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Yellow Dog Linux 4.0 - Finally in Limited Release
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."
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.
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.
too bad it wont run on my 17 inch gen 1 powerbook :(
Ah yes, and I'm sure trying out ppc linux distributions is the main reason why your x86 box is broken.
The unfortunate thing is that YDL has dropped support for the oldworld rom architecture. So now your beige g3's and the wallstreet powerbooks and earlier are no longer officially supported.
"you cradle your new 12" PowerBook G4 (small enough to hide at the office) running Yellow Dog Linux. Feeling so empowered by this transformation, you quickly demand full reimbursement for the cost of your Mac from your health insurance company, stating with affirmation that an Apple with Yellow Dog Linux is an NIH funded, clinically tested, FDA approved form of alternative medicine. And you would have walked to Canada to get one!
Yes, this is why people run Linux on a Mac. Hard to explain, isn't it? "
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?
Finally? Goodness, you guys sure do ask a lot. G5's haven't been out all that long. =)
Can any YDL advocates provide some insight as to why they prefer this over OSX?
>> "What would the robut do? Frame someone!"
I once wrote an article which summarises my experience with Linux on Apple hardware. It was published on OSNews. It's a little dated now (I wrote it a little over a year ago), but it offers my opinion on Yellow Dog Linux, which was overwhelmingly positive. Check it out here.
--Jon
Cleanstick.org: Dumb weblog about nothing
Its not clear if the G3 PB line is supported; it might be nice to get this for the Pismo line which can be a hair too slow for OS.X.
Any experience out there?
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
Finally! I have long awaited this release as YDL3 was becoming slightly dated. A lot of people ask, why Linux when I can already use my sleek powerbook to run X applications and hell even apt-get software from Fink's binary repository. The answer is the same to why someone would want to run Linux on an x86 machine. Why run linux when you could just use cgywin?
:D).
MacOS X does Just Work, but sometimes it doesn't work the way I want it too. Sometimes I want to be able to compile any package and KNOW that it is going to work. Sometimes I want a pure linux development environment, and I am willing to take in a few of the caveats (ie. improper pmud).
Othertimes I just feel mired by a sleek GUI when I know how quickly I can execute the same task with a full linux environment.
Linux on apple hardware is a great thing (don't dis it until you try it
transmission_err
With OSX, those nice guys at SCO won't sue you. You really need Linux to get them after you.
Run, Yellow dog, run !
I've have some powerbook owners who would like to be able to run Yellowdog but off of an external Firewire drive. Last I checked Yellowdog did not support this. Does anybody know what the status is on this feature.
Even though having a dual boot system is fairly safe "if you know what you are doing" there are people who don't want to muck with their OS X disk.
MS no longer owns a "significant chunk" of Apple, they sold (at least most) of their stock years ago when the value went back up.
As for inflated hardware price - if you want PPC nicely packaged, Apple is the only game in town. If you don't then don't worry about it.
That is false. M$ had invested $150 million (which is not that much) on non-voting Apple stock in 1997, but has long sold it (and made a hefty profit)
The perfect sig is a lot like silence, only louder
You don't deserve a G5.
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.
I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
Hey smart guy...
1)OSX is not fully 64-bit either.
2)YDL created yum (Yellowdog Package Manager) that handles dependencies automatically.
3)There are lots of reasons folks might want to use Linux instead of OSX. Check around this story for lots of them. In my case, I just like KDE's interface a hell of a lot more than OSX's "real purty, but not at all utilitarian" approach.
4)If that wasn't meant as a flame, you need to work on your posting.
Given a choice between free speech and free beer, most people will take the beer.
At least if you fight with dependencies, you actually know what the dependencies are. This can be very helpful when pushing it out to many machines or when you find out that a library is buggy/exploitable.
IBM has an article on Yellow Dog on PowerMacs. I personally can't see running anything but Mac OS X on a PowerMac, but to each his own.
I have a website. It's about Macs.
I used to run gentoo on x86 (no, I don't care about the optimization, I just liked gentoo's system for controlling daemons and whatnot ) -- overall I ran linux of some sort or another for a few years and was pretty comfortable with it.
I moved to OS X after a linux hardware-incompatibility disaster and by and large I've never looked back. The thing is, I do simulation work in my free time that requires serious opengl and without hardware acceleration I'm SOL. Going mac made sense anyhow, since by day I'm a graphic designer and have always been on Macs, or at least since about '92. Until OS X I didn't consider the Mac to be a valid development platform, and until 10.2 I didn't consider OS X to be a valid system at all for general use )
What I'm curious about is wether live cds for PPC are available. I had heard about a gentoo ppc livecd but I couldn't actually *find* it.
I want to see what's happened in the few years I've been away and I'd like to see the level of hardware support. yes, I know that for my 12" PB support's going to suck, but really I just want to *see*.
Consider this an appeal for nostalgia.
lorem ipsum, dolor sit amet
Unfair comparision between YDL and OSX. For YDL, you choose what "it" you want to work. For OSX, Apple chooses for you.
tangent to the argument, but to most of us mac users, your imac isn't that old. It's definitely at it's tail end, and thank god for linux, that can add more life, but many mac users are doing fine on 4 or 5 year old machines, many without any major upgrades.
My beige G3 with an upgraded CPU sits on my room mates desk where it gets 4 or more hours use a night.
My G4 tower is still my editing station. It has undergone numerous upgrades from the day it arrived as a stock G4/400, but professional editing needs are a bit out of the norm.
My main computer is my G4 Titanium laptop.
The only real reason I have to get anything new is techno lust. And the thought that I can keep going with my older hardware with a pared down linux system is very comforting.
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
Now if only we can get AirPort Extreme Card drivers, we'll be all set.
I'm not well informed on the issue, but I've heard it has something to do with the chipset manufacturer not releasing any specs or drivers for the product in question.
I haven't seen much third party reverse engineering to create a driver for this card; perhaps because of fear of DMCA stuff.
http://pixelcort.com/
I don't understand the opinion "why use Linux when one can run most of the linux apps in Mac OS X". Sure it's night and day from Pre-OSX but my experience is that most FLOSS applications (especially those with a GUI) work a lot worse on Mac OS X than on Linux (and to me that's logical, of course more development time goes into the linux versions than the mac ports).
Mainstream FLOSS applications like Firefox, dcgui and X-Chat performs a lot worse (slower, less stable, etc.) on Mac OS X than Linux. Atleast that is my experience.
And if one wants to run Photoshop and other commercial applications; use Mac-on-Linux.
On the other hand I understand that lots of people like Mac OS X, it's a well designed OS.
I don't know about Yellow Dog, but the Red Hat installation program flashes trivia by occasionally to keep you busy, and it provides a few insights. First of all, Wikipedia says this: "Red Hat's name came from the manual of the beta version, which contained a request for the return of Marc Ewing's characteristic red and white-striped hat, should anyone find it." The installer trivia says, if I remember correctly, that when Ewing was in college people would often ask for "the guy in the red hat" for computer help. So he came to be associated with the hat.
Signature.
After about 40 seconds (on a dual-1.8GHz G5 machine), you get to the Yellow Dog welcome screen where you can log in as a user, reboot, choose the desktop environment, and the like. For what it's worth, OSX boots in a very impressive 15 seconds on the same machine.