I’m trying to set up a local web server and I have a few questions. First, I want to use Ubuntu. I want to connect my computer with Ubuntu to my Windows computer (which I build the websites on). Would I be able to view websites stored on the Ubuntu computer on my windows computer (if they’re connected)?
Second, should I download the server version with no GUI (LAMP, Mail Server, DNS Server, etc. already installed) or should I download the Desktop version with GUI (no LAMP, Mail Server, etc. installed)? I want to be able to have something “Windows Explorer” like, on the Ubuntu computer. I also want to be able to see the websites in a browser on the Ubuntu computer (if I can’t on the Windows computer).
Thanks for the help.
Hi there,
Sounds like you want to set up a staging server for your websites on your Ubuntu computer, which is a good way to do things. If you set up Apache (part of the LAMP stack, the other parts being linux, PHP and mySQL) you will be able to serve up websites locally and be able to browse them from your Windows computer.
A gui environment (such as gnome) is useful if you aren’t familiar with using the linux (bash) shell, but if you are familiar with it then the server version might be a better choice. I’d also recommend installing webmin if you go for the server / gui-less install because it makes it easy to manage your linux box, it allows you to manage it using a browser interface.
It is possible to install LAMP and the gnome desktop, just be sure to select the checkboxes for web server and desktop during the install process. The gnome desktop is the gui environment that ships with ubuntu (you can of course install other gui environments if you’re more comfortable with them, such as kde).
To share files, you might find it easiest to create a Samba share on your Ubuntu computer, that way your Windows computer will be able to browse the share using Windows Explorer.
Hope that helps. 
To clarify, I will be able to access my staging server on my Ubuntu computer from my Windows computer.
That shouldn’t be a problem once you’ve configured the Apache web server (it is installed but not configured during installation) and if you want to be able to browse the files on your Ubuntu computer from your Windows computer then you’ll need to configure Samba also.
If you run into any issues, I’d suggest consulting the ubuntu forums, the people on there are very nice, helpful and knowledgeable about ubuntu.
Good luck! I think ubuntu’s great, especially for people just starting out with linux.