switch to linux on my desktop-machine

I’ve been fooling around with setting up Linux desktops for about half a decade now but it wasn’t until recently that I learned how to set up a server.

I learned to set up 2 NIC cards, connect to a DSL modem using pppoeconfig, set up the firewall using firestarter, set up the DNS server with the help of dnsmasq, set up an ftp server using vsftp, set up an http proxy server using squid, and get it all connected to the winboxes in the network using Samba. Oh, and on an unrelated note, I also learned how to crimp RJ45s. (Sheepish grin.)

All I need now is to learn the AMP part in LAMP.

I am writing this on my hand-rolled Linux!!! Finally got the network card to connect to the internet after literally about a hundred tries. I was on the verge of buying a new card tomorrow, discarding the new one I had just bought. It’s only about Php 425, but its pretty steep considering my extremely limited funds.

So many things ran through my mind: Man, not another monumental failure, just when I was so close… Oh heck, have to shell out another 500 bucks for a new card… What now? Everyone’s counting on me… Good-bye server, good-bye future career…

Apparently, the card (D-Link DFE-528TX) must be in half-duplex (10mbs) mode. I had been running in the default 100mbps full-duplex mode. After a couple of hours of tweaking this and that, here and there, I was able to get it connected to the router!

Seriously, the entire hand-rolled Linux project hinged on this. Had I failed this part, (which was almost a certainty) I might as well have not started this at all!

Thank you Lord Jesus for listening and helping me out. Literally had my hands up in despair.

WOW, THIS IS SO COOL, SURFING ON SOMETHING I CREATED! GOD RULZ!

Ok, the mouse is a bit crappy, but that’s easy to fix.

So tired… Physically, mentally. Need to rest…

I created an entire Linux system from scratch using nothing but the source tarballs. I recently made the X system work. Now it has a word processor (AbiWord), a spreadsheet (Gnumeric), and Firefox. I’ve also installed J2SE 1.4.2 for software development. (Managed to squeeze in FreeCiv, couldn’t help it. Hehe.)

First order of business now:
Need to install Apache webserver, MySQL and PHP. Would save our two new businesses a lot of money. I also get to learn in the process. Will need to learn how servers work, how to connect this thing to the internet. I ought to buy a network card within the week. Hope my old network cable works. Everything hinges on that.

When I’m free:
I definitely would want to install ALSA sound support, the latest version of WINE (to run my Windows games.) Maybe Lazarus or Gambas. If StarCraft runs and connects to the net, I’m totally moving over to Linux!!!

Really hard work, but fun!