Best Linux distribution for a MiniITX server 678

Luis

Goodness what a dreadful site! You have to dig really deep to find out what Epios *is*.

From the look of it, Epios is just an attempt to bring together all the various drivers and patches that support the hardware used on EPIA mainboards. Note, though, that you don't need to be using Epios to get those drivers and patches (though it may be more convenient to do so) ... and you don't need the drivers and patches if you're not worried about some of the more advanced and hardware-specific features of the EPIA boards - sensors, MPEG acceleration, etc.

For running a headless Apache server you don't need those EPIA-specific drivers and patches, and a bog-standard install of any distro should be OK. I use a fairly standard Gentoo setup (compiled for C32 CPU) and it works very nicely.

Note, though, that the Epios kernel is built to run on any APIA mainboard, so the code is generated for an x586 target, which is sub-optimal for the Nehemiah processors on later EPIA boards, which are x686. Conversely, many "vanilla" distros are built for x686 and won't run on non-Nehemiah mainboards, so be sure to use a distro that does support the CPU type (should be a 386 or 586 build).

Note also that the Nehemiah CPU, although it is a 686, does not support some "optional" 686 instructions (CMOV) that are used in code generated by some versions of gcc without any runtime checks for support (this is a now-fixed gcc bug).

Cheers, Daniel.