Member Avatar for Junyah

Hey Linux Gurus,

What lilnux do you recommend for a MAC ibook G3 and MAC Quicksilver G4 Desktop?

Thanks!

  • 3 Contributors
  • 12 Replies
  • 191 Views
  • 1 Month Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by John A

Dani AI

Generated

Quick update for anyone reading this years later: an iBook G3 and a Quicksilver G4 are 32‑bit PowerPC (ppc) machines, and distro support has shifted a lot since 2007. As suggested, Gentoo and Debian remain important options today, but Debian’s 32‑bit PowerPC is maintained via the ports effort rather than as a current “release” architecture — expect to use debian‑ports or archived releases if you choose Debian. (debian.org)

If you want a ready-to-run image for G3/G4, Adélie Linux is one of the few actively-tested, user-friendly choices with live images targeted at 32‑bit PowerPC (G3/G4) and reasonable desktop builds (MATE/Plasma variants). Their docs list minimum/recommended RAM and show which images target G3/G4; try the live image first to verify graphics and performance. (oldwww.adelielinux.org)

If you’re comfortable compiling and tuning, Gentoo still supports ppc and gives the most control and best performance on older PPC hardware — useful when drivers or kernels need special flags. Yaboot (the old PowerPC bootloader) is effectively unmaintained in many archives; modern installs commonly use GRUB (installing to an HFS bootstrap partition and blessing it from Open Firmware). Example (follow distro handbook steps carefully): 

mkdir -p /boot/macppc
mount -t hfs /dev/sda2 /boot/macppc
grub-install --macppc-directory=/boot/macppc /dev/sda2
umount /boot/macppc

Follow the Gentoo/Debian ppc guides for exact commands and OF/BootX details. (devmanual.gentoo.org)

Practical tips: use a lightweight desktop (LXQt/LXDE/MATE) unless you have 1GB+, test video (Rage128/ATI cards still work with the Xorg r128/ati drivers in many distros), and try a live image before repartitioning. If you want the quickest path: Adélie for a tested image, Gentoo if you want to tune/learn, Debian ports if you need Debian tooling — and expect some manual bootloader/HFS fiddling on PowerPC Macs. (packages.debian.org)

Recommended Answers

All 12 Replies

Member Avatar for John A

Now THAT's a new one - G3 MacBook! :)

Depends on how graphical and/or how speedy it has to be. Really graphical distros you could install on your Macs would be SuSE and Ubuntu.

Something a bit faster would be Debian Linux - it runs on just about any machine, now that I think about it...

Gentoo would be awesome except it's a little harder and time-consuming to install - how experienced are you with Linux?

Furthermore, installing Linux on Macs is not as straightforward as installing Linux on PCs. So I recommend reading these links here for some documentation and programs you might need:


http://penguinppc.org/historical/benh/
http://people.debian.org/~branden/ibook.html

Good luck, and I hope the install goes well!

Member Avatar for Junyah

Joe,

Thanks alot ... I'm gonna let the kids in the class follow up on the links.

BTW- How big is that dog getting now?

Member Avatar for John A

Thanks alot

My pleasure.

BTW- How big is that dog getting now?

Growing like crazy - he's approaching 2 feet in height now... ;)

Member Avatar for Junyah

My buddy just got a new dobe .. and the pup's chewing pretty good ... I'm coming out of retirement a little to train him .... not the dog.

So ...how much has your dog damaged .or is it a pretty mellow dog?

I haven't had a pup in about 10 years... I adopted this lab ... I think i'm due for another GSD pup.

Member Avatar for John A

So ...how much has your dog damaged .or is it a pretty mellow dog?

Amazingly yes. Extremely calm, although he does have his high points of energy. I would post the link to a YouTube video of him, except it might get snipped here in the Linux forum. ;)

Member Avatar for Junyah

No prob ..about the video .. My labs kinda mellow too... after having some high energy/high maint. K9s its kinda peacefull around here and I don't have to worry about her making her own arrests :)

Hey Joe, you know I used to train with RCMP, and Edmonton and Calgary PDs here in California ... Gangs, K9, SWAT and Self Defense. We trained alot of your instructors and supervisors .... but they are all my age or older ... so they're probably retired ...

Member Avatar for TheNNS

hey, this is way off topic. no off topic posts please

Member Avatar for John A

>hey, this is way off topic. no off topic posts please
It's not a big deal. The OP's question was already answered, it was the OP that went off topic, and lastly, it's nearly always the destiny of a thread to go off topic. ;) I know it's generally discouraged, but in this case it doesn't really matter too much.

Member Avatar for Junyah

sorry

Member Avatar for Junyah

sorry, k pardons

Member Avatar for TheNNS

I was just kidding. I don't care. It's just that joe gets on my case everytime I go off topic.

Member Avatar for John A

>I was just kidding.
Well, you're the only one that thinks it's funny. :rolleyes:

It seems like you are always trying to argue or troll whenever you see me, as if to "get back" at me. Why? Have I committed some serious crime or something? Even if I had, you should learn to forgive and forget; holding something against someone else only makes yourself more miserable.

I'm giving you this link in case it makes you feel any better.
http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/profile.php?do=addlist&userlist=ignore&u=73097

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.