Hello!

Me and my friend got the idea to set a web server. We found an old comp that it is probably enough for a simple web server. The copm is a 500Mhz pentium and has 200Mb of ram and a 20Gb disk. We really don't have any knowledge about linux except that it is free. First thing to do is installing linux but before that, we would like a suggestion which distro to use. I read a lot about distros but since im new and have no idea about linux i didn't really get the feeling which one to choose.

So we would kindly ask for some help on the distro, maybe even a link where to download it.

Take in consideration that we still have a lot to learn

I thank you in advance

For an efficient server a good choice would be Slackware or Debian. But neither are exactly the easiest distributions to start out with.

If you want something easy to use you could try something like Fedora or Ubuntu, but they are not going to give you the same performance on that hardware.

well..
we dont need much of a preformance..just a server that i can connect to...
is damn smal linux a chice or...??
im wiling to try anything...

I have no idea why people say debian is not easy to start with. Now, I am a Debian fan, so I would say to install Debian Etch. Etch is the testing version of Debian, but it should be going stable very soon. And it already is a stable distro. you can download at http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-installer/ I would guess that you need the i386 version, also I would get the netinst CD, You just donwload the small installer, answer a couple of questions and it installs the rest.
Depending on what you want to do with the server, you will need to install a couple of packages. This is easy. In Debian there are a couple of ways to do it. There is apt-get, synaptic and aptitude. I usually use synaptic, since it is easy to do a search and read the discriptions of the packages. If I already know what I want, then apt-get from the command line is faster.
You might want to run Gnome at first to look around Linux, maybe even edit the apache, php, etc config files. But, after that I would run it without a windows mangager or desktop enviroment.

is the port 80 the only one that the web server uses..
My isp is blocking all otheres...???

very usfull...i think..
but i didnt understand evrthing cause im a noob at this...
but the server would just be for a web page...
then i would like to know if i need windows first..
cause at the moment thet comp is formated and empty...
and i was thinking i would download the iso and then boot from CD i have no other exsperienc with instaling OS..
tnx

is it posible to run windows and linux at the same time but in a way that the server stays on while in windows...
in this case i wouldent need that old comp but i could run it on my own comp...????

You can do that using a distro that opens as a window in Windows or something like vmware, but I would suggest not to do this.
Use the old pc, it is plenty powerful enough. As a matter of fact, I am looking for something similar for about the same reasons.
As for the port, the default for http is 80, but you can change this.
As for what you need, you say just a web server for a webpage. It the page is just a static page, then yes, apache is all you will need. But, if you want something more, like using php and mysql for a more dynamic page, then you will need those also.
No, you don't need Windows first. All of my pc's except one is Linux only.
Oh, when you said, "windows" do you mean the operating system from Microsoft, "Windows" or did you mean the windows manager in Linux?
You don't need a windows manager in Linux, but for a beginner, it might be a bit easier for you. A windows manager is an application that draws... windows! Like your web browser is a window. Linux can also be ran with only the command line, no GUI.

Oh, besides port 80, you might want to use port 20 or 21 for ftp or ssh, depending on how your friend will upload files to the server.

I recomend CentOS 4.4 for a server. It's basically Red Hat. Then you install Apache...but you can choose to install that when you install the OS so all you have to do is configure it...I don't recomend installing X because you don't NEED it to run a web server....that being said...

If you are new to Linux, I recomend getting a Live CD and play around with that...get confortable with Linux. Pick a Distro (I like Fedora 6 for my Desktop and I use CentOS 4.4 for my Server), and install it...get confortable with that...

You can do ALOT with Linux...learn as much as you can...

Ok..i think i got that...
My friend is neer my house and he will not upload nothing to the server but he would like to download something maybe...
I have a router witch i forwarded many times but the only port that appears to be open on the port test is port 80
Finaly i got it that my ISP is blocking all other ports...(They say its for better security)

Then when we pick a distro we would like to have a tutorial or something to guide us...


Ithink we dont need windows at all in that case...
Then i just download the ISO..burn it on the cd..and boot that old comp from that CD...

As i understand we can run linux as a desktop OS or as a command line...???
It would probably be better for us to have a desktop although i don`t like it..

Is anybody willing to hepl even with the instal process????
tnx

If your are very new to linux, then visit this site http://linuxgalore.com. It can definetely solve your quries.

Yes, you can run linux with a gui or from the commandline. Don't worry about using a GUI or not for now. You can install one, and use it. Once your webserver is up, you can then boot into linux without a GUI.
Most of the common distros are easy to insall, they will walk you through the process. But, if you do have problems, that is why this forum is here. Just ask with as much information as possible and you should get help quickly.
You should do some reading though. I recommend reading up on apache and ssh. You didn't mention how you will get the webpages on your server, so I will assume using ssh/scp. If not with this method, then read up on how you will get the files to the server.
Since you are new to Linux, I will assume you are using Windows. You will need to learn about file permissions also.

I will need to learn a lot...
but i was thinking i would get the files on the server trough LAN..
i have 5 comps on a switch...
im using windows now and i dont have a minimum idea what apache is...
ill read obout it...
permissions...i have no idea what you are talking obout...
and tnx again the forum is grat..help is A+
Then there is still a problem with witch distro to use...i mean there are so many i just can`t decide...
i am going to have problems with linux no mether witch distro cause im new..
but i would like a distro that will go esey on me

Apache is a web server. I thought you mentioned it above, I guess not. It is the most popular of the web servers.
I assumed you would use your LAN or FTP to get the files on the server. To move files around on my network, I typically use SSH/SCP or I just mount another computer's partitions on the system I am currently using.
Permissions: In Linux, files are owned by someone or something. For example, if I create a text document and save it to my home directory, the file is owned by me. I can read it, edit it, delete it,...
Now, depending on the permissions, you might log into my computer, but you won't be able to edit my file. I might have it set up so that you can't even read it. In Linux, a file has certain permissions for the owner, the group and others. If you own the file, you can change these permissions. It is too much for this discussion. Do a google search for linux file permissions and read up.
As for the distro, any choice would be good. It is all about what you like. I prefer Debian Etch using Gnome. I love apt-get. I think it is the easiest way to install packages.