Amahi versus plain Fadora - General Question

[abacus21]

This board is filled with really impressive people who know their stuff. I'm new, very new, to the linux community and your the community is amazing at giving tips and links to learn how to be "one with the linux server."

As a newbie:

Is "Amahi" on top of "Fadora" a good place to start learning in the linux world?

What are the advantages of running "Amahi" on top of "Fadora" -- rather than just running plain Fadora?

Abacus21, Philadelphia

[bigfoot65]

Check out the web site.

http://www.amahi.org

[spline]

Hi Abacus,

it really depends what you want to do with your box.

Amahi is a good solution if you are not willing to spend more time with configuration of your system. Just install it in a couple of minutes and than run it.
I think most of the people her run Amahi because of greyhole (known as drive extender in WHS). So was i. I looked for a free replacement to use my box as a file server to store data on.
Also amahi is good to set up applications via one click install (if the application you want is available for amahi).
If the application you need is not available for one click install you can install it on your own.

But amahi also has some disadvantages. The biggest for me is, that you have to run it with DNS and DHCP enabled to get the full "power". If you have a look in the forums, DNS and DHCP is often the reason for trouble.
Also, the configuration is different from a "standard" Fedora Linux. So you can't allways follow the guides you'll find in the internet.
And, as not so many applications are available yet (and maybe the one you need is not available), you have to install them on your own anyway.
Another disadvantage is, that it's still build on Fedora 14, while Fedora 17 is the most current version. I'm not sure if F14 is still supported and security issues will get fixed. And, from a security point of view, i don't trust amahi that much (having configurations (e.g. DNS etc in a DB with a well know password is not that good idea).

So i ended up in quit using amahi and set up a box with Ubuntu Linux. It's easy to use and there are a lot of guides out there on how to configure it the way you want. Also a very active community is available.
I installed greyhole on my own (not a big deal, good documentation and i'm using linux since 15 years from time to time), and all other applications i need (TV recorder, Mailserver, DLNA, ...)


Best regards


Juergen

[abacus21]

Juergen,

I'm going to eat some sauerkraut in honor of your reply! Thank You. You’ve given me that “insiders know how” on what to look for that I was initially asking.

I’m not entirely sure I understand the full complexity of your detailed reply. But I’m delighted you’ve given me some things to go look up and research further. That’s what I’ve been looking for.

What I want is to get started in the Linux server world. I want to start learning how to make a home file server to store all the family pictures, mp3 files, and vacation mov files.

I want to learn how to connect the printers in the house as a print server. I would be wonderful to sit across the hall and print to the laser printer in study without having to physically move the documents on a flash drive, plug in the drive to the computer connected to the printer, just to print on the laser. I bought a wireless terminal for the printer be seen on the household WLAN. (More to come when it arrives.)

I’m looking to get my feet wet and so Amahi seems like it’s a place I can learn the basics.

So…. Can you tell me a little more? Your comment:

The biggest for me is, that you have to run it with DNS and DHCP enabled to get the full "power". If you have a look in the forums, DNS and DHCP is often the reason for trouble.

What is DNS ?
What is DHCP ?

I would gladly welcome a link if it’s too detailed or involved to type out.

Thanks

Abacus21, Eating more sauerkraut,
Philadelphia

[spline]

Hi, the Kraut is back again

Don't forget to drink some beer too )

Ok, let's start.
Amahi is a kind of "you don't have to care about the details"-Solution.
By using the solution you will not learn that much.
If you just drive a car, you will not learn how to repair it.

For an explanation on DNS and DHCP please have a look on wikipedia. There you will find a much better eplanation than i could give you. But DNS and DHCP is that waht you'r Router will do in normal cases.

For all that "file and printer-server" stuff, SAMBA is your friend. And to make it a little bit safer (in terms of hard drive defects), you could also use greyhole.
There are so really good tutorials out there. Use google and you'r weekend will be to short to read all the stuff.

I run a Ubuntu bxo, Samba and Greyhole on it. I also use it to record TV, stream my music and movies to my TV in the living room, backup my working PC to some space in the cloud and a lot of more.

It took me a while to get everything up and running, but there so many good tutorials out there....
And i've learned a lot.


Hope this helps you a little bit.

Keep on going eating Sauerkraut. It's healthy (sonebody told me). But don't forget the Schweinsbraten and some Beer


Have fun


Juergen



Just do give you an idea and a starting point.
I'm currentli using