Conferencing on a PC under unix

[Bill Pottenger]

Hello!

We're trying to solve the following problem: we've got several people
with whom we need to hold a weekly irc-like conference meeting. We are
planning to set up our own internet host on a commercial network using
a 286 or 386 pc under unix. Question is, given that this hookup will be
at either 9600 v.32/v.32bis, and also that we will have up to 20 people
logged on running some local variant of irc, what flavor of unix would
be best (free is the right price), and more importantly can a 286 or
386 under ANY flavor of unix handle multiple logins doing this kind of
thing with reasonable response time (eg. similar response to what one
gets using irc). This response time issue is the critical issue at this
point. We've got two possible systems to act as our host, but the 286
allows cheaper connection to internet because of location. (No, moving
the 386 is not one of our options. :)

I'd also like to request *all* advice from *anyone* who believes
they might have something to offer w.r.t. alternatives to 1) unix
2) commercial internet host. We're planning on using PSI (Performance
Systems International), using a dial-up line or perhaps a leased dial-up
line. If you know of a better solution that achieves the same results,
*please* let me know.

Thanks for your help!

Bill Pottenger
NCSA Consulting
ps. please reply via email - thanks.