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Yellow Dog Linux v4.0 Released
worm eater writes "On September 29, Terra Soft Solutions delivered the final release of Yellow Dog Linux v4.0 to their CD manufacturer. It is currently available for download by ydl.net subscribers. Yellow Dog Linux v4.0 is built upon Fedora Core 2, offering both KDE 3.3 and GNOME 2.6.0 desktops with an all new presentation for both the Installer and post-installed desktop environment. Expanded USB support includes many cameras, printers, adapters, and storage devices. FireWire support is now built-in with bootable FireWire made possible through manual configuration. Mac-On-Linux offers the ability to run Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X and now offers automatic network configuration."
I have to say I'm also struggling to work out what niche Linux for OS X machines fills. If you want Linux, there's cheaper hardware to run it on, and I'd expect more of the exotic stuff to work properly. If you want a Mac experience, Linux probably isn't going to deliver. If you want un*x plus cuddly Mac interface, I thought that was the whole point of OS X....
Virtually serving coffee
LinuxPPC is a great option for older Macs with pre-OSX or pre-Panther. With one of many WM themes, you can approximate the latest Mac experience without shelling out $150.
Till someone does something about the Airport Extreme problem, Linux is worthless on the new Powerbooks. (And I know it's BoardCom who isn't cooperating)
On the other hand, have you seen the laptop market recently? Trying to find a light, well made laptop with a DVD writer and a decent screen is next to impossible - you can get badly made crap from Dell (where the drivers all work) or a Thinkpad from IBM (with a ATI card! aargh! no working 3d!).
In that environment a powerbook running Linux seems like a pretty good idea to me, at least for those that are perfectly happy with Linux and dont want to change tyvm.
Beep beep.
First of all, it's nice that there are now a lot of distributions catering to different needs from which to choose from.
There's mandrake (yes mandrake ppc is still active), yellow dog, ubuntu, crux, debian, gentoo.
And to all those complaining about linux on ppc:
1. Nobody forces you to use it.
2. Believe it or not, but some people don't think OSX is their favorite OS.
3. Linux offers way more choice then OSX.
4. There are other ppc computers then just Apples.
5. It may not be a weired idea to use linux on a server and there are servers with ppc.
Linux fulfills the same niche on PPC it does on Windows: people are stuck with some hardware and they don't like the operating system on it. Maybe they bought an OS X machine believing that they would get a "UNIX workstation with a nicer GUI" and discovered that it didn't fit their needs after all. Maybe they discovered that their laptop is slower than they'd like it to be with OS X. Maybe they want different software that's better supported under Linux.
Also, in some niches, it can be worth buying Apple hardware for specific design features. For example, even though PC panel computers have been around for many years, the new iMac is particularly cheap and widely available because it is targeted at the mass market. And Apple's iBooks are a decent compromise as entry-level laptops. And many Apple designs just look nice, and installing YDL is a lot easier than replacing the motherboard.
So, until Apple starts shipping PPC hardware without an OS or with Linux preinstalled, Linux on Apple hardware won't become a mainstream choice. But there are situations where it makes sense.
I have to say I'm also struggling to work out what niche Linux for OS X machines fills. If you want Linux, there's cheaper hardware to run it on, and I'd expect more of the exotic stuff to work properly
Personally, I find the early iMacs and B&W G3s pretty lacklustre on OSX. Running a PPC distro like Debian gives them the speed they used to have in OS9, with an operating system that hasn't been abandoned.
For anything quicker I'm with you, though.
My Powerbook 54 17" came with an NVidia. I didn't want it, but thats what it came with.
3D isn't so much of an issue for me; I spend my life in rxvts, but what IS an issue for me is dual display support. Without that, its pretty well useless.
I can do without the airport extreme support (Come on, dragging a cable over 5 metres is not such a big deal) but the lack of a xinerama/dual head capable nv driver is problematic for me.
The irony of this whole story is that today I wiped Debian Linux off my powerbook and rebuild my machine to use all 60GB of disk space for OSX for exactly these reasons.
I wonder if YDL have solved the outstanding issues with the nv driver and extreme?
There are other options too for pre-installed laptops with full customer application support: Element Computers
They are a linux only vendor and were favorably reviewed. They've been featured on slasdot a couple of times.
What you want is out there, your just not going to get it from the Dell+Gateway+HP+Apple world.......and why should you? They're not linux vendors. Remember a purchase from them increases demand for a Windows/Apple operating system, a purchase from a linux retailer increases support for Linux OS....no matter what you choose to install afterwards. :)