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Yellow Dog Linux 4.0 - Finally in Limited Release

Posted by simoniker on from the woof dept.

sloopy writes "Terra Soft Solutions has released the long awaited and overdue next version of Yellow Dog Linux - version 4.0, for ydl.net enhanced subscribers and pre-installed on new machines, with full release to hopefully soon follow in the coming weeks. With this new release, they finally include native support for the new G5s (32-bit kernel/toolchain currently, full 64-bit soon) and continued support for the G4s and newer G3s."

14 of 223 comments (clear)

  1. I like Linux but... by Shisha · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I would have thought that Linux on Apple hardware makes most sense on the server side, in which case the fact that it's not all full 64-bit defeats the point.

    On the desktop side, I see no advantage of running Linux rather than OS X. Don't get me wrong, I use Linux on my IBM laptop all the time, but on OS X I can run the same programs and also all the nice Mac OS X only things like iTunes.

    1. Re:I like Linux but... by Dielectric · · Score: 4, Insightful

      How about for relatively recent Apple hardware that will run OS X poorly, like my aging 350MHz iMac? There is very little software left for OS 9, so just last night I was looking into converting the little blue gumball to Linux. This announcement is like a message from the computer gods for me. Linux it is!

    2. Re:I like Linux but... by Shisha · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I see your point, even though since I use the same programs (emacs, kmail, latex, gcc, gnuplot, web browser) on both, and they're the only thing I use often enough, and of course they use the same config files. I don't even get any conflicts using them concurently. The reason why I wouldn't ditch OS X is because of Mathematica, which AFAIK does not run on PowerPC Linux of any flavour Yellow Dog included.

    3. Re:I like Linux but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      For us Linux users (who see no point in running OSX), it makes sense to get a laptop that just works(tm), and for that purpose Apple laptops tend to beat most of what the PC world puts out.

      For an Apple-fan, it may not make sense to run Linux on an iBook, because the alternative is running OSX.

      But for a Linux-fan, running Linux on an iBook makes sense because the alternative is a Dell.

    4. Re:I like Linux but... by huchida · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Good sales pitch, but the question wasn't, "should I buy a new Mac?" (I mean, do you really think that didn't occur to him?) The question was if the distro would work on his aging machine. Which is an entirely valid query, considering Macs are built to last long past their usefulness... And that one of Linux' selling points, if I'm not mistaken, is that it is a speedy and capable OS to an outdated system.

  2. Yellow Dog Linux by bunburyist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    From the site, YDL will "Bridge the gap between Intel and Apple, between x86 and PowerPC. Once you have become comfortable with the KDE or Gnome desktop, you can sit down with any Linux computer and feel right at home.
    Linux will be around for a very long time. It may change, grow, expand, but it will most likely never die. No corporation (even Microsoft) can halt the production of Linux as everyone has the opportunity to offer improvements, to help it become better than it was. Linux users will never be in the position of finding their OS is no longer supported."
    This is cool! Basically it allows you to keep all your existing stuff (from what i gathered) and move to a completely different and (in many people's opinion) better processor architecture, not to mention fancy keyboard/mouse with cool looking box/monitor. Question: Can you dual boot it though? because OSX is so damn pretty and it has X11 to support some linux st0ff.

  3. Re:Doesnt matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    "when we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not price" - RMS

    We are not _all_ complete freeloaders, some of us just don't like to pirate commercial OS's or pay the MS tax.

    Hint: MS tax is not applicable to Apple boxes :-D

  4. Suffocating the old by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I hope they update their website. Currently, it says YDL is for the home user who desires to breathe life into old hardware"..

    For those of use who continue to use a pre-G3 at home because that's all we really need, we can't use the new YDL. How many moms/aunts/not-so-technical cousins are using such older machines?

  5. Finally? by rharder · · Score: 4, Insightful
    With this new release, they finally include native support for the new G5s...

    Finally? Goodness, you guys sure do ask a lot. G5's haven't been out all that long. =)

  6. 64 bit "soon" ? by Gothmolly · · Score: 1, Insightful

    So I can run 32bit compile-as-you-go-and-fight-dependencies Linux, or 64bit it-just-works OSX? Wow, I mean, choice is good, but I had no idea it would be this good.
    This isn't meant as a flame, but why would you run Linux on the machine instead of OSX? Is there some Linux threading thing that your app neads? Some Linux app that you wrote needs a POSIXism the way Linux implements it instead of the way BSD does?
    Why reinvent the wheel (poorly)?

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  7. Re:support dropped by bedouin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yeah, but not supported and will not run are two different things. I'm pretty sure you can install YDL 4.0 on old-world machines, just not with Terrasoft's help.

    That said, I think that's a dumb move on their part. I'd imagine half (if not more) of YDL users are running it on old machines that either can't support OS X, or run it too sluggishly to bother. The beige G3s are still powerful machines. If you can still install Fedora on a circa-1994 Pentium, you should be able to put YDL on a G3 from 1998.

  8. Re:Question for Yellow Dog users... by IamTheRealMike · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Well, Linux is free software (as in GNU free) which is important to some. Desktop Linux has some things that MacOS X lacks or can only gain with extra hacks. For instance, I'm very comfortable with virtual desktops in Gnome 2.6 and miss them terribly when I'm on a Windows or Mac machine. There are other reasons too - the shareware culture is still prevalent in the Mac world: you can often find yourself being asked to pay ~$30 for a little utility that would be free under Linux, if needed at all.

    Other reasons include apps like Evolution fitting in on Linux, but not on MacOS (and Evo 2 is really, really sweet, far better than Apple Mail in my estimation), improved semantic/source compatibility with the x86 Linux world, want to learn it for future job markets etc etc.

    There are lots of reasons.

  9. Re:Gentoo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Uhm. What the hell? This gets modded as +1 interesting? Good to see that slashdot's tradition of rewarding intelligent arguments for a case is in full swing.

  10. Trying to understand the appeal by amichalo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This is not a flame or a troll but a real question.

    If OS X can run most/all linux apps via X11, then why would someone want to run Yellow God native?

    I thought the achillies heal of linux is the difficult/multivariation/infinitely configurable interface. Seems like if OS X nips that issue, and offers support of linux apps (X11), then I don't get the need to buy a G5 and ditch the OS it comes with for Yellow Dog.

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