Hi...
I'm a beginner in Archlinux. I intend to open an Internet Cafe and I have a REALLY-REALLY SMALL budget. I searched some forums and found that "Archlinux is fast, fast and fast" thing that will be SUPER for the old hardware that I'm going to use. Since I have to learn many things in a real short time any suggestion/trick would be welcomed.
If somebody is interested I'll give some further details.
Thanks..

What are you looking for ?
Linux general, Networking, something Arch specific or how to become a hacker ?

ArchLinux is REALLY fast but also a bit difficult for a new comer (especially one with only windows XP experience :P)

anyways, start by installing it and working with it in a PC first to see yourself what your problems are.
there is also wiki.archlinux.org except from the official docs
GoodLuck with your Cafe

I've been using PCs for more than 10 years now.. So I know very well Dos, Win9x (WinXP sucks!!!).
I tried RedHat long ago.. I was kinda dissappointed. Recently I Used Mandrake 9.2.. It's nice but terribly slow...
I know some things about Linux, and I was a programmer (long ago ) so I'm not afraid of leraning Linux It's just that I need to become a admin in a short time (I can't afford paying one).
The Internet Cafe will have 10-12 machines, 5-7 will be PII-233or 266s, so I really need a fast desktop OS for Internet surfing. I didn't used too much Linux programs so I don't know what kind of soft is better. (for example which Internet browser Mozilla, Opera, Konqueror, etc is better). There are many programs in every distribution that are doing the same things and I would prefer installing the fastest and most reliable ones. I don't have time to test them all, so that's why I kindly ask U to help me. What I should Use as X-Window manager (?!) I think IceWM would be the most appropriate...
The other computers will be some PII-PIII ... I haven't made my mind yet... they will be supposed to run some games, altough games for Linux are really some "rara avis"...
I'll be using a two-way satellite link (as Internet connection) so my internet will be a realy weird one. Old hardware and new communication technology
Probably my "clients" won't know Linux so i have to try to ease their learning of using Linux. That's why I'm trying to give Linux a Win9x look (I know some of U will find this stupid)...
I have to do that until beginning of August..All in all this sounds like a crazy ideea.. I probably am crazy...
So I ask U to give me all the directions and conclusions U got to as users with experience. I know there is plenty of litterature on the web, but the time is really short and I have to accelerate my learning.
Thanks!

jeremy; how about helping moderators correct mispostings by members active in answering post that are in the wrong category.?

ok, you said you have old hardware, so IceWM is a good way to go.
from what you told me, you won't have serious (unsolved) problems with ArchLinux
get the iso burn it, follow the installation instruction found in AL's homepage, also consult wiki.archlinux.org.

AL is the way to go (and not Gentoo because it will take ages to compile because of your old HW)
(AL = ArchLinux)
remember to do pacman -Sy icewm when ready :P
start today

Thanks for suggestions...
I'm studying now all the packages and their dependencies so I know what to install.

you said you were using older hardware. You should make sure that all the processors are i686 or else Arch Linux might not work. I think its optimized only for i686. Good luck

PII-233or 266s will (i think) run AL without a problem. afterall you can nowadays run ArchLinux even in i585 architectures.

just install it to one of those PCs to see what the fish you got (as we say in Greek) :P

PII are i686, trust me... The fact that archlinux it's compiled for i686 was anoter good reason for choosing it.

i didn't know Arch Linux was optimized for i686 until i had already installed it heh. A guy on irc told me about Arch when i was using freebsd. i made the switch and havn't looked back since :-)