The Ultimate Linux Box

[TRN]

Eric Raymond wrote two stories in the past regarding building a Linux box. The first was economical and the second was an ultimate box.

http://www.linuxjournal.com/bg/advice/ulb_01.php

It seems appropriate to approach this topic again since the ULB story was published several years ago and prices have decreased as well as hardware performance increased.

Personally, I'm looking for the most economical way to run Linux on a desktop.

What are you running and how much did it cost you?

[TRN]

This article on LinuxJournal was timely :D

Raising the Bar: Improving the Ultimate Linux Box (http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=6935&mode=thread&order=0)

[deafphate]

I have two boxes, my server which is a 500 mhz k6 with 512mb ram, runs like a champ.

Also have my main workstation (which was a graduation gift to myself btw, and no way economical :)) Athlon XP 3k+ w/ 1gb memory, and in Linux the only real performance difference I noticed is while compiling the kernel that is it :)

The reason for the major specs is that I also dual boot with winxp and getting ready for doom 3 :D

[TRN]

That is quite the graduation gift !

You don't notice a difference in XD2?

If you want Linux on the cheap here's how I did it. There is a used computer store in a city near where I live that will sell a used box with no os cheap. I picked up an old Compaq deskpro 6000 for $30, got a keyboard and mouse out of his junk bin for $5, got a 15" svga monitor(used) for $20, boughtsome extra ram and speakers for $15. I had an external modem from a previous computer experiment. Got a friend to download and burn a copy of Libranet2.0.1 for me and spent one night getting it set up and installed. I have to wait on it when loading a program but the whole thing cost less than a single copy of M$. The Compaq has everything in it hardware wise that I needed including a network card if we ever get high speed access here.
The best part is after reading the articles on apt-get and Debian I find I can update this puppy pretty much as I see fit. I have been running this machine for 2 months now with no problems.