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Free Software on a Cheap Computer
Shell writes "Is this the solution to free software on a cheap computer? NetBSD and Yellow Dog Linux have both begun to support the Mac Mini. This article from IBM looks at open source operating system options on this new contender in the embedded PowerPC platform space." From the article: "This article looks at the current state of Linux and NetBSD support on the Mini. If you need all the hardware and options fully supported, these open source options won't do it for you ... yet. But, if all you need is a stable kernel, a C compiler, and network support, the code is high-quality and the price is unbeatable." This is part two in the series. Part One was covered a while back.
An embedded view of the Mac Mini, Part 2: Free software on a cheap computer
... yet. But, if all you need is a stable kernel, a C compiler, and network support, the code is high-quality and the price is unbeatable.
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Contents:
Backups and system partitions
Yellow Dog Linux on Power
NetBSD on Power
Summary
Resources
About the author
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An embedded view of the Mac Mini, Part 1: Apple's new PowerPC BSP
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Running Linux and BSD on the Mac Mini
Level: Introductory
Peter Seebach (crankyuser@seebs.plethora.net)
Freelance writer
05 Apr 2005
NetBSD and Yellow Dog Linux have both begun to support the Mac Mini. Peter Seebach looks at open source operating system options on this new contender in the embedded PowerPC platform space.
Apple's native operating system software offers you the best hardware support on Apple hardware, and the Mac Mini is no exception. Some of the hardware works just fine under open source systems; some isn't supported at all, or works only partially.
This article looks at the current state of Linux(TM) and NetBSD support on the Mini. If you need all the hardware and options fully supported, these open source options won't do it for you
Before you even think about installing a new operating system, make backups. Conveniently, the Mini's hard drive will be 80GB or smaller, so it's easy to back up everything on the disk. An external FireWire bay and a large enough disk to make backups is a very good investment here. Make backups. Really! Even if you're not going to install another operating system, please make the tech support workers of the world happy and make an extra set of backups right now, just in case.
Backups and system partitions
One of the nuisances of Mac OS X is that the partitioning program takes a very all-or-nothing approach to partitioning. If you alter any aspect of the partition table using Disk Utility, all of the partitions on the disk will be wiped. In the Mac OS 9 days, there was third-party software to let you move, copy, and even resize partitions. For Mac OS X, you have to use Disk Utility or pdisk. For more information about partitioning, see Resources.
As a result, repartitioning your disk to make room for a new operating system will require a reinstall. The only way around this is to make space on a second disk, or move your Mac OS X operating system to the second disk. There's a program called Carbon Copy Cloner which can make a proper and bootable copy of your Mac OS X system disk on an external disk (see Resources). Once you've done that, you can boot from that disk, and repartition the internal disk.
The Mac OS X install disc that comes with the Mini won't let you install directly to an external disk. It says this is because the computer can't boot from an external disk, but in fact, it can. Simply copying files over from your boot disk generally won't give you a bootable disk. This is where a utility like Carbon Copy Cloner can be useful. The Mac is friendly about letting you specify which of several partitions to boot from, once you have installed the OS on them.
The partitioning scheme that will work for you depends a little on what operating systems you want to load, and how much you'll be using each of them. If you're going to run the machine as a dedicated BSD or Linux system, it's a little simpler than if you're planning to dual-boot: you can just dedicate the disk to your operating system of choice. For dual-boot, you'll want multiple partitions, and you may end up reloading a couple of times figuring out how much space to allocate to each system.
Formatting disks on the command line
Partitioning and formatting can also be done from the command line. (DOS/Windows® users will be comfortable thinking of partitioning as wh
"cheap computer"?
The Mac Mini starts at $499. You can get a brand new computer from Dell for $250. Now the Mac Mini is pretty inexpensive, but its not THAT cheap.
-d
"Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"
Or, if you want full hardware support along with a stable kernel, a C compiler, and network support, you just leave it alone. What's the advantage of switching to a free OS when you've already paid for the Mac OS?
So you buy a Mac Mini, and want a free OS alternative? Why? First off, you already paid for OS X (which, BTW, is a damn good OS), so tell me again why would you need to install NetBSD or Yellow Dog Linux?
What's the point of that?
It's for people like me who like Apple HW, but think that OS/X sucks. If you don't like it, don't use it and STFU.
The Mini is not cheap. It is relatively cheap compared to the other overpriced offerings from Apple. It is still expensive for what you get. If you want to run Linux, don't waste your money on that crap.
Last time I checked the Mac Mini shipped with MacOS X included, so you've got free (as in beer) software with it already. Apart from being free (as in speech), just what do NetBSD and Yellow Dog Linux have that the pre-installed software doesn't have? Can someone please enlighten me?
Buying a Mac Mini specifically to install another less polished OS onto it (NetBSD and Yellow Dog Linux may be many things, but neither is polished to MacOS X's standards) seems like really flawed logic.
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
Linux and MacOS are not source compatible. You can write portable software that knows how to adjust to the OS it's running on, but you can't deliver it to the customer if without testing the code paths they're going to use.
If the customer is going to use Linux PowerPC you have to test on Linux PowerPC. The mini is a cheap way of doing this.
I rarely criticize things I don't care about.