Cobb

If you want to go Redhat Advanced Server route, be prepared to shell out some dough; either go the fedora route (btw, hate it, core 2 was unstable like a b*tch) or check out White Box Linux (http://whiteboxlinux.org) or Tao Linux (http://taolinux.org), both are based on the sources / rpms of Redhat AS.

Gentoo and it's BSD Ports-like Portage system is awesome (http://www.gentoo.org/main/en/about.xml); all apps (and the OS and any subsequent updates) are custom built for your system. I'm chomping at the bit to try it out.

As far as Linux desktops, fluxbox (http://fluxbox.sourceforge.net/), along with aterm or Eterm will give you translucent windows and cool ass themes. And there are alot of DVD players out there for Linux.

Never touched OSX, seems like people love it as a desktop, but hate it a a server. Opinions anyone?

Got my wife's iMac (OSX Panther), an older Compaq PIII and a real old IBM PII all networked. XP's on the Compaq, and Linux on the IBM. So, I've got all three plates I'm tryin ta spin.

After much messing about replacing Win 98 on the IBM with Linux, I can say that Linux is still pretty much the province of the Determined. It makes chest hairs grow and head hair fall out (when first learning). I've decided I have to recognize my time/limits and go with Windoze as my "production" OS. My linux box is strictly for staging web stuff til I get better aquainted with all its nitties and gritties (only really been at it since January this year).

OSX is def worth playing with (there's their version of Unix underpinning it), but I still can't commit to that platform. Really nice desktop, but never really been under the hood (I understand you can't play with the root stuff to the nth degree as you can with other *nices). It's real purdy tho.

A/Eterm fer sher gets you cool transparencies, but I have a preference for the Gnome desktop (truly degeorgeous). Try Knoppix first, which should recognize all yer hardware and have you up and running via a live cd in minutes. I would avoid Gentoo until you've managed to mess around and blow up your system at least a couple of times.

I've gone through the uglies of configuring XFree86 for my oddball laptop chipset way back with RedHat 6, so I don't think that Gentoo should give me too much trouble. Plus I like the idea that it's BSD-like. All these sound like good ideas, so is there a VMWare like n-boot system that I can put in LILO to boot multiple flavors of Linux on the same box?

What about a kind of 'Go Back' feature if I screw the pooch?

SuSe Linux on a Dell Dimension XPS H266. It's a multi-media server and storage backup.

Dell Dimension 8200 using XP Pro SP 2 and a SuSe Linux partition. Both machines ethernet connected to a wireless router.

The wife has a Dell Dimension using XP Pro SP2 using wireless connection.

Apache, Tomcat, LDAP, BEA WebLogic & Portal running on the Dell XPS. But the BEA stuff is turned off by default. It takes up too much memory.

My machine has Oracle, MySQL, Microsoft SQL, Eclipse, BEA WebLogic & Portal, Ant, Java SDKs, Visual Studio .NET Pro, Jakarta downloads, ...

Man, I need to catalog my stuff.

Oh, the wireless router has a firewall. The DSL router has a weak firewall.

The Linux machine is running a firewall. Both XP Pro boxes are running Zone Alarm Pro firewalls.

I had the Linux box as the main firewall (2 ethernet cards, one for net, one for internal net)for a bit, but I felt more comfortable with the current setup.

Cobb,

It sounds as though you are one step away from MythTV

I have 3 200 dollar PCs running WinXPPro, a G3 tower, a G3 iBook and a IIci tricked out to 040 80Mhz (just can't bear to toss it).

We're communicating inside with a netgear wireless router and netgear MA111 USB wireless adapters on the PCs. The Macs are not networked.

We are communicating outside between the wireless router and a DSL router/access point ( took a while to figure out that both were trying to be DHCP servers). The macs are on umbilical cords to the internet.

When my Mom and Dad visit, he can access the wifi from the camper pad out back with his laptop. Since I live on 3.5 acres and all my neighbors live on 3.5 acres, I have not done much with wep, but I probably should eventually. Don't want the neighbors' horses exploiting the connection.

So you see, there really IS something wrong with me.

Laptops are great for the go bag. I'm just sayin'. You could add a keyboard if you really need it, or just sit in the livingroom and surf on the couch like I do because I'm a lazy schlub. Abused an IBM Thinkpad w/XP to death and it still lives where Toughbooks died a horrible death.

OSX is nice--but whatcha have to do, see, is download and install Fink, then load all the Sourceforge Linux packages on the machine. I have OpenOffice and the Gimp and all that on a desktop Mac that can easily dig the command line.

Funny how I thought the Mac was wimpy because it didn't have a command line like a Trash 80 back in the day.

XP's been more stable than I thought it would be. Even this new service pack.

There's nothing more fun than surfing with the laptop in front of the tube. Sometimes even when I'm gaming and in a lobby people whip out the URLs and I thought I was the only one.

So tell me is it possible to map ports across two routers?

like, whoa, cobb. if you've wrangled your xfree86 (or x.org these daze) to work with a natty system, then Gentoo'll be a snap (if tedious). Gentoo's def very BSD with the emerge bit, but the Slackware ppl would challenge that "most BSD-like" title f'sher (wot with their initialization steez and so on). I'd also suggest then that you try Slack with Dropline Gnome (made special just for Slackware and oh, it is to drool for. my meagre PII box didn't have the hoss power to run it nice tho).

had a (then) sweet toshiba laptop back in '95, but sold it to my old man a year an a half later, never replacing it. time to join the 802.11b laptop party, fancy and wire free. mebbe this xmas. i'll be callin youse for support ;-)

So tell me is it possible to map ports across two routers?

Yes. At a former job, that's how the sys admin set up a firewall for the telecommunications system I worked on. How it's done I have no clue, but I could always guess.

My Linux box is strictly for hobby and fun - to have all the fun tools and whatnot. When I need a real one, for a development environment, I'll know which brand to get. I have yet to be impressed with any Linux desktop, but I'll tell you what. If there's one that can use a Radeon board and play DVDs in the background with translucent windows on top, I'll definitely consider that. Something with customizeable themes that I could run a couple different monitors on - that would be for me.

Well there's only one OS I've encountered that'll do that out of the box...

Also, is there any reason in the world for me to play with OSX or is this strictly a Mac fetish?

Yup, that's the OS ;)