Debian as a server (Web, e-mail, ftp)

[Jerry_S]

From what I have been reading Debian is a choice for running as a server.

My question is, is it easy to configure for a newbie ( i have the time to learn it) and does is come with a GUI desktop?

Is there a different distro that I should or could use that will work for what I need?

How it will be set up is that I have three computers,

Computer 1: This will be a web server running Apache ( i am thinking of going with XAMPP) and that will be the only thing ruining on it

Computer 2: This will be set up as a e-mail server with web mail. (I don't know witch app to run for e-mail or web mail any suggestion are welcome).

Computer 3: This will be set up as a FTP server.(I don't know witch app to run for ftp any suggestion are welcome).

The reason that I am going to go to Linux is that I need a pure OS I don't need the other stuff that comes with windows. I am tired of windows always downloading updates and rebooting my system. I need some thing that I can set up, maintain under my control, and not worry about it shutting down or rebooting.

Thanks In Advance.......

JerryS

[Juan Pablo]

From what I have been reading Debian is a choice for running as a server.

If you want to, there other options like CentOS or Gentoo and a lot more ...

My question is, is it easy to configure for a newbie ( i have the time to learn it) and does is come with a GUI desktop?

Debian is pretty easy with apt-get, you can have a GUI if you want to have a GUI

Is there a different distro that I should or could use that will work for what I need?

Test some distros and choose the apropiate

The reason that I am going to go to Linux is that I need a pure OS I don't need the other stuff that comes with windows. I am tired of windows always downloading updates and rebooting my system. I need some thing that I can set up, maintain under my control, and not worry about it shutting down or rebooting.

With Linux you will have total control over your computer, you will still need to install some updates but you don't need reboots.

[flipjargendy]

i would recommend using Debian if you are new. Redhat is very good but a little harder to use. Installing things in Debian is much easier to do. But you don't have to choose a distro that is aimed at being a server. You could use Ubuntu (one of the easiest distros to use) as a server if you really wanted. It might not work as well as Debian because it's not meant to be a server. It would work though... and Ubuntu is based off Debian.