Well, I have a 1.5GHz system with 512MB of ram sitting around that I'm gonna server some stuff on. Here's what I want to run:

Samba for SMB shares (download and upload)
Half Life Server
Maybe a teamspeak server
Maybe a few other things

So what should I run it on? I'm not even planning on hooking up a monitor to this thing so a GUI isn't even needed. SSH is all that i need.

So I want it to be secure, reliable, and FAST with OpenSSH installed. Thanks!!!

This is the question most seem to be confused with but the answer is always right in front of them, use what your most familiar and comfortable with. You can perform all the same functions with all the main distro's, etc, by just customizing it to your needs.

Ya, I know, but many of the selections above aren't even Linux distros

OpenBSD and Solaris are two Unix versions that I'm really interested in. They come with Linux emulators so that any linux programs can run on them. OpenBSD is supposed to be one of the most secure operating systems ever and Solaris is....well....Solaris, which is COOL!!! (j/k)

If I'm not mistaken Drew has a Solaris certificate, yet he runs linux, so maybe Solaris isn't quite what it's cracked up to be for the average user (high end is a MUCH different story..).

As for which one.. Give em all a try if you've got the time! OpenBSD or FreeBSD probably would be at the top of the list, then when you see what it offers, and if you decide to stick with something linux, probably Debian would be my suggestion. Arch appears to be more geared towards the desktop folks (no problem with that!), slackware is SOLID, but it might take a bit to learn it, and if you wanna get this thing rolling now, you are better off using something that is a bit easier to setup, and learn linux as you go (slackware should definitely be an option still though, if you feel up to it!).

Cool

what masterC said ^^