Is there a way to run the linux client in console only mode - i.e. no gui? I am not interested in mining, I just want a way to run it on the server to contribute another node to the network. Is that even useful?
What do you mean with console only mode?
There is no curses-based text UI at the moment, but you can use 'bitcoind' to send commands from the command-line.
orion@amethyst:~/...$ bitcoind help
backupwallet <destination>
getaccount <bitcoinaddress>
getaccountaddress <account>
getaddressesbyaccount <account>
getbalance [account] [minconf=1]
getblockcount
getblocknumber
getconnectioncount
getdifficulty
getgenerate
gethashespersec
getinfo
getnewaddress [account]
getreceivedbyaccount <account> [minconf=1]
getreceivedbyaddress <bitcoinaddress> [minconf=1]
gettransaction <txid>
getwork [data]
help [command]
listaccounts [minconf=1]
listreceivedbyaccount [minconf=1] [includeempty=false]
listreceivedbyaddress [minconf=1] [includeempty=false]
listtransactions [account] [count=10] [from=0]
move <fromaccount> <toaccount> <amount> [minconf=1] [comment]
sendfrom <fromaccount> <tobitcoinaddress> <amount> [minconf=1] [comment] [comment-to]
sendmany <fromaccount> {address:amount,...} [minconf=1] [comment]
sendtoaddress <bitcoinaddress> <amount> [comment] [comment-to]
setaccount <bitcoinaddress> <account>
setgenerate <generate> [genproclimit]
settxfee <amount>
stop
validateaddress <bitcoinaddress>
If a GUI program for linux were to emerge it would make many bitcoin users more apt to want to move from mac/windows to linux/ubuntu.
I think we can all agree that whomever creates this will get quite a bit of donations.
GUI for Linux:
https://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=15276.0My BTC address is in my signature. Thanks