Subject: Re: Linux On the PowerPC
From: Peter Steven House (aspsh4@uaa.alaska.edu)
Date: Sun Feb 15 2004 - 13:20:53 AKST
I installed Gentoo on my iBook because it wasn't machine enough to run
Panther efficiently. It only had 128 MB of ram and one really needs 265
MB. 128 is plenty for Linux though. I loaded a lightweight wm and
haven't looked back. The only thing keeping from dumping OS X
completely is that Wolfram's Mathematica 4.2 is the last version that
runs on Linux PPC and I have 5.0.
The biggest problem I have with the article is this statement right
here, "The problems I had with Debian/PPC are probably similar to what
dedicated Debian users most love about their distribution to start with.
Installation is strictly a text-mode affair, with no options for
changing configuration once a fatal "Y" or "N" has been pressed".
Right. The same follows for a GUI install once the fatal OK button has
been pressed.
The next line makes it sound like reading is a bad thing, "As long as
you make no mistakes and read each installation screen carefully,
installation proceeds well enough".
He just say that he prefers a GUI. Nothing wrong that in my mind. What
about his statements about X? Anyone have similar issues with video
card detection? I know in Gentoo, one just compiles in support in the
kernel for it.
Greg Madden wrote:
> On Sun, 2004-02-15 at 18:13, James Zuelow wrote:
>
>>On Sun, 15 Feb 2004 14:59:46 -0900
>>"W.D.McKinney" <deem@wdm.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Might want to try this on some of you Macs eh ?
>>>
>>>http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/library/l-pmac.html?ca=dgr-lnxw01LinuxMac
>>>
>>>Have fun!
>>>
>>>Dee
>>
>>Not a lot of PowerPC boxes running showing up on Fridays in Anchortowne? Contrary to the author's opinion, Debian on Macs is cool. Debian runs on my IBM PowerPC workstations that don't even support NetBSD. :) Haven't tried YellowDog, Mandrake or SuSE on them though - too lazy to download the isos.
>>
>>Sigh - yet another reviewer who thinks tabbing to "desktop environment" and hitting the space bar is too difficult when installing Debian. IMHO it is easier to set up X on a Mac than the x86 port. Debian does require that you answer a few questions using a curses interface and know what video card you've got, but that information is just an alt-F2 and `dmesg` away. There ARE some X oddities that I've noticed, such as the screen on a G3 All-in-one being very very dark with a 2.4 kernel but normal with a 2.2 kernel. But I don't think that has as much to do with Debian as with the kernel itself.
>>
>>Add to that the author's strange comment about the installer not being able to redo a step, and I get the impression this was a deadline in search of an article, and he quickly rushed through it. Last December we did a Debian install on a PowerMac down here at JLUG, and did the disk-partitioning step several times just to get keyboard time using mac-fdisk. All you have to do is re-select the install step you want to do over.
>>
>>Interesting. At least people are thinking about Linux on PowerPCs.
>>
>>Cheers,
>>
>>James
>
>
> It may be my misconception, but everytime I price a piece of hardware
> from Apple it costs (at least) 30% more than the same stuff for
> intel/amd. memory, superdrive, USB flash drivres to name a few. I was
> inteested in PegasosPC because their pPC board supports PC hardware, but
> I am not sure how viable they are/will be.
>
>
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