Many thanks to all who responded. I see everybody has their own
favorites, often for good reasons. Oh well, this is Linux Land: I guess
I can't expect any two people to like the same thing; that would be too
easy.
For those who asked questions along the lines of "what is this going to
be used for?" that's not entirely clear. You see, my client (it feels
weird to say that since I'm so obviously non-expert about hardware, but
he knows that, so ... okay) is at this point just trying out Linux. The
reason he is going to the trouble of building his own box is that he
just really cares about having quality hardware. He designs custom
speaker systems for a living; he's not planning to use Linux for his
work--he's got special Mac software for that--but apparently for things
that he would otherwise use Windows for: office-type stuff, Net access,
possibly a Web server.
Anyway, lots of good info. Now I have to try and make some sense of it
all.
--
Matt Gushee When a nation follows the Way,
Englewood, Colorado, USA Horses bear manure through
mgushee at havenrock.com its fields;
http://www.havenrock.com/ When a nation ignores the Way,
Horses bear soldiers through
its streets.
--Lao Tzu (Peter Merel, trans.)