linux and macs

[ncux]

i heard that linux could be installed on macs now, also my basic understanding was that macs were generally better computers with fewer descent software written for it.

considering that, if linux is to become completly accepted macs would gain the consumer attention?

reason i'm asking is because i'm sitting on a p166 desktop(which does pretty well for what i'm using it atm) and intend to upgrade to either a decently featured laptop or a full blown desktop, both of either mac or ibm compatible flavor.. any thoughts?

[bobtcowboy]

Originally posted by ncux:
<STRONG>i heard that linux could be installed on macs now, also my basic understanding was that macs were generally better computers with fewer descent software written for it.


I've heard that... but I've heard people come back with the opposite argument, too... in the end, it seems like both sides are trying to make their case using software that has been optimized for the architecture they favor... in general (and this is a sweeping generality) multimedia stuff is supposed to work better on Macs.


reason i'm asking is because i'm sitting on a p166 desktop(which does pretty well for what i'm using it atm) and intend to upgrade to either a decently featured laptop or a full blown desktop, both of either mac or ibm compatible flavor.. any thoughts?</STRONG>

my thoughts: if $$ is at all an issue, go with PC stuff. Installing Linux on the Mac is a pain from what I've heard, and LinuxMac Distro's tend to be behind the x86 ones as far as software goes. If you're set on Mac hardware, want a unix-like OS, and don't care about free (speech or beer) try Mac OS X, it seems really kick ***.

for the truly brave, there's also Darwin (which is the open source kernel of OS X)... its availble on Mac's website for free... for Mac *and* x86(!)

In the long run, you'll probably be happier with x86 and a good linux distro... like, oh, I dunno... Progeny Debian...

Bill

[solo]

LinuxPPC ( www.linuxppc.org (http://www.linuxppc.org) ), and Yellow Dog ( www.yellowdog.com (http://www.yellowdog.com) ) have been running on Macs for some time now; also SuSE ( www.suse.com (http://www.suse.com) ). I've sampled SuSE, and had LinuxPPC running on my beige G3 for a couple of years... Here are some observations:

*You won't likely have any problems configuring the X windowing environemnt, as LinuxPPC will run it right after the install (Helix-Gnome). This is rarely the case with Intel versions of Linux, but Apple has a limited set of video cards that it puts in the Mac, so it's easier that way.

*PPC versions of Linux are said to be about a year, or so behind Intel versions (as far as whole distributions are concerned). LinuxPPC is a clone of RedHat Linux, and does not include some of the nice setup software (say, for printing, and mail, and networking... ) that Intel RedHat has built into it's install routine. To remedy this, you'll have lots of practice updating, and upgrading a PPC Linux system :).

*Get the book Running Linux by O'Rielly. It will provide lots of help, even for a PPC Linux distro.

*General Linux advice:
Read, read, and read somemore (as much as you can get your hands on). If you come here for help, don't mention that you're running Linux on a Mac, unless your problem is specifically related to that (not many Mac folks here). It's just that you'll probably get more answers (or at least speculation) if your questions are of a general nature (platform wise).

Hope that helps.

[Alex Cavnar, aka alc6379]

If you're looking for a machine which will solely run Linux, my advice would be not to get a mac. Don't get me wrong, though-- I love the mac. Prior to Linux, in fact, MacOS was my fave desktop OS. I even tinkered *a little* with Debian-m68k on my Mac IIci before I put it into storage. From what I found, it's kind of awkward running Linux on a Mac, because you can't boot directly into Linux. You have to load Mac OS and then open the special bootloader.

It all depends on what you want to do. If you want to mess around with Linux, do graphical intensive stuff (Digital video, Desktop publishing, etc) and have a couple grand to blow on a good, stable system, get a Mac with OS X. If you are serious about running linux, and possibly don't have THAT much money to spend, PC is the best way to go... :)

[Jason King]

Stick with Intel X86 arcitechture. Macs are OK as graphic design machines but lack everywhere else.

Ask yourself - why would you want to purchase a PC that has limted upgrade paths, will look old in 6months (apple can never decide upon their image is it a flower or an gelcap ?), performs poorly against a PC in most "realworld benchmarks", has very little software, games written for it and has very little hardware add ons.

My uncle loves macs, i hate em. Its all personal choice i guess ;)