Greetings!

I am a trainor in a small company in Manila. My teammates have very little experience in UNIX scripting and C/C++ programming. I'd like to develop their skills by setting up a PC-based Linux server so they can learn and develop their UNIX and C/C++ skills.

I'd like to minimize cost, so my first option is Slackware 10.0. However, my project manager has advised me to also check out the commercial releases of Red Hat and Mandrake just in case we can afford the cost.

Being inexperienced in Linux, I checked the Red Hat and Mandrake stores. Here are the options that I came up with:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS (USD 349.00)
MandrakeLinux 10.0 Powerpack (EUR 79.00)

These are the requirements of the Linux flavor that I am supposed to install:

1. can be installed on a Pentium 4 PC
2. the server is stable and reliable
3. can be a server for multiple users
4. can allow users to create and execute shell scripts in Bourne shell and Korn shell
5. can allow users to use VI
6. has a C/C++ compiler

Are the options I chose for Red Hat and Mandrake able to fulfill my specifications? Are the options I chose too overpowered and are there cheaper, simpler versions available from either Red Hat or Mandrake?

Any response will be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

The software is more or less the same regardless of what you install (I find www.distrowatch.com a good resource when comparing distros). With Red Hat and Mandrake, you are buying some support, and perhaps a bit more bundled software (but you can install software not bundled with your distro). While all three distros will do what you want, I'd come out in favor of Slackware because it is less hand holding and less GUI oriented, and therefore forces the new user to learn more about the system. This is not to say you can't learn Linux with Red Hat or Mandrake, it's just they try to hide things behind pretty GUIs.

I would definitely go with Slackware too, I would never run a server on Red Hat or Mandrake.

Also, your goal here is to teach the users the more intricate details of the OS, not baby them. So you should use a distro that doesn't get between the system and the user.

Slackware is certainly that type of distro.

Hello kababayan =)

If you don't need support (I am sure you won't) you can try the latest free versions- Fedora Core 2 and Mandrake 10.1 (Official version if already out not the community version) which can just be downloaded.

All linux can be installed on just about any x86. In fact, linux is available on almost all architecture known to man.
If you are building a server, almost all non-Windows server in the Philippines use Redhat or even Debian (the most stable though not preferred for desktop since the applications are not updated). Some others I know even use FreeBSD (another Unix variant). Yes Slackware servers also exist (just so people in here won't be mad me). Slackware though lacks a lot of graphical utilities and therefore the learning curve for your students using that environment would be steep.
Mandrake has a really slick desktop (in fact I use it at home) but I have not heard about their servers. Items 3, 5 and 6 are a given in all Unix variants/derivatives (that includes Linux). As for 4, All linux has bash (Bourne again shell, the GNU and better version of Bourne) shell by default. Mandrake includes a collection of shells (including korn) in 9.0 it should have in succeeding versions.

Thank you guys for the replies. They were very helpful. I was able to write down my recommendations properly. The link to DistroWatch was very useful; it actually provided me with links to download installation cds.

PS: Janus, maraming salamat pare! marami akong natutunan dahil sa response mo.