Hi,

I'm really "new" at this. I know a print/mail server does just that, it sends e-mails or prints out the one you've been sent. I'm confused about the 'others'. Could some one tell me what they are and what they do? I've looked on the web and still don't understand.

Respectfully,

"Buck"

There are thousands and thousands of different "servers" (the term you are looking for is probably daemon, by the way). It would be impossible to list what they all do.

What exactly are you trying to find out?

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There are a LOT of server processes defined under the init (Xinit, etc.) systems. That does not mean that they are all RUNNING for ANY system.

DO you need to know about what is running, or what all is possible?

I can run a machine with NO services at all. A few of mine come very close to that already.

Well,

First of all I wanted to know what they do, so as I'm installing
Xbuntu, I could keep the Server packages from 'loading', saving
me from unnesssary programs AND keeping those 'script kiddies'
from attacking my machine. I was told I needed "Apache", I'm
not Native American, LOL! Now I know why folks who want to
'convert' to Linux get stopped and confused as to what is in the
software. Say, isn't Daemon Satan's son's name, LOL! I'm an
old, DOS, command line operator. If there's no book or 'paper'
on the Net, how am I supposed to learn what each thing does or
goes with certain software packages?

Thanks, again for y'alls time.

Respectfully,
"Buck"

Unlike demons, daemons were "good or benevolent nature spirits beings" before they were UNIX server processes.

Regards "how am I supposed to learn what each thing does?", the Internet is your fried. There's a short list here and many more here.

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Once you do the basic install, try running this command (without the quotes):
" netstat -an|grep LIST|grep -v ING "
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This will show you what ports have things listening on them. These are your services.
Those that LISTEN on address 127.0.0.1 are for your local machine ONLY and are not a security issue.
The ones that listen on 0.0.0.0 are waiting to accept connections from anywhere, and should be noted.
Make sure you know what those are.

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Normally you should see port 22 open for SSH access. This can be restricted to accepting connections ONLY from your local subnet for greater security. Check the sshd_config man page and online how-to documents for detail there. Some people claim that it enhances security to move SSH to a higher port, but security by port-mangling does not have an impressive security history and I do not recommend it.
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Apache (or any other web server) will listen on port 80 by default. Where else it might listen depends upon what else you have installed and how it is configured.
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For others, if you find listening going on at other ports after the install you can check for that port in your /etc/services file for clues. If that still leaves you wondering, post any interesting lines and questions back here and we can aim you at additional detail.
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RE: Daemons: Deamons are the processes that run from system level in the background on a *nix system. Basically much the same in concept as the "service processes" in a Microsoft operating system, but a bit more friendly. While there is a base set installed on each distribution of Linux, that set generally starts more secure and you have much more control over what runs and how it runs under Linux than under Windows.
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I hope this helps.

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A server is, technically, something to which a client connects or somehow provides a service to a client. Often, these are started as services which run as daemons (processes with no controlling terminal; 'background').
A server usually works by listening on some network socket, for clients to connect and request the service provided by the server.
There are many different kinds of servers: file servers of various sorts, print servers, web servers, time servers, mail servers, login servers... the list goes on and on. Users may create their own servers using standard basic tools such as netcat (nc), or by writing programs that use the network or Unix sockets. On most systems, the GUI is provided by an X server.
It is usually quite safe to trust the developers of the distros and let the installer install whatever it considers 'normal'. When you want your host to provide some kind of service that can be accessed from the network, or by other users on the same system, you will probably be installing a server. For now, assume that the ones you really do need will get installed, and when you need some other server, it will probably become apparent.

--- rod.

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