Linux on Mac

[MikeAR]

I'm looking for a free Linux system for my Mac. I'm wondering which is the best one for me. I'm fairly expirienced with Unix and X11 and computers in general, but I don't want something to tough to use. I've heard Yellow Dog (Red Hat Port) is one of the best.

[mikeandike22]

try fedora core 2 i dont know much about linux and it is pretty easy to use.

[DMR]

Linux distros for PowerPC:

http://www.linuxiso.org/finddistro.php

Out of the above, I'd suggest Yellow Dog or Mandrake.

[alc6379]

My personal preference is Debian. I'm a really big fan of all of my systems running the same, if not similar OSes, and Debian runs on as many platforms as NetBSD. Not only that, but it's got thousands of packages available through apt

[MikeAR]

I think I'll try YDL on my old iMac, wish me luck. Has anyone had any major problems after installing YDL or any distro?

[kc0arf]

Hello,

YDL worked fine for me on the Mac. I had it on my Powerbook G3, and on a Workgroup Server. I like OS X better than Linux on a server, but YDL was very nice on the older hardware.

I also ran MKLinux on my Powermac 7100, but that is out of production, and no longer supported. YDL doesn't work with NuBus (remember that?) computers.

Enjoy!

Christian

[alc6379]

Hello,

YDL worked fine for me on the Mac. I had it on my Powerbook G3, and on a Workgroup Server. I like OS X better than Linux on a server, but YDL was very nice on the older hardware.

I also ran MKLinux on my Powermac 7100, but that is out of production, and no longer supported. YDL doesn't work with NuBus (remember that?) computers.

Enjoy!

Christian

Honestly, I wouldn't ever fool with running Linux on a NuBus machine. Virtually NOTHING is supported, as the NuBus isn't very well supported, if at all, on the PPC platform. I got Debian running on a Powerbook 5300c using the MkLinux booter, and then by swapping out kernel boot images, and that was a pain, only to find out that I was going to get nowhere on the system, as the PCMCIA NIC was built on a PCMCIA to NuBus bridge, which is not supported in any form or fashion by the Linux kernel.

[kc0arf]

Hi Alex,

MKLinux was running on my PowerMac 7100 back in 1992 - 96 timeframe. Long time ago. I thought it was quite good for what I was asking for... linux, connectivity to the internet via the external modem. Could compile things at home and then get them working, and then FTP them up to the school stuff and test them there.

I would not recommend it at all, unless you have some older computer around like a 7100 that you would like to work it though.

Christian

[alc6379]

Hi Alex,

MKLinux was running on my PowerMac 7100 back in 1992 - 96 timeframe. Long time ago. I thought it was quite good for what I was asking for... linux, connectivity to the internet via the external modem. Could compile things at home and then get them working, and then FTP them up to the school stuff and test them there.

I would not recommend it at all, unless you have some older computer around like a 7100 that you would like to work it though.

Christian

Okay... given the timeframe, I could understand why you'd have run it back then. I wish I had even been as lucky as you back then-- my 5300c even had a PCMCIA modem, so I would have been dead in the water there, too. :(

[kc0arf]

HI,

My dad has a 5300c, and the serial port just went out on it. The computer is just odd enough that it will not run the right stuff. Too young for the NuBus materials, and too old for YDL and friends. And no one is going to come out with Happy 5300c Linux.

Christian