Hi guys,
a total newbie, I want to build a server just for testing changes I make to scripts that I have purchased. I have a computer that I can strip and put a linux distro on.

Can I just use for example: ubuntu standard and a Lamp distro of some sort?

As I am very very new at this I need something that will pretty much self install.

I host a site on godaddy which is why I want to test changes off that server before uploading them

This is my first foray into a server, Heck I am only just learning php and mysql

Any help would be appreciated

Regards
G