Hi there!
I know ... there are hundreds of discussions about distros in any board, but I think another one won't harm ^^
I'm planning to build my home server for http, ftp, smtp, answer machine and fax and maybe even home theater functions (DVD and CD playback, MP3 jukebox etc) to save on money for DVD players and the whole stuff (poor student ;-)). Apart from that the server will work as a router to my local network. So firewall and a proxy would be nice. I have an AMD X2 64 EE and some RAM (I'm not sure how much I will need for that purpose).
Soooo ... what is the best OS/Distro for me? I have some experience in (k)ubuntu, Suse and FreeBSD, but I'm open to any other distro or even Linux from Scratch - have wanted to try that for a long time. I thought about using Xen to separate certain functions to VMs, so I could use different systems, fitting to their task.
Thanks for your help,
Philip

PS: In the case that I include the HT: how good is the sound of a Audigy 2 ZS or whatever "new" soundcard runs on linux smoothly (checked the lq hw db) compared to their sound in win with creative's driver?
PPS: I think there is no support for the nice control panels of some HTPC cases, is there?

you really should try reading some of those threads you know... the right distro is the one you like most. everything past that for a beginner is just a popularity contest.

Well, apart from FreeBSD I wouldn't use the systems I have experience in for a server. So I can't take the distro I like most. Some advantages / disadvantages for the "common" server distros (debian, slackware, red hat as recommended on that page), some advise from experienced server-builders?

I think what acid_kewpie is trying to say is that your question is too broad to really be answered here. If your looking on checking out distros to use try going to Distrowatch to start .
Over on the right hand side you will see the top distros in terms of website hits. This would be a goo place to start because each distro has a brief description as well as all the web information for each. You'll find that many distros have subtle differences to them but to cover the basic qualifications you have almost any distro would work.

The one specific thing you'll mention that I will point out is that an Audigy 2 ZS will not work on a Linux system. Soundblaster has a strict propriety on there drivers and thusly there is poor SB support in linux. I would search the forums for recommended sound cards because the topic has come up on many of occasions.

Your needs (services) as you defined them: HTTP, FTP, SMTP, Answer machine and fax, DVD and CD playback, MP3 jukebox, router, firewall and proxy make a very odd combination. That's not what any professional business would call "a server". I'd call it "a risk" and that's an understatement. Apart from that *any* recent distro release should do since your needs aren't that exotic AFAIK.

I know it's quite unusual and not a real server, though the main function are server services (http, ftp, smtp). To include router and firewall isn't that unusual, too.

To integrate multimedia features was just an idea. Would be nice :-) And why exactly do you call it a risk, when different services run on different/independent systems via Xen.

I call it a risk for heaping everything on one box. That means the box will be exposed in more than one way and it means if it b0rks everything will go belly up. Compartmentalization as in Xen is a nice way to mitigate some risks, didn't see you mention Xen in your OP. Also having a server implies running stuff dependably and continuously while desktops tend to be rebooted or turned on and off at will. Sure you can heap everything on one box but I'd vote for separating services over two or more boxen, but that depends on what you want to (or can) invest in. For instance routing and the edge firewall don't need much CPU power, so even a humble, low-specced PIII should do (could use one of those specialised distro's for that box). HTTP, FTP, SMTP, Answer machine and fax I'd throw on a box in the DMZ, so that if something breaks you still got your multimedia to play with.

I agree with unspawn on this putting everything on one machine is ultimately going to be more trouble then it is worth. What are you going to do if you have a hardware failure and all of your services go down? Also your server is going to run painfully hot and slow because you all of these programs are going to compete for the system bus, the CPU, the hard drive and the NIC. Then there is the risk of unauthorized access to your machine? If your machine gets compromised you could become a defendant in a criminal investigation.

Finally, you have to consider what it would take to back up and recover a machine with this kind of configuration. I would recommend that you plan out your back up and recovery methods before you install your server. Then you understand how much work it takes to keep are server running reliably.