

Ask HN: I want to turn my old laptop into a Linux server - artursapek

I have an old Thinkpad that I want to nuke and reconfigure and run as a Linux server for development.<p>What are some good resources/references for this sort of endeavor? Any advice?
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pilooch
Use whatever distribution with LTS. Most of my past laptops are now Linux
servers we use for various applications around the house (media server,
backups, HTTP proxy, development machine). Wifi can be a bummer so plug it in.

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artursapek
That sounds like what I'm doing. Thanks for the advice.

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bediger
I've put versions of Slackware on old laptops 3 times. Pick a version of
Slackware a year or two older than the laptop, so that all the devices are
well supported, and the software hasn't bloated beyond what the older hardware
can support. Do security upgrades (OpenSSH, OpenSSL) as required.

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pasbesoin
I think you meant to say 'a release that's a year or two younger'. Meaning,
the maintainers will have had time to discover and roll in any needed support.

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bediger
Thank you, yes, that's what I meant. Good mind reading.

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pasbesoin
I've done this with Ubuntu, albeit making a workstation rather than a server.
Works fine, although Gnome 2 is a bit sluggish with the window painting. I'll
probably move to XFCE or something lighter for the desktop/window management
(it's a simple apt-get install plus whatever configuration tweaks one wants to
make).

Given Ubuntu's current direction, if you were to go with it and want to use
the Gnome 2 GUI ("Classic"), I'd say that's all the more reason to go with /
stay on the 10.04 long term release (see pilooch's comment). And keep in mind
that you may be leaving Ubuntu altogether by 13.04 at the latest. Although by
that time, you may be looking to retire the Thinkpad (from its current use, at
least) regardless.

I'm no expert; just the results of my own dinking and thinking.

P.S. Unstated: If GUI's not a concern, then no worries -- probably go with
whatever production environment is of interest to you.

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artursapek
I just saw this. Thanks for the advice. I'll dink and think along with your
findings :)

