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A Quick Look At Mac-On-Linux

Posted by timothy on from the cute-logos-cool-program dept.

Travis Emslander writes: "They have an article about Mac on Linux over at MaximumLinux.org. I didn't even know this project existed but it looks like you can run any MacOS app (not including MacOS X apps of course) on a PPC machine with it. I'm starting to wish I had a mac to try this stuff." Here are some more screenshots. I saw MoL demonstrated over a year ago (when OS X wasn't really an issue) and was amazed at how quickly it ran. Anyone out there using it on a day-to-day basis?

7 of 271 comments (clear)

  1. You know the circle is complete by sporty · · Score: 2, Interesting

    When you emulate one OS, to another and then back again. In truth, any emulator should be able to provide enough services to run another emulator under it :)

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    ping -f 255.255.255.255 # if only

  2. very neat... some questions, though by stego · · Score: 3, Interesting
    • why won't it run OS X?
    • how does the speed compare to Classic under OS X?
    • can you drag+drop between desktops like w/ Virtual PC?
    1. Re:very neat... some questions, though by greghudd · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Hi... Well -> MOL is NOT emulation! It runs MACOS8x/9x in a memory bubble (like OSX runs MACOS9.x in a memory bubble) -- therefore it runs at native speeds... MOL pre dates OSX... & it works especially well if you switch between Linux & MacOS9 in full screen mode)... It is open source so go check out the code if interested. Its a great hack!!! Cheers GregH

  3. The obvious question ... by Daniel+Dvorkin · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ... is what niche this fills with OS X around. A year ago, there was simply no way to get MacOS functionality on a Unix (/Linux, etc.) system except with either MOL or that horribly expensive proprietary Unix for Macs (sorry, can't remember the name.) These days, OTOH, a powerful and MacOS-compatible Unix is, in fact, well, what you get when you buy a Mac.

    To be fair, there are a lot of older Macs out there that don't have the horsepower for OS X but would do just fine as Linux boxes, and I can see MOL being useful for them. With new iMacs so cheap, though, how long will that be true?

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    The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
  4. there is a need for this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    just look at the yellow dog BRIQ hardware. These use a G4 processor, but are not Apple hardware. With the official Apple Clone market closed, anyone with a G3 or G4 processor based system should be able to run Mac software as well as Linux software. Fantastic!

  5. Re:This is flamebate but... by __aaaaxm1522 · · Score: 4, Interesting
    You're wrong. It's not flamebate. I don't know what that is. But it is flameBAIT.

    I run YellowDog Linux on my Titanium G4 notebook. Why? Performance is *excellent*, plus the notebook ain't to shabby to look at. Extra wide screen, good hardware integration. Works for me. In fact, every year I've attended the Ottawa Linux Symposium, I've seen more and more people lugging Apple hardware around, running Linux. We're not talking your average joe users either, but serious developer types. I seem to recall a few of the Samba fellows typing away on Powerbooks during the keynote...

    MOL (Mac On Linux) is a nice tool for those that do run Linux on their Mac, yet occasionally need to boot into MacOS. It saves a reboot, and can be quite handy when you need to playback a Quicktime file, or something along those lines. I'd rather have a native Linux player of course, but since Sorenson won't disclose the codec, MOL allows me to run Linux yet still access one or two of those quirky Mac apps. ;)

    As another poster mentioned, it's like VMWare for the Mac. If you can postulate a use for VMWare, then it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out why some people like MOL.

  6. Re:This is flamebate but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Well, actually, I am running Linux on my (2nd) mac full-time.

    See, the mac in question is a PowerPC 603e (3 generations behind even the 1st G3) and it will not run Mac OS X at all (nor OS 9).

    As a Mac, and now that I own a G4, it pretty much is useless to me, so I converted it to run LinuxPPC, and it now has been running my dns, mail, ssh and web server (+php +pgsql) since 1999.

    LinuxPPC or Mandrake, Debian (etc) are OSes that work wonders on older boxes, and it enables me to make use of my 5 years old mac everyday, something I would not have done if it was still running Mac OS...