Planning dedicated webserver and wondering if there is a basic desktop that does not require X to be installed? Could I just install Webmin for instance?
I vaguely remember reading somewhere of some minimilist desktop that doesn't require X???
I know I cloud just use MC and CLI... Thank you all for your attention

Depends on what you mean. If you mean a GUI desktop, then no...all of them require X. However, NO version of Linux out there needs X to work. You can easily boot any of them into runlevel 3, text-console mode.

Webmin has nothing to do with X...as the name says, it's WEBmin. Totally based on a web page, which you can hit with a browser from any other machine. Just install Apache, which you'll obviously have if you're setting up a webserver.

If you're talking about a headless server, you can always have a non X system, just modify the mttab entry to the running level 2. Or simply remove the login manager from the start up scripts.

If you want to know how to install a headless system I wrote an entry for my soekris box, it may fit for your own box, give it a look:

http://soad1982.blogspot.com/2009/06...kris-5501.html

http://www.directfb.org/ <--you might find that interesting.

This is a subject I plan to do some research into, so as yet, I don't quite know what DirectFB is all about; or if DirectFB is exactly what you're looking for or not. Also, navigating the site is easy enough, but the wiki/documentation therein is not really detailed.

Anyhow, there is a window manager of some sort (saWMan) involved there, and if I'm reading it right, this "DirectFB" does not require X, but rather it replaces it as the video server (someone correct me??). There is an X version of DirectFB, called "XDirectFB" or "XDFB".

However, if you're wanting to replace X with another X-like thing, then why not just use X, or, do as you suggested initially, and leave X out entirely, since it is a server and stick with MC and similar apps.

Sasha

you dont need X for webmin as long as you have yor framebuffer console enabled (eg by adding vga=791 to the kernel line in your grub or lilo.conf), and a graphical web browser such as links2 (must be compiled with graphics support)
or of course if you have another machine that DOES have X (or ms windows or a mac) and a browser such as ie, firefox, chrome, opera, safari, etc.. you can remotely control the machine via webmin but as for a desktop without X, that might be hard to find since most gui applications for linux are built around having an X11 environment

http://www.brain-dump.org/projects/dvtm/

Just came across this link in another thread too. Your mileage may vary, as I have not looked at it in any depth, but it appears to claim to be a window manager for VTs.

please don't take any offense to this....
I've had a little tinker with directFB, and in my opinion, based on the original question, directFB will be a little out of reach for the original poster to implement. Unless of course they are willing to learn. But like others have said there is no need for any X/gui related stuff, especially if they are looking at webmin.