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Article:
  Why Install Linux on Your Mac?
Subject:   article does not answer the question
Date:   2004-12-02 13:52:56
From:   metaman
Response to: article does not answer the question

I know people seem to like apple hardware better, for for the price of my PowerBook G4 (1.5 GHz) I have at work I could have got an x86 laptop with far better performance, and a builtin linux compatible wireless card.


I expected much better performance based on all the "PPC has more bang per gigahertz" hype, but the bogomips rating is less than 1/7 of my 2.66 GHz desktop (which you could get in a x86 laptop).


I run gentoo on my work machine, home machine and powerbook. It takes FOREVER to compile things like mozilla on the powerbook.


Also, xpdf isn't able to handle several of the documents I have to read and Adobe Acrobat isn't available for linux PPC.


Other corporate tools are equally problematic. MeetingMaker doesn't have a PPC linux client and Wine doesn't work on linux PPC so I cannot even run the windows version either.


I also don't see how the powerbook mousepad is easy to use with linux either. The single mouse button is just NOT easier to use in linux.


I love linux and its what I primarily use, but I would never buy non x86 HW again for a laptop if I was using it primarily for linux.


To each their own.
Full Threads Newest First

Showing messages 1 through 4 of 4.

  • You say it
    2004-12-02 18:49:30  arglborps [Reply | View]

    There is a reason why they call them "bogo"mips, duh.
    • You say it
      2004-12-03 16:35:02  NabLa [Reply | View]

      Yeah, they're used for timing and thus highly dependant on the MHz thingie (but not exclusively).
      • You say it
        2004-12-11 13:59:43  ColinL [Reply | View]

        And they do not in any way measure the raw processor power.
  • article does not answer the question
    2004-12-03 04:21:58  Maethor [Reply | View]

    Other corporate tools are equally problematic. MeetingMaker doesn't have a PPC linux client and Wine doesn't work on linux PPC so I cannot even run the windows version either.

    One of the reasons for the existence of QEMU (http://fabrice.bellard.free.fr/qemu/) is to run x86 Linux and with Wine, Windows, applications on PPC (and various other processors).