>Hi
>
>Another thread which I started told me quite categorically that I could not have more than 10 concurrent connections to a Win2k pro machine and that I had to run Win2k server.
>
True

>All I want is a simple file server on which to share the data.
>

Of course a typical use for linux.

>Does anyone have any experience with Linux and if so which version would be the best for ease of loading and configuration.

I have no system background. As a plain vfp developper i was able to run both a mandrake and a RH set-up in a snap. RH is cleaner and better documented.

But ... when things get bad on linux you need a REAL system background or be ready to acquire it. Many good books and helpful fellows on the net. The quantity of reading and testing you need to go through is impossible to compensate if your time has some decent value. I am a developper not a system person. Your case may be different.

At this stage it may be worth paying for RH online and/or phone support.

Let me disgress a bit on linux as a closing...

Of course if you are on the learning side, it may be a valuable experience to learn Linux. But this is an other issue. If you need a linux server up and do not want to dive into system administration, it may be worth having someone do the job for you.

Do not get me wrong. I have learned to like linux. But its value is not in just license cost reduction. A W2K server is worth the cost of it.

But there just quite a few things that just run better or much better on linux than on win32. Linux is much easier to code - it is a simple non-threaded architecture. You can do marvels in stuff like python or even C. It is basically a simpler and cleaner environment to work with. Because it is simpler (and openly coded), it's generally faster at a few basic but critical services like networking or http-production.

The great value of linux is incredible. You install (painfully), set up your software and forget about system reset and windows versions... no you won't be forced from nt 3.5 into 4.0 then W2k then what else.

Programming is even better as linux is driven by developpers not marketing. You won't be forced into neither java, nor dot-net nor other fancy stuff if you do not want to. Only sensible changes get implemented... Quite a change if you compare that to our foolish windows environment or, even worse, the proprietary worlds of mainframes.

We develop our user interfaces for win32 with vfp (and we like it), run the db engines on W2K or linux (but we prefer W2K) depending on the client request and propose to push all web things from linux/apache rather than W2K/IIS or W2K/apache (yes we tried all solutions - nothing beats linux/apache).

System services including file and web services are the strongest points of the *nixes. I would rather bet a critical service on linux than win32. This is where linux is great.

François