[Techtalk] Best components for a new Linux box? (was: Building boxen)

[Rachel Andrew]

>
>I had already decided, a bit ago, to build a box. I get this urge about 
>once a year, and although I usually learn a lot in the process, I also 
>swear off doing it each time after I'm done :-) I'm actually thinking 
>about building two this time.

I would be interested in this thread. I've just built a new doze 
development machine which went incredibly smoothly. My current Linux box is 
an ancient Compaq P133 and I am thinking about building myself a decent 
Linux box in order to explore Linux a bit more.

What would be a good spec for Linux box? (I'm not well off so this would 
have to be relatively inexpensive components.) I'm very capable of building 
the thing I would just like to be sure that the components I get aren't 
going to cause problems with support, I have constant battles getting my 
current Linux box configured and it would be nice to know that I was 
building something that would not be problematic from the outset. I would 
be installing Debian and KDE on whatever I get.

Any suggestions? I'd probably go with an Athlon chip but other components I 
would really just like to choose those that I know have good support so I'm 
starting without causing myself problems. As mentioned, I'll be looking at 
the lower end of the price ranges.

TIA

Rachel