Linux on Mac machine

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Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
can I install linux and run it from my mac?



(not VPC linux, but actual RH or Mandrake)
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 38
    sure ... not any linux tho, but linux ppc. yellowdog and mandrake do have powerpc releases AFAIK.
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  • Reply 2 of 38
    i've used mandrake, it's ok
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  • Reply 3 of 38
    gentoo linux works... but it is a long install...and hard if you don't know what you are doing.



    YDL is neat... if you like RedHat. I used YDL on a iMac 350 (before I killed the CRT) it was fine but I found it to be too much like RedHat, which I don't like because of the overhead

    and system config apps they use.



    I use (and Love) Slackware Linux... (X86 only)

    Then have a PPC port -- http://slackintosh.exploits.org/ -- but it is unoffical and dated.



    YDL is really the only solution for the Linux on PPC user... IMHO the rest are not as up-to-date/user-friendly

    http://www.yellowdoglinux.com/



    Enjoy...
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  • Reply 4 of 38
    on the peecee side, i use fedora
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  • Reply 5 of 38
    Quote:

    Originally posted by mattjohndrow

    on the peecee side, i use fedora



    I have not heard anything good about Fedora... and I dislike RedHat Linux after dealing with it for a year...



    Slackware is where it is at...



    www.slackware.com
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  • Reply 6 of 38
    thuh freakthuh freak Posts: 2,664member
    i use debian gnu/linux. it's awesome. rh doesn't directly have a ppc version, but yellow dog is the equivalent (i think). the bigger names have a ppc version. in many aspects, the ppc versions are a bit behind the x86 versions.
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  • Reply 7 of 38
    trowatrowa Posts: 176member
    redhat/fedora seem like they are working on a PPC/PPC64 (possibly G5, but most likely Power4/5 chips)



    Fedora is looking real good, and has been getting some praise, after the intial shock of RH dropping support for their desktop distros.



    check it out here



    There is also PPC Linux



    Since there is a big push to standardize Desktop Linux, your best bet is to go with a Debian distro (since they are basing it on debian).



    Both Debian and Slackware seem to be favored by truly hardcore linux users.
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  • Reply 8 of 38
    Quote:

    Originally posted by trowa



    There is also PPC Linux





    Link is down...





    Quote:

    Originally posted by trowa



    Both Debian and Slackware seem to be favored by truly hardcore linux users.




    Damn right!
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  • Reply 9 of 38
    Why would you want to use linux?



    I installed it 3 times (each time there was a newer version of KDE) and ended up removing it like a week later. Linux isn't that great for most people.



    but yeah, yellowdog seems to have the best mac support
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  • Reply 10 of 38
    There's a guy on AppleTalk Australia who runs Mandrake PPC on a G3 350mhz imac.



    http://www.appletalkaustralia.com/fo...?showtopic=13#
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  • Reply 11 of 38
    knappaknappa Posts: 106member
    I was just trying this last week, but gave up on it because there were so many problems... I must admit though that the FreeCiv game was rather neat !!!
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  • Reply 12 of 38
    trowatrowa Posts: 176member
    actually if you just want to mess around with some linux applications all you have to do is install apple's X11 and fink and you're good to go (most but not all linux apps can be run this way, I believe).



    I don't want to open a can of worms here but there are those who think BSD is a better *NIX then Linux. And of course that is what is underneath all the pretty stuff in OSX.



    update: oh...I typed in the wrong URL above. it should be

    http://www.penguinppc.org.
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  • Reply 13 of 38
    Quote:

    Originally posted by stevegongrui

    Why would you want to use linux?

    --snip--




    Because it is not windows... *cough* umm did I just say that? I really don't have a problem with windows -- just find linux to be more interesting.



    Well in my case Slackware Linux is not just the OS I use most... it is my hobby. (pssst this is where you tell me to get a life)
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  • Reply 14 of 38
    Quote:

    Originally posted by \\/\\/ickes

    Because it is not windows... *cough* umm did I just say that? I really don't have a problem with windows -- just find linux to be more interesting.



    Well in my case Slackware Linux is not just the OS I use most... it is my hobby. (pssst this is where you tell me to get a life)




    I think he meant why would you use Linux on a Mac?



    In other words, why pay oodles of money for Mac hardware to run Linux when you could get dirt-cheap beige box hardware to run Linux?



    Or is your answer "because it's my hobby" as in the above post?
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  • Reply 15 of 38
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Brad

    why would you use Linux on a Mac?



    Assuming that *is* the original question (makes more sense, but you never know) then there are many reasons:



    * You want to learn about Linux as a hobby, part of your studies or to buff up your resume.



    * You want to use a unix based system on a really old mac without it slowing to a crawl, or get the best server performance out of a slightly less old machine



    * Some vital piece of software you want is only available on Linux, or the Mac port is buggy/behind the times (I considered dual booting for secure CD ripping before the last iTunes update added it).



    * You want a Linux laptop (i.e. you're not a Mac user at all and x86 would suit you fine) and you prefer the looks/build quality/je ne sais pas of the Apple range.



    * you're a linux guy but the software you use can take major advantage of Altivec, so you'd rather use a PPC based machine.



    * You want a linux machine to play around with and you happen to have some old Apple hardware available.



    All perfectly reasonable use cases, none of which call into question Mac OS X's abilities (apart from speed on old hardware) or require the defensiveness that seems to pop up every time Linux is mentioned in these forums.



    --



    As noted by other posts, Yellow Dog Linux is a reasonably safe bet for linux newbies, basically being Red Hat tweaked for the Mac hardware. If you're a more advanced user you'll have your own preference but that's a good place to start from.
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  • Reply 16 of 38
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Brad

    --dirty little snip--

    Or is your answer "because it's my hobby" as in the above post?




    Yes, because it is my hobby I try to test out everything about linux.... including its ports to other platforms. I like the feel of linux on PPC hardware...



    And BTW There are many reasons why people would pay "mad cash" for an Apple branded computer just to run linux... One is that the platform performs very well for server apps, as we allready know with OSX, this is good for switchers who know linux inside-out and want convert to PPC. The US NAVY uses Xserves with linux in their subs... Which proves that there are some things that a Linux distro with a custom kernel can do that OSX can not (well atleast not to that degree of control). Plus on the server side, Apple has a great price/performence ratio.
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  • Reply 17 of 38
    Quote:

    Originally posted by stevegongrui

    Why would you want to use linux?





    if i had a peecee (heaven forbid), then i would use linux, but, since i have a mac, i don't use it, even though i've tried it
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  • Reply 18 of 38
    cubedudecubedude Posts: 1,556member
    I installed Yellow Dog a couple of weeks ago, but for some reason, it didn't install a C compiler! Most likely an error on my part(I'm notorious for that).
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  • Reply 19 of 38
    Quote:

    Originally posted by mattjohndrow

    if i had a peecee (heaven forbid), then i would use linux, but, since i have a mac, i don't use it, even though i've tried it



    I have a peecee running Mandrake Linux 9.1. lol I'm surprised as to how well it's running. It's a 1998 model Gateway 2000 clocking in at a 266 MHz Pentium 2 with 96 MB of RAM. I use it for my server. I run a Direct Connect hub on it. It's been up for about 65 days now my best record yet.
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  • Reply 20 of 38
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Proud iBook Owner 2k2

    I have a peecee running Mandrake Linux 9.1. lol I'm surprised as to how well it's running. It's a 1998 model Gateway 2000 clocking in at a 266 MHz Pentium 2 with 96 MB of RAM. I use it for my server. I run a Direct Connect hub on it. It's been up for about 65 days now my best record yet.



    i used redhat on my friends peecee, and it is really slow, though they're 'puter is an 800 MHz with 256 MB RAM
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