On Thu, Oct 13, 2011 at 3:53 PM, Ben Finney <ben+freesoftware@benfinney.id.au> wrote:
Howdy all,
Where can I get satisfaction here? I need some or all of these functions:
* a machine to act as ADSL + wireless router and DNS + DHCP + HTTP proxy * a machine to act as grunty software development workstation * a machine to act as thin desktop client * a machine to act as home theatre for video & audio
It's not 2000 any more; even Debian now has an entirely free-software kernel. Now all I need is to know exactly what good-quality parts to buy to have the above functions. Surely I don't have to individually compile all these specifications myself?
Unfortunately, based on my experience, you will have to compile the specs. Fortunately, its not 2000 any more: most of the components are supported by kernel drivers - the "horror driver stories" mostly pertains to "medieval ages" nowadays (even the laptops support a linux installation out of the box). When you decide to take the pain of spec-ing the computer(s) yourself, I suggest you give www.msy.com.au a try. In the last 7 years, I spec-ed the 5 computers I bought from them, they built them, performed a 24h burn-test and offered 1 year warranty, all at a very reasonable price. All the 5 supported a Linux without a problem. Adrian PS all the machines I had and have were in the "grunty software development workstation" - not gaming, not 3D rendering, no multimedia/home-theater (except some MP3 thrown somewhere, to listen to while coding).