ThinClient Distro

[bobsta63]

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone knew of any good ThinClient Linux Distro's that are free to download, This is what I basically want to do...

I have a Microsoft Windows 2003 Server (Running as a Terminal Server) and I have a couple of old 500MHz PII/III Boxes that I would like to install a ThinClient OS on and for it to boot from the local HDD. (As I would prefer not to boot for a CD-ROM/Floppy each time and also do not have PXE bootable network cards.)

So far I have tried the following:

ThinStation & 2x PXES Client, however I can't install them locally and in which case they require to boot from the CD-ROM each time.

I really hope someone can help, I would really appreciate it

Thank you, Bobby

[genesus]

distrowatch
search
category: thin clients

[bobsta63]

distrowatch
search
category: thin clients

Ok I have checked this out, Was unable to find anything that was exactly what I wanted, Most of the resaults whern't even anything of the sort.

But thank you I appreciate your help genesus!!


Has anyone used a distro like this before? or have heard of anything like this?

[bobsta63]

Anyone? Please help!!!!

[psic]

Google and distrowatch are your bestest friends

I found this, this, also this, this and (finally) this.

Though I'm not sure you need a thin client, if I understand correctly, you plan on booting from the local harddrives themselves. In this case, I'd suggest installing Damn Small Linux on the computers.

[bobsta63]

Google and distrowatch are your bestest friends

I found this, this, also this, this and (finally) this.

Though I'm not sure you need a thin client, if I understand correctly, you plan on booting from the local harddrives themselves. In this case, I'd suggest installing Damn Small Linux on the computers.

Thank you very much Pisc

I have checked them out and by far Pilot Linux is most suitable for what I want, As you said however I am trying to boot from a local drive (HDD) and therefore what you said about Damn small does sound appealing.. A few questions if I may ask you...

Firstly, I mainly use OpenSUSE Linux and also Fedora, with damn small is it possible to literally cutomise packages like you do with the other versions of linux and does rDesktop come pre-compiled with Damn Small?

Ideally I would like a Linux System that will boot directly from the Hard Drive but only allow the user access to rDesktop so I can get them logging onto a Windows 2003 Terminal Server so therefore I would not want a Login Window when you start the Thin Client up.. Does this make sense?

I really appreciate you help and time you spent searching the web for me, So a big thank you

[jonantice]

Consider building your own linux distro. Step by step instructions are at www.linuxfromscratch.org. Following their instructions is not very hard although a little time consuming. If you don't find a distro that meets your specs, a linux from scratch certainly will because you make it.

[bobsta63]

Have you every made your own distro? Also could I then package it on an ISO and then re-distrubute it... This is something I am interested in as I want to help others also.. As I think this could benefit people

[psic]

First off, I think if you want to help out the community, you should help with an existing distribution or other open source project than start your own. I think there's enought distributions for just about everyone. Yet there's many projects which have been abandoned and are just waiting for someone to come along and give them a second chance (the same goes for distributions). But yes, you can make your own distro, make it available on the 'net, distribute it, even sell it. But open-source code has to remain open-source.

Back to the topic. Damn small does not have rDesktop, but you can easily add it with apt-get. I recommended DSL because it is (obviously) very small and easy on the resources (I've got an old version running on a P2 300 Mhz with 128 Mb of ram, and it's on a 1 gig harddrive). The distro itself takes 50 megs of space (it fits on one of those tiny, pocket CD's). I'm not sure what you mean with 'customize packages'? DSL is built on debian, and can use the excellent apt (Advanced Package Tool) to install packages (the command is 'apt-get install package_name') . When I run DSL, I don't have a login window, but a login prompt (a command line), where I login and run startx. But it shouldn't be too hard to configure it to login to the desktop automatically.

If you've any questions, just ask away.

ps: and it's 'psic', pronounced 'psich', it means something along the lines of 'dog-ie' (not 'puppy'), it's been my nickname for ages


EDIT: I forgot to mention DSL-N (Damn small linux NOT), which might be an even better choice, seeing as your computers are not really that old. It's still very small but has some better apps and some more features. Perhaps you should take a look.

[swandi]

Dear Friends... Could i access loca cdrom and floppy disk in client side in thinstation system? Thank's