Have an old system gathering dust? Turn it into a Linux server! It's easy to do. Just follow along with our guide pages and we'll walk you through installing the Debian Linux OS and setting up a network with the most common types of Internet and LAN servers. You'll learn some things about operating systems, networking, and the Internet in the process, and you may just have some fun along the way. Even if you have never worked with Linux before, you'll be able to use our guide pages to go from zero to "sysadmin" in no time, as well as get a solid start in the knowledge needed for the Linux+ certification.

Red Hat is in a tough spot. Most of their revenue streams are based on sales, support, and training while the open nature of Linux has resulted in thousands of freely-available Linux resources on the Web. Their survival depends on having a product that is proprietary enough to make you dependent upon them for upgrades and support. And now that they are a publically-held company they are under pressure to meet the expectations of Wall Street analysts for revenue growth and cash flows every quarter. (Did you think it was just a coincidence that they churned out new versions at an average of two a year?) In time, Red Hat's dominance will likely kill off smaller commercial distributions like Mandrake (France) and TurboLinux (Japan) and

Debian is the world's leadingn o n-c o m m e r c i a l totally free Linux distribution. Remaining loyal to the concept upon which Linux was created, it is produced by hundreds of volunteer developers around the world. Contrary to a common misconception, Debian is not for Linux gurus only. As a matter of fact, as you will see on the guide pages, its advanced package management system makes it one of the easier distributions for new Linux users to work with. Here are just a few of its advantages:

easy to keep your system up to date and free of orphan files and incompatible products. Most dependent packages are handled automatically so you don't get the "Failed dependencies" error commonly encountered when trying to add software on RPM-based systems like Red Hat and Suse.

command to update your entire system (operating system and installed packages) over the Internet. This allows you to use a scheduler to routinely run a shell script to automatically update your system with the latest program, OS, and security patches.

included in the official Debian distributions, and the current binary distribution comes on 14 CDs because there are over 10,000 of them. With Debian, you don't have different "server" and "workstation" or "personal" editions. It's everything all in one.

and chat rooms. Replies to messages may even be from those who helped develop the product. And since you're likely not the first person to encounter a given issue, there are also searchable archives of listserv messages. If your company requires commercial support contracts fear not. Numerous for-profit support operations offer a variety of technical support options. With Debian, you don't have to worry about forced upgrades due to vendors dropping support for older versions.

requirements Linux is famous for. While most OSs require newer, faster, bigger hardware, Debian allows you to utilize those old Pentium systems instead of throwing them into a landfill. This, along with the fact that you can load a single copy of Debian on as many systems as you want, means you can set up a full-blown enterprise at very little cost.

Debian CD images are available for download fromw w w . d e b i a n . o r g. If you download the images, be sure to download thec u r r e n t "stable" release (get the "i386" set for an Intel PC system). However, downloading and burning 14 CDs takes some time and effort. You can also purchase ready-made CD sets from Web vendors for

If you don't have a spare computer we've got good news. Linux doesn't need much. You can pick up a Pentium-II clone on sites like eBay for under $100. A system with 64 meg of RAM and a 2-gig drive is more than enough for our needs. (If you have a network be sure to pick up a network card for it also. Used 3Com 3C905s are going for around $10.) If money is tight you could always just pick up a used 2-gig hard-drive and mount that in your current system (we cover this option in more detail on theInstallat i o n page).

If you're the type who likes to base your operations on the bleeding edge, Debian isn't for you. Debian's focus on providing a stable, reliable operating system across all platforms means it will never be "first to market" with new bells and whistles. They are incorporated into new releases once the bugs have been discovered and worked out.

While many may shy away from Linux because of its complexity, it is this very complexity that makes it so interesting and beneficial. And as with anything complex, when taken as a series of small, simpler pieces it becomes easy. With all of its pieces, Linux is like a bottomless toy chest that will provide you with many years of learning. "Never stop learning" as they say. Your brain needs exercise just as much as your body. Keep it in shape or you run the risk of becoming a mental turnip by the time you're 70.

Back before Microsoft developed Windows, Macintosh computers were more popular. It was easier for new computer users to use a mouse to point to cute little pictures than to have to learn a bunch of DOS commands. However, you couldn't write batch files on Macs, couldn't redirect text or file contents to ports, pipe input to commands, take actions based on return codes, etc., etc. While the Mac GUI made it easier to use a computer, it insulated you from the hardware and OS kernel limiting your ability to execute commands and automate tasks. And isn't automation, i.e. having the computer do the work for you, what computers were supposed to be all about? The Mac GUI did quite the opposite. It required user input to accomplish anything. A similar comparison can now be made between Windows and Linux/UNIX servers and the same equations hold true:

This is the case with just about anything. An audio system with a single "tone" control is easy to use but it doesn't give you the options for sound quality that one with a 15-band graphic equalizer does. While it may be easier to learn how to use a Windows server OS, you pay for it by being forced to manually supply inputs and by being restricted in your ability to automate. The real downside of this is that automation (having computers perform tasks instead of people) is what provides the greatest productivity gains, and gains in productivity

While it may seem unbelievable that having an old Pentium system and $30 means you can have your own Linux Internet, LAN, gateway, or application server, (A Pentium-II system would be better simply because the newer BIOS will support booting off of a CD but Pentium systems will work with boot floppies.) The $30 is just to cover media, duplication, and labeling costs. The Debian Linux software itself is absolutely free and you can set up as many systems as you want with no licensing concerns once you get the CDs. If you have a broadband Internet connection and a CD burner you don't even have to spend the $30. You can download the CD images directly from one of Debian's mirrors and burn your own. However, considering that you'd be downloading about 8.5 gigabytes of data, even with full use of a 1.5 megabit/sec T1 line it would take al o n g time. When you consider the cost of the blanks and the time it would take to get an uncorrupted download of, and then burn, all fourteen images you'd have to have a lot of free time on your hands to make downloading worthwhile. Given all the different types of servers you can set up (see the bullet list in the next section), a set of CDs is a bargain investment in your education.

Linux will run on many different hardware platforms and Debian supports the widest variety with each platform having it's own CD set. That's why you'll see Debian CD sets offered with notations like 'i386' for Intel PCs, 'PPC' for Power PCs, 'm68k' for Macs, 'Sparc' for Sun systems, and even an 's390' set for IBM mainframes. There is also a 'Source' CD set which contains the source code files for the entire OS and all of the applications and utilities that come with it. This would be of interest to you if you are a C programmer (or want to become a C programmer) and are interested in viewing or modifying the source code of the OS, utilities, and/or applications included with Debian. (You can even modify the kernel source code itself which is available on the binary CDs.) Note that if you want to install Debian on a standard Intel/AMD/Cyrix PC you'll want the 'i386' CD set.

When you say the word "server" most people think you're talking about powerful, expensive systems with RAID drives and dual processors. That's not the case at all. Any old PC can be a server. It's actually the software you run on it that determines if a PC is a server or a "workstation". And thanks to the modest hardware requirements of Linux, you don't need much of a PC in order to set up a server.

The best way to play around with a Linux server is to pick up an old Intel P-II or P-III system without a monitor and keyboard. Then also get a 2-port KVM (Keyboard/Video/Mouse) switch so you can use the monitor and keyboard from you current PC for both systems. Setting up Linux on a separate system doesn't cost much and it's safer as it ensures that you won't hose up your primary system trying a multi-partition dual-boot scenario where both Windows and Linux are installed on the same system.

Linux is the name operating system*. However, unlike Windows it is available from many different companies. These companies may add their own bells and whistles to the operating system (like a graphical install routine), but they all use a version of the Linux "kernel" (i.e. guts of the OS). Linux releases from different companies are called "distributions" (aka "distros"). The Red Hat distribution is the most popular commercial distro with Suse and Mandrake being two others. Commercial distros are produced by companies which seek to make a profit on selling and supporting their distributions of Linux. (If see a distro simply referred to as "Linux", for example "Linux 9", it's Red Hat.) Debian (pronounced deb-ee-en) is a little different. It's the world's leading non-commercial distribution produced by volunteer developers world-wide seeking to promote the concept of free and open software upon which Linux was initially created.