command line *nix

[kryptonite0110]

is there a distro of linux or unix that is just a command line??? i have a pretty old pc and a gui i think is taking up too many resources. any suggestions???

[MrLinus]

Any of them would do it. Just don't install the GUI. That's what I did with my FreeBSD since I wouldn't use the XWindows.

[kryptonite0110]

hmmm... why didn't i think of that??? well... which distro would work best for this (some flavors of *nix my be a little partial to the GUI, but i may be wrong...) oh ya, and how would i get internet access??? would that even be possible???

[MrLinus]

Of course it'd be possible. I've used slackware without GUI, I've used RH and I've used FreeBSD. Heck, I've even done a little Solaris for giggles. Basically, whatever *nix you've used with GUI you should be able to use it without.

Internet access is merely ensuring you have an IP that can connect. Using tools like ifconfig, netconfig (RH only AFAIK) and other network tools you should be able to connect easily. Then you can use lynx (text browser) or links (frame possible text browser) to surf, ftp to download and ssh as usual.

[kryptonite0110]

i think ill do that then...

[mandraketux]

one suggestion, Elinks is another good browser you may want to look into. Mittens beat me to this but yes, not having a GUI doesnt stop UNIX OSs from getting online. you can even come here and post and so on without X loaded. also, you can use ICQ and other IM clients without X. do a search on google if you want to read mroe about them.

[MrLinus]

Oh yes... You reminded me of one of my favs: CenterICQ (it uses ncurses). I used to use this for the longest time. Unfortunately MSN changed their protocol so rather than have multiple progs running I switched to GAIM (gui interface). I forgot about that.

Of course IRC can be done with any number of progs but the one that stands out IMHO is BitchX.