I will most likely be setting up a computer that will have no monitor most of the time soon and I am looking for advice on what administration software I should have on it to keep it running without needing to attach a monitor. I am also looking for advice on a good Linux/Unix video transcoder that either has good presets or has a GUI for ease of use. I am still debating BSD vs. Linux and I know people who prefer both and I know a lot of pros and cons for each but if I go Linux I want suggestions on which distro to go with. I don't want this to turn into a raging debate but I do want to know some good reasons for each because I know most have different strong points. I am looking at this being a multifunction box doing several things like video transcodes, web app testing, and acting as a file server, so those should help define what distros would be better choices. I will want the distro to have a net install image for simplicity of install without to much downloading in advance. I would like the distro to have a good GUI package manager so that I can browse the repository as well as using it or a command line program to install things when I know the name of the package. If anyone has any good reasons either way on the BSD vs. Linux internal debate I would like to know them as well.

Thanks.

Ubuntu server + SSH + VNC over SSH

Seconded, except Ubuntu Server 9.10, SSH, and X11 forwarding over SSH.

Seconded. You shouldn't need to run X on a headless machine- just use X forwarding for whatever programs you want to run which require X.

I assume it is still easy to use X locally when needed if I do that because once in a while I will probably be using it locally.

Debian. Only losers run ubuntu.

I'd actually suggest FreeNX over VNC, in my tests it has even out preformed RDP when it comes to graphical remote access.

That looks cool but still <V1 if I read correctly. I may use it though. Any idea on ports it uses? Unless it is encrypted itself I will want to be able to ssh tunnel it.

NX uses ssh to connect and then all the traffic is sent via that tunnel so yes that shouldn't be and issue, though my experiences VNC over SSH isn't that great but NX has worked wonders for me.

I like VNC because then I can resume the session. Makes switching between laptop and desktop far less painful

Yeah that is the one thing I haven't figured out how to get NX to do which would be very useful, though it appears it can resume its own sessions once one has been started.

I get the computer and I have mostly set it up. I decided on debian for the distro.