Best linux distro for power mac g53/8/2024 ![]() ![]() This distribution was originally based on Red Hat but has since been migrated to being based on CentOS (the Free enterprise version of Red Hat.) Yellow Dog Linux is a Linux distribution that is only created for PPC architecture. There is a Linux distribution that has been around since 1998 called Yellow Dog Linux. ![]() There are a few distributions to use for Mac hardware: So I thought I would bring the possibility to the attention of the curious ghacks readers before they toss out those old Macs to make room for other projects. On top of that I had the whole of the Linux catalog of software at my disposal.Īnd now I am faced with reviving an aging eMac in the same way. I really felt like I was using a much newer laptop. With Linux on the machine it felt much more powerful than it should have. The version I used on the laptop was Ubuntu. The Mac in question was an old G3 800 Mhz iBook. But after a few OS X updates I realized it wasn't the processor but the version of OS X that was placed on it. At first I attributed it to the processor speed. I shouldn't have to even type the fact that the machine ran very slowly. The machine had a Gig of ram along with the G3 900 Mhz processor. When I received it it had the latest version of OS X it would support. Within the last year I purchased an older eMac which had a 900 Mhz processor. However, NetBSD supports the widest range of Macs, including Macs far older than any Power Mac, and frankly if you want to use a Un*x on a Power Mac and have reasonable confidence it will still be running on it for years to come, it's undeniably the one with the best track record.One of the issues with trying to use those older Macs is that they do not meet the requirements of newer versions of OS X. ![]() This isn't the end for the G5, which should still be able to run the 64-bit version of FreeBSD, and OpenBSD hasn't voiced any firm plans to cut 32-bit loose. (Usually those are the same packages that wouldn't build on anything but Linux anyway.) The fact that the userland and kernel are better matched together probably makes the BSDs better desktop clients, too, especially since on big-endian we're already used to some packages just not building right, so we don't lose a whole lot by running it. The differences between BSDs are more subtle than with Linux distributions, but you can still enjoy the different flavours that result, and I even ported a little FreeBSD code to the NetBSD kernel so I could support automatic restarts after a power failure on the G4 mini. No new 32-bit support will be added, including for RISC-V.Įven though I have a large number of NetBSD systems, I still like FreeBSD, and one of my remote "island" systems runs it. However, OpenBSD works fine on New World Macs, and FreeBSD has a very mature 32-bit PowerPC port - or, should I say, soon will have had one, since starting in FreeBSD 15 (13.x is the current release), ARMv6, 32-bit Intel and 32-bit PowerPC support will likely be removed. NetBSD has the widest support, continuing to run on most 68Ks and PCI Power Macs to this day (leaving out only the NuBus Power Macs which aren't really supported by much of anything anymore, sadly). I stuffed that system full with a gig of RAM and a SATA card and it did very well until I got the current POWER6 server in 2010. In this blog you've already met my long-suffering NetBSD Macintosh IIci which is still trucking to this day and more recently my also-NetBSD G4 Mac mini (which later needed, effectively, a logic board swap), but I also have a Quadra 605 with a full '040 running NetBSD I use for utility tasks and at one time I ran an intermediate incarnation of on a Power Macintosh 7300 with a Sonnet G3 running NetBSD too. Still, for server duties, where I come from, you bring on the BSDs. Despite many distributions no longer shipping 32-bit PPC installs, Gentoo Linux still has specific support along with a few others, as does Adélie Linux if you like musl for breakfast. Most of you still using a Power Mac as a daily or occasional driver are probably either running Linux, Tiger or Leopard, and a minority on OS 9. ![]()
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