There's a long standing belief that Linux can be used to revitalise old hardware. Short of using a terminal server of some description (which wasn't an option in this case), is this true?
I hold this belief in reference to linux as a server. There is nothing wrong with a c500 for any one of file / print / mail / web / ftp / dns servers or possibly several thereof, providing the load is not too great. A firewall is also a good option, and you'll be doing well to stress a c500 as a firewall on most Internet connections you are likely to get in NZ. I wouldn't run all those services for a 50-machine network on a c500. I was thinking about this problem the other day, and I can't honestly remember the last time I saw Linux touted as being better on the desktop. It certainly hasn't been better on the desktop since GNOME and KDE became the de facto standards of desktop linux. If you were to run blackbox or FVWM2 or similar as the desktop on that machine, it would like you a lot more. You'll still have issues with OOo and Mozilla, I'm guessing :) I fondly remember the hey-day of the Enlightenment window manager. It was cool, it was different, it was excessive eye candy. It also made my p2-266 w 128 MB of ram cry. This was a machine that ran Windows 98 perfectly fine, and my linux install with FVWM2 as the window manager screamed along - it beat Windows 98 hands down. Not so enlightenment, however.