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Linux beats Windows to Intel iMac

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the because-you-can dept.

Ctrl+Alt+De1337 writes "The Mactel-Linux folks have now successfully booted Linux on a 17" Core Duo iMac. They used the elilo bootloader, a modified kernel, and a hacked vesafb to boot from a USB drive. No GUI pictures for now, just white text on a black background. The distro of choice was Gentoo, and instructions and patches are promised this weekend."

19 of 537 comments (clear)

  1. Great! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    World's most expensive desktop linux machine

  2. Oh boy! by WebHostingGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

    White text on a black background; that sure beats that old OSX graphical interface.

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    Quality Hosting e3 Servers
    1. Re:Oh boy! by DrEldarion · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah, but now you can actually play games on the mac!

      Oh, wait... never mind.

  3. i wasn't aware there was a competition by pxuongl · · Score: 4, Funny

    i wasn't aware there was a competition

    1. Re:i wasn't aware there was a competition by tciny · · Score: 5, Funny

      John Dvorak begs to differ. Apples move to Intel will harm Linux!
      Clearly its obvious this will show computer users worldwide that OSX' graphical user interface is far superior to the Linux' shell, thus making them buy Apple boxen.
      Netcraft confirms it: Linux is dead.

  4. Windows Vista still in the running by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 4, Funny

    expect to see it in, oh, maybe five years.

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    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  5. Why the delay... by Syberghost · · Score: 5, Funny

    . The distro of choice was Gentoo, and instructions and patches are promised this weekend. ...when Gnome finishes compiling.

  6. Damn, now I feel depressed.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    The distro of choice was Gentoo, and instructions and patches are promised this weekend."


    I'm not even smart enough to get Gentoo booting off my PC! :(
  7. Saves memory by 77Punker · · Score: 5, Funny

    See, because the background is black, you can store the color in a single 8-bit register instead of taking up a whole 32-bit register and it saves so much space in the L1 cache that it makes the computer go so much faster. Also, from a usability standpoint, the console is much better because it doesn't have any of those confusing buttons or hard to install mouse drivers. Just type the command and it's been done before you know it; no more waiting for the GUI to load its fancy pictures.

    The worst thing is that I'm actually going to college with people that have that very same dinosaur mentality that I just spoofed. Then again, a little fancy ASM code in all of the C++ flying around really could speed things up, but I just have more of a preference towards ASM over higher level stuff.

    1. Re:Saves memory by Bob+of+Dole · · Score: 5, Funny

      8 bits? Are you mad? If only we had that much ram to waste!
      Black on white. Two colors: ONE BIT DISPLAYS!

      --
      I respond to your sigs
    2. Re:Saves memory by Ford+Prefect · · Score: 5, Funny

      The worst thing is that I'm actually going to college with people that have that very same dinosaur mentality that I just spoofed.

      A friend I went to university was recently boasting about his latest hardware acquisition - a colossal Apple monitor (I'm pretty sure it was the 30in Cinema display) and an appropriately speedy graphics card for his PC to drive it.

      He uploaded a photo. He runs nothing but Xterms, tiled across the display thanks to some ultra-primitive window manager.

      I nearly flew across the Atlantic in order to beat him to death with my prehistoric gaming CRT...

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  8. Call CNN! by w0lver · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wow, Linux is more flexible and you can customize the installation routine! This is completely unexpected... In other breaking news, water still wet and gravity still in effect

  9. Linux on iMac - so what? by TomDLux · · Score: 4, Funny

    If you want to run freeBSD on an iMac, you don't have to do anything.

  10. Before anyone asks... by Weaselmancer · · Score: 3, Funny

    The answer is "because you can".

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    Weaselmancer
    rediculous.
  11. NetBSD? by CodePoet82 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Okay, so it runs Linux now. But can it boot NetBSD yet? ;)

  12. In other news.... by Ledsock · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...it was recently announced that Linux had been ported to run on a standard wrist watch. Developer John I. Ronman stated, "This is really only a tech demo. Currently, the display only shows 18:88:88, but we are confident that not only will this allow the watch to display the time, but it will be Open Source time!"

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    What is mankind really? Well, it's just two words put together Mank, and ind.
  13. Re:Honestly, did anyone think Windows would be fir by SchrodingersRoot · · Score: 3, Funny

    No kidding.
    Besides which, with the skill and numbers of Linux fanboys, I'd almost have expected Linux to beat OSX to the punch, ya know? Dollars to doughnuts that they would've, given an equal shot at it.

  14. Re:Modified kernel? by archeopterix · · Score: 5, Funny
    And has anyone tried sticking in a pre-release DVD of Windows Vista, holding down the D key, and seeing what happens?
    I did 2 of the above. Here is the result:

    dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd ddddddddddddddddddddddd

  15. Re:oblig by halivar · · Score: 4, Funny

    In Soviet Russia,
    Intel beats YOU.

    Seeing a 5-digit UID post this is a bit like watching one's respected grandfather get drunk at a town-hall meeting and puke all over the podium.