Suggest an OS for a minetest server

[markveidemanis]

*

[PilzAdam]

Definetly not something with a GUI. Is there a Lubuntu Server Edition? If yes, this should be lightweight enough. Its free, btw.

[xyz]

gentoo

[Zeg9]

Debian is great for servers. Also, you could try arch, as you only install what you need on it.

[Calinou]

Definetly not something with a GUI. Is there a Lubuntu Server Edition? If yes, this should be lightweight enough. Its free, btw.

Ubuntu Server is Ubuntu without a desktop environment, so there are no "DE derivatives" of it.

[CryAngel]

gentoo

why not LFS then?

[xyz]

gentoo

why not LFS then?

Why are you comparing Gentoo with LFS?

[CryAngel]

Why are you comparing Gentoo with LFS?

because both are compilable by user (at least, is usual way for both)

[sfan5]

gentoo

/me thinks Gentoo is a pain to install

Definetly not something with a GUI. Is there a Lubuntu Server Edition? If yes, this should be lightweight enough. Its free, btw.

Lubuntu is only so "light" because it uses XFCE.
If there's no GUI, theres no difference between Unity or XFCE, so theres no Lubuntu

I have an old 600MHz laptop that i want to convert into a minetest server.
I need a very light operating system that is able to run minetest.

I suggest Debian Wheezy

If someone can write such a thing, let m know plx.

An OS?
You'd need to write a Kernel with Multitasking and module loading support, drivers for USB, VESA, Network(Network stack that supports at least IPv4, DHCP client), Network Card, maybe Wireless Adapter, Keyboard and other things your computer might have.
Then you would need to make a complete c and c++ std library, also all things required by a minetest server need to be ported(including gcc and g++ and required libraries).
It'd take many many months to write an OS from scratch that can run a minetest server...

[jojoa1997]

I know Windows 95

[Calinou]

I know Windows 95

It can't run Minetest binaries, you need Windows XP at least to do that.

[onpon4]

Parabola GNU/Linux or Dragora are lightweight options I'd recommend if you're feeling adventurous or familiar with GNU/Linux systems. Otherwise, Trisquel GNU/Linux has a net-installer.

All of these are completely free software (where "free" refers to freedom, not price), which is why I recommend them. Parabola and Trisquel are based on Arch and Ubuntu, respectively, and Dragora is a KISS OS not based on another distro; I've heard that it's similar to Slackware.

[VanessaE]

Your best bet is any variant of [Xu|Edu|Lu|Ku|U]buntu or recent Debian, just configure it not to use a graphical desktop.

[CryAngel]

i dont know many about *BSD nor know if is supported by MT but if so is also can be option. at least as i know nVidia make drivers for FreeBSD, so 3D will work there.

[onpon4]

3D isn't needed for simply hosting a server. The main hardware incompatibility you could run into is wireless cards, if you need to connect wirelessly.

Regarding 3D, though, Intel graphics (through cooperation from Intel) and most Nvidia cards (through reverse-engineering) work with 3D using only free drivers and firmware, so in general you won't have compatibility problems with them. Only AMD/ATI graphics frequently require nonfree software for 3D to work.

[onpon4]

Only AMD/ATI graphics frequently require nonfree software for 3D to work.

Actually, the Xorg (non propriatary) driver has come a long way. Here is the Feature List : http://www.x.org/wiki/RadeonFeature

The free Radeon drivers require nonfree firmware for 3D to work. No AMD graphics work with 3D acceleration using exclusively free software. I think someone on the Trisquel forums has said that this has something to do with DRM (Digital Restrictions Management), but I don't know the details.

[cheapie]

gentoo

/me thinks Gentoo is a pain to install

It only takes two simple (and easily memorable!) commands:

1. fdisk /dev/sda && mkfs.xfs /dev/sda1 && mkswap /dev/sda2 && swapon /dev/sda2 && mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/gentoo/ && cd /mnt/gentoo/ && links http://www.gentoo.org/main/en/mirrors.xml && md5sum -c stage3-*.tar.bz2.DIGESTS && tar xvjpf stage3-*.tar.bz2 && links http://www.gentoo.org/main/en/mirrors.xml && md5sum -c portage-latest.tar.bz2.md5sum && tar xvjf /mnt/gentoo/portage-latest.tar.bz2 -C /mnt/gentoo/usr && nano -w /mnt/gentoo/etc/make.conf && mirrorselect -i -o >> /mnt/gentoo/etc/make.conf && mount -t proc none /mnt/gentoo/proc && mount -o bind /dev /mnt/gentoo/dev && chroot /mnt/gentoo/ && env-update && source /etc/profile && emerge --sync && cd /etc && rm /etc/make.profile && ln -s ../usr/portage/profiles/default-linux/x86/desktop make.profile && cp /usr/share/zoneinfo/US/Eastern /etc/localtime && cd /usr/portage && scripts/bootstrap.sh && emerge -e system && emerge vim && emerge gentoo-sources && cd /usr/src/linux && make menuconfig && make install modules_install && vim /etc/fstab && passwd && emerge grub vixie-cron syslog-ng dhcpcd && cp /boot/grub/grub.conf.sample /boot/grub/grub.conf && vim /boot/grub/grub.conf && grep -v rootfs /proc/mounts > /etc/mtab && grub-install --no-floppy /dev/hda && init 6 && emerge gnome mozilla-firefox openoffice && emerge --sync && emerge portage openssh

2. reboot

[quick.dudley]

You'd need to write a Kernel with Multitasking and module loading support, drivers for USB, VESA, Network(Network stack that supports at least IPv4, DHCP client), Network Card, maybe Wireless Adapter, Keyboard and other things your computer might have.
Then you would need to make a complete c and c++ std library, also all things required by a minetest server need to be ported(including gcc and g++ and required libraries).
It'd take many many months to write an OS from scratch that can run a minetest server...

You wouldn't need all of those features to run minetest server, but I agree it would be a waste of time writing an OS in this case.

[CryAngel]

It only takes two simple (and easily memorable!) commands

yes, and on TS hardware he wont do anything anymore, just wait all near future ;D

[xyz]

It only takes two simple (and easily memorable!) commands

yes, and on TS hardware he wont do anything anymore, just wait all near future ;D

distcc

[DERP]

Your best bet is any variant of [Xu|Edu|Lu|Ku|U]buntu or recent Debian, just configure it not to use a graphical desktop.

What do you mean by non graphical/ Text only command line interface?

[onpon4]

Your best bet is any variant of [Xu|Edu|Lu|Ku|U]buntu or recent Debian, just configure it not to use a graphical desktop.

What do you mean by non graphical/ Text only command line interface?

Yep, command line. If you're only running a server on the machine, this makes sense and uses the smallest amount of resources possible.

[Menche]

I like to use Debian for my Minetest server. Everything is well tested and stable, there are fewer updates than other distros, and it is pretty easy to get up and running.

The software included is older, but I only had to get one package from backports, cmake, because apparently checkinstall won't work with the cmake version in stable. This probably won't be a problem when the next Debian comes out (targetted for next week, I believe).

[hasufell]

gentoo

and it is now officially supported, so you can file gentoo bugs

[BrandonReese]

Slackware