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Article:
  Why Install Linux on Your Mac?
Subject:   Why I'd like to install Linux on a mac
Date:   2004-12-02 11:13:22
From:   MacMusicGuy
I have an old PowerMac 8600 which I hardly use. Meaningful OS X support would require a processor upgrade, and OS 9 apps are dying left and right from neglect. Linux or perhaps BSD would give the machine new life by giving it a GUI its older processor might be able to handle.


The problem is I can't find anything that will work on it. I'd really like to use Gentoo and compile myself, but there doesn't seem to be kernel support for less than a G3. I've tried Knoppix-PPC to experiment with a LiveCD, but I get a kernrl panic after the hardware detection. I think I have something missing in my kernel arguments.


I know this isn't a support forum, but I am at a loss as to where to look next.
Full Threads Oldest First

Showing messages 1 through 6 of 6.

  • Why I'd like to install Linux on a mac
    2004-12-03 04:11:34  gryp [Reply | View]

    You can try to run debian/ppc from http://www.debian.org if NetBSD is not what you want.
    • Chris Adamson photo Why I'd like to install Linux on a mac
      2004-12-09 09:57:42  Chris Adamson [Reply | View]

      Do you know if Debian can run on a G5? The G5 hardware expects its fans to be operated by the operating system, and the only distro I know of that advertises G5 compatibility is Yellow Dog. There's no info about this on debian.org or its mailing lists. Much as I like Debian - it's on my old Performa and an emulated Virtual PC box - I don't want to melt my G5 for it.


      --Chris (invalidname)

      • Why I'd like to install Linux on a mac
        2004-12-11 05:00:10  ColinL [Reply | View]

        The fan driver is in the kernel. All distributions including a recent kernel (All current PPC distributions, in fact) do handle it. Fan drivers for G4 desktop and G4 laptops (iBook G4, alBooks) are also included.
        Also, Apple made the right design about cooling in their G5: if nothing drives the fans, they go on full throttle (which makes for a quite noisy workstation ;-)
  • Why I'd like to install Linux on a mac
    2004-12-03 03:40:11  Maethor [Reply | View]

    I've got debian sarge running a 4400. I also use the Quik bootloader so I don't even need a MacOS partition (well, I used BootX and an external SCSI drive to get it installed, but after that I used Quik).

    If you choose to install debian sarge and want to use Quik instead of BootX, I've found it's best to install the 2.4 kernel and build your own 2.6 kernal, as the kernel that ships with sarge doesn't seem to work right with quik (it uses initrd which Quik doesn't seem to support, so it constantly kernel panics).
  • Why I'd like to install Linux on a mac
    2004-12-03 02:19:47  virus1984 [Reply | View]

    Have you tried using Yellow Dog Linux ?

    I installed the 3.0.1 "Sirius" version on my PowerMac 7300/200 (equipped with a 2 GB HD and 96 MB RAM, pretty much the original configuration). Had to install a small MacOS though, as these are "OldWorld" machines that cannot boot directly into Linux; you need to boot into MacOS then, using BootX, boot into Linux. This is an added step to the installation and booting process but once you're done it works like a charm (BootX boots Linux by default, so you can press the power-on key, walk away, and when you get back you're into Linux).

    I chose WindowMaker as my window manager as it's very light on the machine (disk space and CPU usage-wise) and it's basically a copy of NeXTStep, so it's much more appealing to a Mac user than KDE or GNOME (which are horribly Windows-looking). Xfce may also be a solution if you're looking for a lightweight window manager.

    As for the app side, everything I need is available, Yellow Dog Linux comes with a tool called YUM (the YellowDog Updater, Modified) which makes installing and upgrading applications a breeze. When a particular package I need is not available through yum (that is: not available on YDL's servers as a compiled app) I compile and install it by hand, which is not a hassle as it's usually done using the standard "./configure; make; make install" process.

    Go to http://www.yellowdoglinux.com/ for more info. They are Mac-people working on a Linux distribution especially crafted for Apple hardware, so they really are the perfect solution for you.
  • Why I'd like to install Linux on a mac
    2004-12-02 12:20:59  williamverna [Reply | View]

    Go to http://netbsd.org/Ports/macppc/ you should find what you're looking for. This is not Linux but rather a BSD.

    "NetBSD/macppc is a relatively new NetBSD port. The first binary release for macppc was NetBSD 1.4. It supports most Apple Power Macintosh computers with PowerPC processors and Open Firmware. For older (680x0-based) Macintosh computers, see NetBSD/mac68k. There is also an experimental NetBSD/bebox port for Be, Inc's PowerPC-based BeBox.

    Almost all PPC Macs introduced after August 7, 1995 are supported."