I am looking to put together a kick around Linux box. Something inexpensive, stable, readily available, and upgradable. I would like to be able to run Red Hat enterprise ES 3 or possibly Fedora Core 3. I am looking at using the box as a file server and webserver. I have been eyeing retrobox.com and found a couple of Dell OptiPlex's and IBM Intellistation M Pro workstations which I really like because they are dual processor capable. Also would like to know what to stay away from. Any input would be great and ThankYou in advance.

Pretty much any old workstation will be fine. Keep in mind the FC/RH guis will eat up some system resources, so don't go too slow. I run a console-only server on a PII/233 for my SOHO network.

I'll second Matir's comments - just about any PC can run Linux just fine. At a bare minimum, I'd suggest going with a PIII, 128Mg RAM, and a 20G drive, which won't be a powerhouse but is more than adequate to run Linux. You might want to check Ebay, your local classifieds, or even consider building a home-built box from components. Expandability is important, so you'll want to make sure you've got enough PCI and USB slots available for the components you want to use. If your mobo has onboard video, sound, and LAN, you'll need to decide whether to use them, or go with separate cards. Good luck with it and welcome to LQ -- J.W.

Head over to Samsclub.com they have a system for around $140, it does not come with a floppy drive or HD. But it works. It is what I am using.

Anthlon 1.8
256mb ram
on board sound, video and ethernet (no modem)

I took out the 256 and put in 1gb ram, added a HD and floppy. It works just fine. No 3d acceleration but other than that I have not had any problems.

For a server, I don't think anyone is worried about 3d acceleration. *grin*