webmail help (requires patience!)

[ssnapier]

I am planning on setting up a Linux server as a test platform for a future webmail idea I am kicking around. Here are my questions:

I want to use a wireless NIC since it will be too far away from my current connection to run cables and keep my wife happy, which wireless setups will work in Linux? I have looked and have not found a very good answer to this.

I need a webmail app that will allow new users sign up and have the usual Hotmail/Yahoo style features, any suggestions there?

What distro of Linux would be the best for a guy that has been using Windows forever and a day? I REALLY want to learn Linux, and now I actually have the box and the time!!!

 

[RhythmAce]

Where is infincham when ya need him. He knows this kind of stuff. ) From what I hear, linux has no problem with wireless. You might also look into the ones that can be linked through your phone lines. That just about exhausts my knowledge of that subject. I just spent a few days running cat5 through out every room in the house. ) As for a good webmail prog, try

http://www.endymion.com.

Linux distros are pretty much the same but I kind of like Red Hat. The best part of linux in general, is that you can get some of the most powerful software in the world and it's free. Free is good. ) Have fun!!

 

[ssnapier]

Well I am at a bit of a disadvantage but it was by choice, as I have NO phone lines in my house. I use a cell phone for my phone and Sprint Broadband (wireless) for my net connection, so wireless is my only remaining option just cause the CAT 5 run would be very ugly in this house.

 

[marsd]

For your webmail, this may do the trick:

http://www.inter7.com/sqwebmail/

For info on linux wireless:

http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/Linux/

This is a pretty definitive start site for you.

If you have specific problems please note them in your
post.

 

[ssnapier]

thanks, still waiting on a few things to come together, but this is a great start!! I am sure there will be many more posts to follow!!

 

[ifincham]

Hi,

On the webmail, you might like to look at the following :

Netmania -->

http://www.netmania.org/en/screenshot/index.html

Squirrelmail -->

http://www.squirrelmail.org/

There are also lots more listed here
(all php based) -->

http://www.hotscripts.com/PHP/Scripts_and_Programs/Email_Systems/

On the distros, its a bit of a moving target because they keep getting more 'user-friendly', at least on the gui side. The two that consistently get the top reviews are Mandrake (

http://www.linux-mandrake.com)

and Suse (

http://www.suse.com).

Current vesrions are 8.1 and 7.3 respectively (The numbers are not comparable - i.e. Mandrake 8.1 is newer than Mandrake 8.0 but not necessarily any newer than Suse 7.3). The distro that gets most business use is still redhat (

http://www.redhat.com)

and their new 7.2 is noticeably more easy to use because a lot of it is based around nautilus and the older config utilities like linuxconf are supposedly now 'legacy' items. For a more purist distro it would have to be debian (

http://www.debian.org)

but, excellent as it is, its not really recommended for ex-windows newbies. All the elements you would need will be available for all the distros - its more a matter of personal preference and that perennial issue support. Obviously its far easier to get help with something if you use a 'popular' distro with millions of users rather than something more obscure (Oops.. then again if I extend that argument too much I'll end up recommending M$/Windoze !) See -->

http://www.linux.org/dist/english.html

.


Hope this helps

 

[ssnapier]

that was a big help.... thank you!!

I think I have found my mail solution as well, it is this one:

http://www.netwinsite.com/index.html

If anyone has a reason for me NOT to use this particular piece of software please tell me before I buy it!!

 

[RhythmAce]

Sounds like a lot of money for a few bells and whistles. I'd fire up linux and get my feet wet on the cheap before spending that kind of money. You're going to find that you can do just about anything for free with linux. Once you have learned how things work and you just can't find a solution that fulfills your needs, then at least you will be able to make a more educated decision. Uh oh, I'm starting to sound like Dr. Laura. ) Now go do the right thing.

 

[ssnapier]

ROFLMAO!!! Good call....

 

[ssnapier]

ok, I have decided to go with Mandrake (downloading it right now) which GUI's are good and which are bad?? perhaps this needs to be a new thread at this point....

 

[marsd]

GNOME and KDE are environments which are nice for people coming from the winworld.

 

[RhythmAce]

I think Gnome is the most popular but many like KDE. You will get both in your distro. You should be able to switch back and forth between the two. You can also use terminal mode (dos prompt?) ) if you need to use the command line. Yeah it's about time for a new thread. We're getting a bit of topic.