Would it be possible to produce a cut-down puppy, whose only job would be to act as a print and file server for a mixed network of Windows, Linux and Mac PCs?
Just asking.
Puppy print and file server
Puppy print and file server
LxXenial16.08, LxPupSc17.07.01,Lucid 5.2.8 and others - all frugal
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gcmartin
SAMBA now in Puppy Linux, allows this out-of-the-box (OOTB).
This is not a direct answer, but, its one simple solution, I think.
Many/most PUPs in Puppyland over the past couple months have SAMBA built in along with CUPS. No need and little effort to use it as a dedicated File-Print Server. Beauty of using one of these PUPs for such is that if in the future you decide to repurpose the dedicated PC, you need not add anything to do so and still have a great performing PC assuming it remained unaltered merely using its current File-print capabilty that's built-in. The beauty of today's PUPs is that current PUPs now use protocols that allow it to share content, storage, and print services with every device that talks to Windows and Macs PCs thank's to using the latest SAMBAs. This includes IoT devices as well.
It is not large feat to take one of them of anyone's choosing and use the PUP Menu utility to remove any/all of things you would not want in your distro. You can then remaster or save-session to operate a smaller File-Print server.
Further, it has been shown by recent member postings of those distros, that they do not use much RAM while operating even should one NOT cut it down.
I have been a user of the Lighthouse distro and @01Micko's Slacko5.5 for years and have only seen no CPU increases with/without SAMBA operational. At boot, around 150MB with SAMBA running...and these are fully functional distros.
Thus, a PUP that is not cut down doesn't use much RAM when it runs as a File-Print server. Browser use and running other apps will, of course, impact desktop responsiveness.
Just some observations which might be helpful should one want to remaster for a simple, standalone need.
Also, few years ago, @JRB did this!
Many/most PUPs in Puppyland over the past couple months have SAMBA built in along with CUPS. No need and little effort to use it as a dedicated File-Print Server. Beauty of using one of these PUPs for such is that if in the future you decide to repurpose the dedicated PC, you need not add anything to do so and still have a great performing PC assuming it remained unaltered merely using its current File-print capabilty that's built-in. The beauty of today's PUPs is that current PUPs now use protocols that allow it to share content, storage, and print services with every device that talks to Windows and Macs PCs thank's to using the latest SAMBAs. This includes IoT devices as well.
It is not large feat to take one of them of anyone's choosing and use the PUP Menu utility to remove any/all of things you would not want in your distro. You can then remaster or save-session to operate a smaller File-Print server.
Further, it has been shown by recent member postings of those distros, that they do not use much RAM while operating even should one NOT cut it down.
I have been a user of the Lighthouse distro and @01Micko's Slacko5.5 for years and have only seen no CPU increases with/without SAMBA operational. At boot, around 150MB with SAMBA running...and these are fully functional distros.
Thus, a PUP that is not cut down doesn't use much RAM when it runs as a File-Print server. Browser use and running other apps will, of course, impact desktop responsiveness.
Just some observations which might be helpful should one want to remaster for a simple, standalone need.
Also, few years ago, @JRB did this!
@wimpy: gcmartin is right about not using a cut-down Puppy for your server. Inevitably, you will discover that you still need some feature that was removed. However, jrb's PupServer-435 is a poor choice. Both its Samba and CUPS are now obsolete.
If your target machine is older, Lucid Puppy will be fine. Get your Samba server here along with the Lupu patch and the Control Panel.
Some community members will recommend a different control panel, so you must make a decision. Will you be satisfied with simple Windows-style folder sharing? Or do you want the flexibility to manage a Samba server as it is designed?
If your target machine is older, Lucid Puppy will be fine. Get your Samba server here along with the Lupu patch and the Control Panel.
Some community members will recommend a different control panel, so you must make a decision. Will you be satisfied with simple Windows-style folder sharing? Or do you want the flexibility to manage a Samba server as it is designed?
My thanks to everyone who replied. You've given me some leads as to what to do next. I will say that, at present, I'm using a Win XP machine to act as a print server for Win XP and Win 7 PCs. I shall have another look at Lucid again and see if the Win 7 PCs will print to it. At present my granddaughter and I are the only people who use puppy here- she likes to play supertux.
LxXenial16.08, LxPupSc17.07.01,Lucid 5.2.8 and others - all frugal