Thanks for the pointers. I'll give one (or both) a try.

Hi Bob,

I am a newbie here myself, so unfortunately unable to answer your initial question. However, I am quite interested in your file server project.  Have you made any progress with it?

Rog

Thanks for the welcome messages guys. 

My first play was to run a software update as described in the readme file --- it took less than a minute and seems to have worked fine. I also installed the printer support, but haven't pursued that any further.  My printer is network connected, so I may need to do a little work here.  It turned out I already had Python, so I just added Geany using the package manager.  That's it so far.  My biggest challenge now will be finding the desk space for the 17 inch CRT monitor that's part of the system.  The home-made bench in my den is fairly shallow front to back as it was made with flat screens in mind!

I'll take on-board the comments about RAM.  The system only had 128Mb when it came out of the attic, but I managed to rescue another 128Mb SIMM from an old server that was also heading for the recyclers. I will have to see if I can scrounge some 256Mb SIMMS from somewhere as the board only has 2 slots.  I could buy some, but this is supposed to be an exercise in re-use and recycling, so that would defeat the object somewhat.