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Two Shots In The Arm For PPC Linux

pinqkandi writes: "SuSE Linux 7.3 PowerPC Edition has now gone into distribution. New for this version are more USB drivers, and improved memory management, among other things. It is now based on Kernel 2.4.12 and glibc 2.2.4. For $79.95 you get it and 2000+ apps on 8 CDs, 550 pages of documentation, and 60 days of tech support." Read on for another nice turn for PPC users with an itch for Free software.

If updated PPC distributions interest you, this might too: DocTomoe writes: "The staff at iMacLinux have put together one of the largest PowerPC specific Linux resources. The new site called TuxPPC covers all PowerPC hardware. The site is aimed at not just people with Macs who want to try Linux, but at Linux users who might be interested in getting into the PowerPC platform."guides and web forums, too.

So when will Mandrake release 8.1 for PPC?

9 of 162 comments (clear)

  1. Try Yellowdog by Improv · · Score: 4, Informative

    I recently installed YDL 2.1 on my iBook. I've been overall pretty happy with the distribution. It has its high points (nice software included) and its low points (installer didn't install yaboot properly, I had to fix it myself). I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to run Linux on their Mac...

    --
    For every problem, there is at least one solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
    1. Re:Try Yellowdog by rograndom · · Score: 3, Funny
      (installer didn't install yaboot properly, I had to fix it myself). I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to run Linux on their Mac...

      Well, except for people who who can't fix yaboot, right?

  2. Re:Other Distros by Carrot007 · · Score: 4, Informative


    is this a figment of my imagination then?

    http://www.debian.org/ports/powerpc/

    Carrot007.

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    +----------------- | What is the question!
  3. AS/400 (iSeries) Support Too ! by DigitalDreg · · Score: 5, Informative

    Remember folks, this just isn't for Macs - it runs on big iron too!

    For those of you who are utterly confused - this Suse distribution also runs on IBM's AS/400 (new name is iSeries). Yes, you too can have good old RPG (not "role playing game"!) and COBOL apps running side by side with Linux.

  4. Re:Other Distros by GiMP · · Score: 4, Informative

    I have debian running on my G3 Pismo (firewire) powerbook. It is great! I also have a 7100/80 I just aquired and plan to install mkLinux on.

    I wouldn't suggest anything but debian for any platform, except maybe slack.. but that doesn't run on PowerPC out of the box :)

    And no, installation of debian onto a PowerPC machine wasn't any harder then installing onto an X86 box. I did have a little learning curve when I had to learn the differences between how bootloaders work on newer Macs and X86..

    Newer Macs use OpenFirmware, x86 has a bios and boot records, other PowerPC machines use Prep or Chrp, etc.. But that is an expected pitfall when moving to any new platform.

  5. PPC by Elbereth · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yeah, so where do I buy a PPC motherboard and CPU?

    1. Re:PPC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      I think Apple sells them. They come with a lot of extra stuff, though.

  6. Nope, You're Incorrect by cjsnell · · Score: 3, Informative

    Your assertion that there is no CL interface to OS X is incorrect. You can easily boot to console mode without loading Aqua. From there, you can start the X server.

    As for remote administration, it's trivial. I run OpenSSH on my Mac. I can login to my box and do anything that I could do on my FreeBSD box--add/remove users, change networking settings, security settings, etc.
    If that's not enough for ya, there are several VNC servers for OS X, as well as some commercial apps that provide remote control similar to PC Anywhere.

    Chris

    PS- Loose the stupid narrow formatting. It won't get you any more karma.

  7. Mandrake PPC by _hAZE_ · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Mandrake is currently working on updating their PPC tree. I believe they are going to skip an 8.1 release and focus on an 8.2 release that will (hopefully) coincide with their i586 8.2 release. Testing is open to the public (like all Mandrake releases), you can download the tree from most Mandrake development FTP mirrors. They also have a mailing list that you can subscribe to for those interested in running the PPC port. Check out http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/fdevlists.php3 for the mailing list and http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/cookerdevel.php3 for information on downloading the development tree.

    --

    Don Head
    UNIX/Linux Administrator