Slashdot Mirror
Yellow Dog Linux 3.0.1 Available for Download
macemoneta writes "Yellow Dog Linux 3.0.1 is now available for download, and includes HFS+ support with the 2.4.22-based kernel. Be nice and use a mirror!"
← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)
My sister just got new iBook G4, and for some reason she wants to learn to use Linux
/bin /etc, etc...), learn some scripting, run X11 applications, and I think you can even install gnome on top of Darwin (not sure why you'd want to do that though).
:)
:))
Okay, that's just my uninformed advice, but I *think* she'd be better off learning UNIX off OS X for starters...
I mean, she can get accustomed to the shell, the basic UNIX apps (emacs, ssh...) the UNIX file hierarchy (/usr
If it is really UNIX she wants to learn (and not linux in particular) then she has it right out of the box. If it's linux-linux, then start to show her how to use the terminal on OS X, which leaves you some weeks/months to choose the best distribution.
As for linux PPC distribs... what I can say is that I tried to install Debian PPC on a standard G4, and that it didn't work out, even though I got help from a linux veteran.) Yellow dog is said to be nice, and there's supposed to be a gentoo PPC port too (?).
I once tried to install yellow dog PPC on a performa (Old World, requires some tinkering). Got halfway through install and at some point it just put garbled the screen and displayed a fun message: "Kill -34 complete, you can now reboot." No need to say it couldn't reboot anymore
Hello! I'm a disaster waiting to happen!
...happened on a 2.4.22 kernel -- and not on processor-specific code. Be sure to update to 2.4.23 *immediately* after installation!!!
Emacs: for people who just never know when to
I rarely encourage people to adopt an 'upgrade' path unless the OS vendor has gone far out of their way to make 'upgrade' a viable and rigorously tested process. (sorry, Microsoft). But really, if you were running a Linux system, all your user data should have been well compartmentalized and it should be easy for you to do an upgrade to 2.0.
To be frank, if your critical business data was that disk-bound, you were taking a heck of a lot of chances as it is, the way you were running your system.
A Good Intro to NetBS
You can partition the drives from the OS X installer CD, but not without erasing everything (Some commercial software probably does that, try searching google)You still can plug the iBook to your own PC through ethernet to back everything up prior to partitionning.
:)
As for your sister wanting to learn linux for *political* reasons: I've been myself confronted to a similar situation: that is, I'm currently abroad without my much beloved mac, so had to buy a PC, with windows on it. I loathe Microsoft, but I don't have access to anything else than dial-up, so I can't even download linux to give it a try! (+ I'm not sure I could manage to use linux without a bit of outside help). So I decided to find a middle ground: leave windows installed, and replace as much Microsoft software I could. Outlook got trashed for Thunderbird, Explorer for Firebird, MSN for GAIM, and so on...
My point is, open source is cool and all, but I'm not sure it's good to have people give up on *usability* and ease of use just because the OS is GPL'd. (OS X is stil so much better than linux it makes no sense to trash it for linux) Mostly because this adds a somewhat disconforting "sect" aspect to the open source community. And being looked upon as a bunch of crazy fanatics is not so good (I'm a mac fan, I know what I'm talking about!!). And also because if she tries linux while it's still not easy enough for her (she's not a geek / nerd, you told), then she just might grow very frustrated with it, trash it, and never give it a shot ever again.
If you're not familiar with OS X, what's good about it is its versatility. If you want to use it as a grandma-OS, you can. Buy mac, open case, switch on, there you have it. (I like to tell my friends, "you can use Mac OS X when drunk.")
But you can also use it as an excessively geeky OS if you want to. They give you a nice terminal app, and it's plain-vanilla open-sourced BSD behind. X-11 is installed by default in panther. Fink is the direct equivalent of apt-get, you can use it with or without a GUI... Makes installing the GIMP easy, among other things. Darwin Ports does the same kind of job. A *lot* of open-source software has been ported (mPlayer / mozilla apps / open office / etc...), too.
You can also boot OS X without the Aqua interface ("evil" because non-GPL'd) and install gnome (said to be tricky). With that many open source tools & software, you're in open-source/UNIX-land alright, imho. And if you grow tired of it, you can still go back to plain OS X. If she wants to try linux, then she should, but I have a very hard time figuring how replacing OS X by a linux desktop would be better for her in the end. (the steep price of apple hardware being mostly justified by the OS).
Anyhow, I wish you -and her, mostly- good luck!
Hello! I'm a disaster waiting to happen!
Uhhhhhhh........... linux is only free if your time has no value................