Current Server Specs:

      Dell Studio Desktop 540

      Intel® Core™ 2 Quad processor Q9400 (6MB L2, 2.66GHz, 1333FSB)

      6GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4DIMMs

      nVidia GeForce 9800GT

      Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid)

      Kernel 2.6.27-11-server x86_64

      Apache 2.2.9

      PHP 5.2.6-2ubuntu4.2 with Suhosin-Patch

      MySQL 5.0.67

After I bought my wife a new computer I began tinkering with her two old Pentium IIIs, as you do. I installed Ubuntu Linux on them. That gave me 3 different kinds of operating systems to play around with. Most fun, though, was to be had tinkering with Ubuntu.

Tinkering eventually led to a minor obsession of wanting a server of my own at home. I also determined to abandon using free online sites altogether in favor of being in complete control.

All of this gave me another little hobby to keep me amused, or rather by turns amused and tearing my hair out--analogous to married life, come to think of it.

I'd played around with Linux years ago, so the learning curve wasn't great in using Ubuntu. But I hadn't set up a server before, nor all of the things that can go with it. Some aspects of doing that have been a real challenge. Having the PIIIs to play around on was great because that prepared me for the real thing.

It wasn't long before I got the Dell . . . You can read more about it here. 

But the problem was I had to reboot it into Windows to play games, so eventually it was time to get the HP. The HP handles the website and nothing else. The Dell is now a regular desktop workhorse.

Update 04-09: well, I got sick of the HP. It didn't have sound and the graphics card was crap and HP support for Ubuntu/Debian was also crap. I decided to go for another Dell, a nice light little model where everything works on Ubuntu and I can use a properly functioning Desktop PC.