I reckon your son's effort to 'roll his own' should be encouraged. An easy option, to begin with, is to get a working second-hand PC off TradeMe. Last I heard, you need at least a 500MHz CPU and 256 MB RAM to run Ubuntu... which might cost $50-$70. To build a working PC, from scratch, might be too much of a challenge (making sure different parts from different sources are compatible). But taking apart a working one is... educational. You'll hear of all his successes (and failures)... ;-)
From: Gauland, Michael To: linux-users@it.canterbury.ac.nz Sent: Friday, August 03, 2007 12:46 PM Subject: Advice on building PC? My fifteen-year-old son's running Ubuntu on a old eMac, and would like to switch to an x86 machine. He wants to "roll his own", rather than purchase a ready-built machine. This isn't something I've ever done, so I'm looking for advice on going about this. Should he buy a second-hand machine to start with, so he test each component as he upgrades it? What does he need to consider to be sure he can upgrade everything easily? Would it be better to buy everything at once, from one source, to be sure of getting a fully-functional machine? Would this cost more? How can he be sure of ending up with a fully GNU-compatible/Linux-compatible machine? Advices on sources, etc.? Thanks, Mike Gauland ********************************************************************** This electronic message together with any attachments is confidential. If you receive it in error: (i) you must not use, disclose, copy or retain it; (ii) please contact the sender immediately by reply email and then delete the emails. Views expressed in this email may not be those of the Airways Corporation of New Zealand Limited **********************************************************************
