I got a bunch of old computers (Pentium II and newer) from the place I used to work a while back. They have no hard drives, but do have everything else you would expect a business computer to have.
One thing I want to do is to put a server outside my network firewall so I can host my own website and pics. It will be pretty much open to the public, but would give me a way to share pics and articles over the net. Might even use it as an e-mail server, but not sure I really need one...
I mostly want advice on which operating system to use and any programs I might need. I have Windows 95, 98, and NT laying around unused, and would be open to using Linux if there are any advantages, but I've never used it before. I would really like to stick to freeware because I'd rather spend money on other things like guitars, but will spend the money when necessary.
I would consider myself an intermediate computer user. I usually build my own machines and do my own IT here at home, but everything needs to be fairly easy to work with. I don't want to have to deal with resolving conflicts and settings manually, but I'm not going to install much hardware on this thing. It's going to be a stripped down machine with only the things that make it work.
Oh, and I'm not switching to Mac, I'm sticking to the old hardware I got for nothing
Thanks in advance.