Maybe this would be best in the *nix subforum, but here goes:

Firstly, has anyone any experience with network booting x86 machines onto OSX using a method similar to http://mike.passwall.com/macnc/ahowto.html ? Basically, there are going to be two or three Macs and five or six PCs attached to a network also running a Linux server, and I thought it'd be handy if the PCs could also boot into OSX when neccesary. Would it be best if I taught myself how to do this using a Linux distro and a thorough guide before attempting to do it with OSX, given that I have no experience with Macs and they tend to confuse me? If this is to work, it has to do so while Linux is also running other software like a HTTP server, DC hub etc.

Secondly, if the first part is possible, would I be able to put Mac software somewhere on the Linux machine (maybe on a HFS+ partition of an external drive) that would automatically be found and run on the other computers?

Thirdly, again if the first part is possible to do, is there any way to save settings (a /home directory or whatever the OSX equivalent is) between reboots without setting up a completely seperate partition just for that? Essentially, I'm wondering if since OSX supports FAT32 that it'd be possible to use a bit of the Windows partition since it'll just be storing information rather than running system files.

Answers or even clues to any of these questions would be much appreciated.

Thanks

That method would normally do on any linux os.. Regarding linux os'es u could try running fedora core, openSuSE, Ubuntu for newbies... i would suggest for u to try this on vmware 1st b4 doing it on a live system..

Running system-files off a nfs server is ok, but i would suggest to keep system and programs on your harddisk for performance.. store only your personal files on the server for multi environment access (e.g. windows,osx,linux).

My advice on fat32 is that try not to use it for your personal data due to security reasons, best is still on a server running samba to make it simple. samba file is recognized as a network storage device instead of filesystem.. it wont matter wut filesystem the server uses as towards windows, osx n linux it is readwriteable depends on your samba configuration..

i would advice u to setup the server for installation n recovery purposes through net booting.. there's a lot of methods on setting up the server i suggest u'd google for "tftp boot or network boot"...