Yellow Dog Linux 2.3 Released

pinqkandi writes "Yesterday, TerraSoft Solutions announced its next generation of its PowerPC Linux, Yellow Dog 2.3. New in this version is Kernel 2.4.19, KDE 3.0.1, CUPS printing, and OpenOffice 1.0, among other updates of included applications. It is available immediately from TerraSoft's online store for $30, or $60 if you want personal support for 60 days."

Comments

2.4.19 kernel?

[Clue4All]

Perhaps they'll be willing to share it with the rest of us. I've been waiting for it for a few months now and still can't get it. ;-)

Re:2.4.19 kernel?

[felipeal]

I thought that was a typical /. editor's gaffe, but it's actually YDL's fault:

YDL 2.3 surpasses YDL 2.2 with an array of timely updates, improvements: kernel 2.4.19, the 'Liquid' theme, CUPS print system, apt-get, OpenOffice 1.0, Mozilla 0.9.9, Galeon 1.2, Evolution 1.0.5, AbiWord 1.0.2, netatalk 1.5.3.1, and support for the Radeon 7500 (excluding 'Mobility') video card.

The funny thing is, already they're a step ahead on the kernel, they are one behind on mozilla...

Kernel 2.4.19

[daserver]

Kernel.org says 2.4.19rc1

YDL vs. OSX

[conan_albrecht]

I purchased a titanium powerbook just for the purpose of running YDL 2.2 on it. (I liked the style of the powerbook--still do). I purchased YDL and found it very well put together. I was very impressed with it.

However, after a few weeks of playing with OS X (I left a small OSX partition), I erased YDL and now I work exclusively in OS X. The Linux desktops just don't compare to it, and MS Office runs on OS X as well. I don't personally use it Office, but it's nice to have when I working with others.

In sum, YDL would be great for older Apple hardware that won't run OS X. If you have newer hardware, OS X is wonderful for a desktop machine.

Re:freedom of choice is nice and all...

[bill.sheehan]

Run acceptably on my iMac rev. A, for one thing. I've got enough memory for OSX, but "run" is not the operative word. "Saunter" or "Mosey" are more like it.

I am Dyslexic of Borg. Resemblance is fertile. Your ass will be laminated.

Re:30 dollars?

[Sc00ter]

You can download the is here. it's not 2.3 but it just came out, so it should hit there soon.

PPC Can do Debian too

[Juhaa]

This is my experience with installing Potato Debian on my iBook DVD, using the
rev0 CDs. I know this story is about YDL, but a lot of people do not realize that Debian and Mandrake works just as fine on Apple hardware. And thus this walkthrough, hope it's helpful, give it a try.

This is not a Guide to Debian installation, rather a step-by-step
guide (doh!). And write down what you're doing (especially partition numbers,
that the reason why I'm writing this and reinstalling everything from scratch
for the second time)
Enjoy.

Instructions
------------

1. Boot the laptop with the iBook install, by pressing "C" during the chime
sound
2. Launch the Drive Setup, on the CD, in the Utilities directory
3. I created 2 partitions. First one is the Linux Place Holder, one big fat
partition that we'll split into all your Linux partitions during the Debian
install process. The second one is for MacOS. You might want to create 3
partitions (respectivily for Linux, MacOS, and an HFS one for sharing files
between Linux and MacOS). I'm only using MacOS to play DVDs, so it's no big
deal for me.
4. Install MacOS on the MacOS drive (don't install on the place holder for
Linux!)
5. Reboot the 'puter, it should work, otherwise bring your iBook back to the
shop and jump off a cliff.

6. Now that we're sure that the iBook and MacOS works, reboot up, and press
Option-Apple-O-F during the chime to access the Open Firmware.
7. type in "boot cd:\\yaboot". Try "boot cd:\install\powermac\yaboot" if the
former fails.
8. On the yaboot prompt, enter "debian video=aty128fb:vmode:10:depth:8:" where
debian is the name of the image you're gonna be using to boot (hit to
list the available ones).
9. Select your keyboard, and Partition your HD, following Ethan Benson's
mac-fdisk-basics.txt (see at the bottom for URL).
11. At this point I have this kind of partitioning:
hda1 to hda8: MacOS crap
hda9: Apple_Bootstrap partition
hda10: / (root)
hda11: swap
hda12: /home (home)
hda13: /opt (opt)
hda14: MacOS

(...Later...)

10. When asked if you want to "Make Linux Bootable Directly From Hard Disk",
get to another console and get a shell (on the iBook, it's a bit dodgy,
keep pressed in this order Apple-fn-F2).
11. Run this line to get your bootstrap partition initialized:
mkofboot --boot /dev/hda9 -m /target/etc/ofboot.b --root /dev/hda10 --partition 10
12. In the present state, you wouldn't be able to boot Linux because of the
(lack of) novideo option in the default yaboot.conf
Edit the /target/etc/yaboot.conf. Here is what it looks like after all the
editing:

boot=/dev/hda9
device=hd:
timeout=20
install= /boot/yaboot
magicboot=/boot/ofboot.b

image=/vmlinux
label=Linux
root=/dev/hda10
read-only
partition=10
append = "video=aty128fb:vmode:10:depth:8:"

13. Run that to be able to run Linux:
ybin -C /target/etc/yaboot.conf -m /target/etc/ofboot.b
14. Reboot the system, and get into the Open Firmware again
15. To boot your linux system, type in:
boot hd:9,yaboot

(...Later...)

16. Voila, you still need to configure your computer (X-Window, dial-up,
desktop...), but at least it will boot up normally =)
17. to boot up by default with Linux, run "setenv boot-device hd:9,yaboot"
within the Open Firmware. Press the Option key during the chime to boot
MacOS.

libm in the right place ?

[johnjones]

I tried the last yellow dog and found that their libm was fscked

doesnt exactly inspire me

anyone tried to compile spec benchmarks on it ?

regards

john jones

Slashdot Typo

[jchawk]

I thought the 2.4.19 was just a normal slashdot typo, but it appears that they are listing 2.4.19 on their website.

" YDL 2.3 surpasses YDL 2.2 with an array of timely updates, improvements: kernel 2.4.19, the 'Liquid' theme, CUPS print system, apt-get, OpenOffice 1.0, Mozilla 0.9.9, Galeon 1.2, Evolution 1.0.5, AbiWord 1.0.2, netatalk 1.5.3.1, and support for the Radeon 7500 (excluding 'Mobility') video card. "

Perhaps they have a typo or they are running a beta kernel or something. . . Could be they just have a typo on the site and let it alone to generate more interest in their distro?

Ah who knows. . .

Mac-On-Linux

[dmaxwell]

Mac-On-Linux virtualizes a Powerpc chip and allows MacOS to run on a virtual terminal. With a little work, even networking works well. The speed feels just like a native boot on my 400Mhz Pismo. Video is a bit slow because it's just a framebuffer with no accelleration. It's plenty fast enough for things like Office even if games don't play well.

It requires kernel modules that are built against the kernel running on the machine so you will need a good source tree to go along with your kernel. I mention this because many Powerpc Linux users go with precompiled kernels. MOL can be had from:

http://www.maconlinux.org/

Bah yourself, troll.

[Erris]

Your ugly comment is short enough to quote entirely:

Debian is "the one true Linux" and it runs just fine on my ibook. Anyone who is in the market for an easy to install and use Unix like system on a Mac will most probably go with OS X. I don't see what the selling point of a "Mac only" distribution is these days. Did I mention I thought Debian was great.

At the risk of sounding like marketdroid, I'll tell you why it makes sense to have a "Mac Only" distro without understanding PowerPCs. The Terra Soft site says, "Terra Soft's integrated PowerPC solutions take advantage of the low power consumption and high performance of the IBM and Motorola PowerPC chips. When the Motorola's AltiVec(TM) unit (Apple's "Velocity Engine(TM)") is engaged --the result may be performance well beyond the CPU's given speed rating."

Now that I've sung the praises of the Yellow Dog Linux Team, I'll furter quell your silly attempt to start a Debian flame war by your mirage post. You might mention WHY Debian is as great as it is. Little things like:

Radically decentralized distribution. Debian mirrors can be found everywhere and the package system assures quality of the packages.

Ease of install and upgrade. The Debian PowerPC istall can be found here. i386 install of Debian is easier than most Linux installs, though it may take longer. The power PC might be a little more difficult, I've never done it. Upgrade by command line "apt-get update" and "apt-get upgrade" is the easiest upgrade I've ever seen.

Trust. The overriding GNU philosopy of Debian makes all of the above possible and garuntees that Debian will remain free and easy.

So Alec, what's a dude like you posting biggoted looking stuff like this for? Despite your earlier NT horror, you look like you might know better. Is there any reason you put Chinese characters on your proported home page? What's all those references to Death about? Do you really own a power book? Have you ever really installed any kind of Linux? Are your still using NT?