version of the kernel! That's what I get for trying to tweak every last detail, when these days there are a lot more details than the ones I understand. I think we should list Vague as a LoCo ad see if we can attract the other two or three Ubuntu fans in the state... :) -Jim
