Beginner question: using a Linux PC on a WinXP network

Sorry if this has already been answered, or if this isn't the right
newsgroup to fire this question into.

I have a home network with three WinXP machines. I'm always plagued with
needing to have multiple copies of files on various machines, reading the
same email several times on various machines, or using other machines to
make backups.

I also have an old MMX PC that I was thinking of installing Linux onto, and
using it as a file server. Can I and other members of my household point our
"My Documents" on each PC to a single location for each of us on a Linux
partition, so avoiding the need to make multiple copies of our personal "My
Documents" files.

Someone at work told me that it's possible to use the Linux machine as an
email server, and then use Outlook to simply read the same email from any
WinXP machine. Is this possible?

Many thanks,
Paul

Paul Moore wrote:
> Sorry if this has already been answered, or if this isn't the right
> newsgroup to fire this question into.
>
> I have a home network with three WinXP machines. I'm always plagued with
> needing to have multiple copies of files on various machines, reading the
> same email several times on various machines, or using other machines to
> make backups.
>
> I also have an old MMX PC that I was thinking of installing Linux onto, and
> using it as a file server. Can I and other members of my household point our
> "My Documents" on each PC to a single location for each of us on a Linux
> partition, so avoiding the need to make multiple copies of our personal "My
> Documents" files.
>
> Someone at work told me that it's possible to use the Linux machine as an
> email server, and then use Outlook to simply read the same email from any
> WinXP machine. Is this possible?
>
> Many thanks,
> Paul

below i am refereing to setup using redhat, file locations might change
a bit depending on distribution. the command service is probebly only
available on redhat-systems.

if you set up samba (on linux) you can share files from linux, and then
point your "my documents" to a network drive.
you can set up samba to be your domain controller it you like aswell.

to set up samba, you can use swat (swat is a web based configurator).
swat is enabled from /etc/xinetd.d/swat
then restart xinetd (done on RH with: service xinetd restart)
then use a browser http://localhost:901
to enter swat.


read mail is no problem, best thing would probebly be to set up linux
with IMAP-support (wich is done really easy). take a look in
/etc/xinetd/ again.
and then have outlook (or any other IMAP-capable mail client) to read
emails.
you could also easily make the linux maschine work as an SMTP-server
(sending mails). or you can use your current SMTP-server.

to allow sendmail (the most popular SMTP-server) to relay, you might be
need to do some config-changes. however it can all be found in the docs.


bottom line is; yes, its possible.
however if this is your first time with linux, you will probebly need to
spend some time learning linux. forget graphical interfaces. most setup
is done by editiging textfiles.

for desktop manager, if you by default have to choose between gnome and
kde, i recommend kde.


links:
www.redhat.com (distro)
www.debian.org (distro)
www.tldp.org (documentation)
www.samba.org
www.sendmail.org


welcome to linux!

PS. samba, sendmail etc usually comes with the distro, you will not need
to download them separately.