I have installed Emacs which comes with Cygwin. How can I get Cygwin to run Emacs in its own window instead from the Cygwin's console window. I like how, in Ubuntu, when I run Emacs from the terminal, it will open Emacs's GUI.
I believe OS GUI takes some machine resources and is not really needed for a web server.
What OS do people install to make a Linux-based web server without GUI?
Mark Henderson♦
What OS do people install to make a Linux-based web server without GUI?
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z-bossz-boss
![Run emacs in terminal Run emacs in terminal](/uploads/1/2/4/8/124895964/459702288.png)
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closed as off topic by womble♦, Scott Pack, sysadmin1138♦Jul 24 '11 at 1:05
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12 Answers
We've been using CentOS for our SaaS app for a long time. Just configure the install to not include any GUI (X)
You can fully automate the install starting from a simple kickstart approach, to a full PXE setup.
BTW, the advantage of CentOS, is that it will be supported for a longer time than other distros. I think 7 years at the moment.
webclimberwebclimber
Personally I like Debian the most for servers.The installer gives you the option to install a desktop environment, print server, file server, base system.
For your case you would just select install base system.In that case the installer will just install the base packages to get your server up and running.From that moment you have a rock-solid and very lightweight server and it's trivial to install other packages that you may need via apt-get or aptitude
nkr1ptnkr1pt
Most linux distros can be installed without a GUI. Personally I would recommend Debian for servers, but you'll probably also hear from the Gentoo, Linux from scratch, and Red Hat crowd. Pretty much any distro could handle a web server pretty easily.
tloachtloach
Dominic RodgerDominic Rodger
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The distributions I most often encounter are:
- Debian
- Ubuntu Server
- CentOS
And Fedora.
All of them come with a CLI only setup for server use AFAIK.
Jasper Bekkers
Ubuntu server only has CLI.
Most other distributions offer a server or headless install.
Greg BGreg B
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I think most Linux servers operate in runlevel 3, which doesn't run a GUI. As part of the install process, just don't install X and you should be all set. I'm not sure what will happen if you try to switch to runlevel 5 (normal windowing system on most systems) on a system that doesn't have a GUI... it may just act like runlevel 3.
I've used SuSE, RedHat, Fedora, CentOS, and Ubuntu for servers. The ones that I set up, I just let have the GUI (in runlevel 5)... it comes in handy when you need to remote in, and with no one logged in the overhead is negligible. The ones that I didn't set up myself I think normally ran in runlevel 3, but I don't know if they had a GUI installed. I prefer the Fedora/CentoOS/RedHat family for any system just because of the massive number of well-maintained packages available for install.
rmeadorrmeador
I don't think Ubunutu Server Edition has a GUI, and in some distros, you can choose what GUI (or lack of GUI) you want.
Thomas OwensThomas Owens
You might want to check out the Ubuntu Server Edition 'JeOS' (Just Enough Operating System). It is a stripped down version of Ubuntu and targeted at virtual appliances, but we've used it for some of our VM servers. The URL is http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/serveredition/jeos.
m0j0m0j0
Note that even if the GUI (that is, the X Window System) is installed, you don't have to start it. So you can configure normal startup to not start X, and still have the capability of running a GUI should you want to. The only resource this takes is some disk space.
Note also, that the way X works, it may be very useful to have the X client applications on your web server host, allowing them to use the local X Server on your desktop. (Yes, I know the terminology is confusing, but it's consistent).
mpez0mpez0
Hmm. Just uncheck GNOME and KDE while installing any linux OS on DESKTOP or SERVER, so that it will install only CLI and only Command Prompt will be available once the installation is finished. No need to change run levels also.
FaroooqFaroooq
sudo apt-get remove gnome;sudo apt-get remove gdm;sudo apt-get remove kde;sudo apt-get remove kdm;sudo apt-get remove xfce;sudo apt-get remove xdm;
This should work for Ubuntu. Do it by entering CTRL+ALT+F1, log into root, and type the commands above depending on the DE.
Chris Drown