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Yellow Dog Linux 2.1 Shipping

Posted by timothy on from the oh-ess-what dept.

Durindana indicates this announcement of the newest version of Yellow Dog Linux, writing: "PowerPC fans, this is a big deal. YDL's certainly improved over its former state lately; hopefully 2.1 continues that trend. Does this make it the "best of class" (Mandrake's favorite term) for PPC?" There are at least four strong Linux-on-Mac contenders now, which is nice to see.

7 of 226 comments (clear)

  1. Why? by LoudMusic · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... surely I'm not the first post ... am I?

    Why would anyone run Linux on a new Apple though? OSX will have so much more support and software availability than Linux on PPC ever could imagine. I see how YDL could be awsome on some older G3s (the beige ones that I have laying around at work), but there really can't be much demand for Linux on the new boxen. Can there?

    ~LoudMusic

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    1. Re:Why? by Queer+Boy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      One of the most obvious is that maybe some people want an ultra-modern operating system that runs just as well on hardware a few years old.

      Another reason may be to do some serious programming (serious meaning developing other tools, things like Apache and Gimp), where there are tons of free already ported and tested dev tools.

      There's a lot of support behind Linux, and not all that much behind Darwin right now. It all boils down to the right tool for the job.

      Some people just want to get behind something that is free (as in beer and speech) while having a stylish computer to do it.

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    2. Re:Why? by maloi · · Score: 2, Insightful

      To have a choice.

    3. Re:Why? by LoudMusic · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yup. Apple scored big by making the latest iBook. It's very affordable, competes with the small Dells, and has some really cool features.

      You won't find Apple hardware cheaper in one place than another. Everyone sells at Apple's price, unless you're getting a discount, like educational or governmental.

      Heh, *she* wants a new notebook, eh? Well it depends on how much support you want to do. If you'd like to be over at her place more often, get her the one she'll be asking more questions about (:

      ~LoudMusic

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    4. Re:Why? by NDPTAL85 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The simplest answer is often the best one. People run Linux because they want to. Not because its convienent or "not Windows". If one has gotten used and likes Linux, what could Mac OS X give them? There are some similarities of course, the Unix parts of Mac OS X are quite good but they aren't exactly the same as Linux.

      Its just a matter of personal taste really. They would run Linux on anything they had probably, Sparcs, Power4's, PA-RISC, MIPS, Athlons and Pentiums....so why not G3's and G4's?

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  2. Is Linux PPC a profitable business? by chrysalis · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Times are bad for OSS companies. Progeny is dead, Eazel is also dead, Corel had so pass the Linux baton, SuSE did massive layoffs, Mandrake did an IPO in a hurry to avoid bankrupt, Redhat focuses on services, training and databases because they lose money by working on the distro, Dell has no more interest in Linux, Loki filled chapter 11...

    And all these companies did something real. They worked on quality products, they weren't stupid start-ups selling vaporware. But the market wasn't large enough, and they failed.

    Now, what about Linux PPC? Macs users are about 4 % of computer users. That's huge.

    But now, if companies selling distros and Linux-related products on PC (+ some other architectures) went (or are going) bankrupt, how can a company survive with only 4 % of other's market?

    Yellow Dog is a very good distro. I installed it once, and it was very easy, and it ran flawlessly. Plus the name is funny, I love it.

    Having Linux vendors for non-Intel architectures is also very important, because portability is a strength of OSS.

    But I can't understand how a company can survive by working on a PPC-only distro. This is a niche market.

    I really hope the best for Yellog Dog Linux, but after the death of Progeny (an excellent, non-niche distro), I'm really doubtful.

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  3. Not quite... by wholesomegrits · · Score: 2, Insightful

    There are at least four strong Linux-on-Mac contenders now, which is nice to see.

    No, there are not. LinuxPPC is all but stagnated, MkLinux development has slowed to a snail's pace after Apple tossed them of the USS Jobs into rough seas, in an old Zodiac with just one oar, SuSE is, well, SuSE, and Mandrake PPC is a bitch to install on Pre-Grey G3 boxen.

    Hardly a steller showing for a fantastic platform. I all but abandoned my efforts at converting a StarMax 4000 (aka PowerPC 4400) into a Samba box. Installation is anything but straightforward unless you have a NewWorld machine, and the packages and updates are not particularly well kept up.

    I'm not faulting any particular distro or person here, but fact of the matter is, to call it a strong showing is just Linux bunko.

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