Slashdot Mirror
Linux on the iMac G4
Brent Foster writes: "The staff at iMacLinux.net have Linux running on the new flat panel iMac G4s. They have an initial installation guide available here(1). It has several photos of the iMac G4 during the installation as well as cat /proc/cpuinfo. They also have some photos of the unpacking available here(2). The iMac was sponsored by PowerMax, it is nice to see companies sponsoring Linux efforts, especially in the Apple world."
John Buswell adds: "It currently works in novideo mode, but we plan on testing newer kernels and XFree 4.2 with nvidia patches later this week."
Seriously, what's the point of running Linux on a Mac. It's not like you can get Macs without the operating system. Isn't the whole point of Linux that it's an x86 alternative to Windows?
If I could run OS X on my x86 box, Linux would never have even entered the running of my considerations.
This is a waste of developers' time. Why don't you use your time developing something that needs to be done, like a Linux GUI that has unique perks or something like that?
visit the hwky website for a lyrical genius infusion.
"Because It's There"
"It's not a war on drugs, it's a war on personal freedom. Keep that in mind at all times." Bill Hicks
So, why, why WHY would somebody waste their time installing Linux on such a machine?
Maybe perhaps because they prefer Linux? Its all about choice - many people would prefer to run Linux on any given processor. You may prefer to run OS X, and that is your choice. Many people prefer to run Windows, and thats their choice. Thats something that most zelots don't understand - the whole fight is about choice.
I'll venture a guess: Because it isn't about practicality. It isn't about what makes sense. It's all about "Linux as Religion"
Yet, you crow on and on about OS X - If you could run OS X on a X86, would you? Would that be pratical? Would that make sense? Or would that be a religious preference?
For me personally, it makes much more sense and it is much more pratical to run Linux than OS X. Hearing that Linux runs on one of these boxes makes me more likely to buy one. But thats my choice (you know, free, as in speech).
Do you have Linux and a DotPal? Click here now!
ROTFL.. these guys are bouncing requests they can't handle back to slashdot rather than having their servers queue and try to respond to them. this is pretty cool.. must say its a unique way to handle a slashdotting :)
It would be very easy to agree with you, and in large part I do. In fact, knowing what I'm about to say, it would still be incredibly easy to just say "You're right" and move on.
But...
Consider this feat from something other than a practical use standpoint. Yes, OS X is a gorgeous, useable, practical operating system that is tailored to take the best advantage of Apple hardware. With it you can begin being extremely productive right out of the box. But at the same time you are agreeing to take the operating system they built and run it on the hardware they deem appropriate.
What putting Linux on the new iMac does, is show that there are some of us who are willing and want to try things our own way. Many times it may turn up nowhere near as usable as the original product, but "usable" is a very subjective term. It's about pushing limits and trying new things. It also sends a small message to manufacturers saying "Hey, you might have made a nice piece of equipment, but now it's my turn, and I'm going to try some tings my way."
I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it.
Since Apple have a propensity to obsolete their hardware, and OSes rather quickly.
Look at 68k macs - no longer supported by any current version of the MacOS...
Look at Pre-G3 Power Macs - unsupported by OS X, or any Apple Unix...
Apple can't support their products like the Open Source community can, they seem to be of the opinion that if a machine is more than 2 years old, it is useless and you should buy a new one.
Yes, but...
The 68040 Macs became obsolete when Mac OS 8 came out. It was terribly, terribly slow. The 68040 Mac shipped with either System 6 or System 7. System 6, the last Mac system to fit on a floppy, was nice and lean; A full install of System 7 was ~24 MB, and added a bunch of features that slowed it down considerably, and Mac OS 8 added more still that made it virtually unusable on pre-PPC Macs.
Same situation with the pre-G3 PowerMacs running OS X. They can run OS's 7 through 9, but running OS X is going to be unbearably slow, especially because of Aqua. I have a 400 mhz B&W G3 in my office (Apple's last G3 tower), and it's "tolerable" with OS X. OS X really needs a G4 with Altivec.
Apple's doing the right thing; they worry about the future, and let others (like LinuxPPC) address the past.
nvidia still hasn't shared which registers are used to set up a DVI display, which this iMac requires. This is also the reason you can't use the XFree86 group's nvidia driver if you have a DVI display on your PC Linux box.
If nvidia would just share this one bit of info, nvidia users could avoid loading a nasty closed-source driver.