"Our public network consisted of a simple local area network with 15 Windows clients connecting to the outside world via a dedicated proxy server, and one networked Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 5200. As there was no budget to purchase any special server hardware or software, that left out the option of a dedicated Windows print server, which in any case would have been overkill. But we has an old Compaq desktop computer in storage with a 40GB hard drive and 512MB of RAM, which was powerful enough to run Linux.
"Though I'm the on-site computer support person, I wasn't a Linux guru, so I wanted to choose a distribution that was easy to load and easy to tweak. After a bit of research, I chose the Ubuntu-derivative Linux Mint for its size and its friendly GUI."
