Hi, Please be gentle!!...I'm a newbie to CS but love it already.
I'd like to set up a dedicated server for mates to come over for LAN gaming, thought Linux might be the go Any suggestions would be appreciated. I thought I'd download the file off this very cool site but wasn't sure which distribution of Linux I'd need. I have Mandrake 8.1 & Red Hat 7.2. (Haven't had much to do with Linux either, but that's another story!!) - Thanks.

You can find several helpful guides over at http://server.counter-strike.net/help/

ummm, if u dont really know what ur doing... a windoes server is really easy to setup.

Yeah dude, ur just using it for a LAN with a bunch of friends, just set it up using a windows server, otherwise you are just wasting time. Just set up a dedicated server config for cs and then use that, pings should be more then fine.

Yeah, CS's net engine is good for zero pings even on 10mbit in windows..meh got bored of it in 6 mths tho..

Thanks for all the help.
Found Linux a bit too scary for a first timer...setup a Windows server & it works a treat.

yep, its a pretty easy ded server to set up, probably the best dedicated server software of any current game, if only other game companies would talk a look at how hl works for server support before they actually start building it (/me thinks of battlefield)

if only other compaines would look at idsoftware and see what a patch is really meant to be (/me thinks of valve).

can some1 tell me wat linux is??

it is another operating system, which unlike windows is secure and stable, and did I mention - fast!

then if its soo much beta than windows, y doesnt every1 use it?

becos its not as user friendly..
and its free... so not marketed at all

To be good at linux you'd need a bloody degree, or at least a lot of spare time on your hands to study the commands. While windows is less stable, it is the most popular because it is easy to use and marketed a lot. In my opinion MacOS is the best cause it looks damn good, is very easy to use and, it looks damn good! Only bad thing is the compatibility so if i want to install something on my iBook i need to wait for a bloody macintosh version to come out

The reason why GNU/Linux is not used by everyone has nothing to do with user-friendliness (in fact the Mandrake 8.0 distro was recently rated easier to use and install that Windows XP!) or that you need a degree - it has more to do with the fact that most people are afraid to change from something they already know. Another reason is that application developers (including game developers) often don't release their software for GNU/Linux - or if they do there is a delay.

In case you are wondering - I am a bit of a GNU/Linux freak. For those who are interested I use the Gentoo distro (which is built exactly for my machines specs) for everything but games. Hopefully when WineX improves this will change!

I run sorcerer linux, similar to Gentoo. It compiles everything from source as well, suited to the machine.

It is very easy to install software, just type

cast appname
it downloads the source off the internet and then compiles it, then installs it.

I don't see Microsoft doing that :)

y do does microsoft get tones of viruses??