Which *nix distribution do you or are you most likely to run on your Mac?

I've always been a fan of Yellow Dog Linux because of their strong support for the Mac, but I've also used Mandrake and Ubuntu. I gave MkLinux a shot on my 5300, but at the time the TREX PC Card controller wasn't supported. I hear it is now, so maybe I'll give it another try someday.

I've wanted to give OpenBSD a try, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

What about you?

Peace,
Drew
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Power to the PowerPC!

I have a beige G3 running as a server with Gentoo Linux, I wanted to try NetBSD but the guide said something "this model is notoriously difficult to boot", so I went for Linux.
I also have it on a rev. A G3 iMac, because xubuntu refused to work, but I still haven't installed the graphical environment.

I'd also like to have a Quadra 950 to try A/UX, but that doesn't belong here
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So this is how PowerPC dies... with thunderous applause

I've had YDL 2.3 running on an ANS for several years now and really liked it (I ran several Red Hat 4.x - 7.x servers in the past, so I was already familiar with RPM installers etc). Have to keep it powered down now - the ANS with two external DEC RAID arrays was using too much power in the house.

I've got YDL 4 running on a Wallstreet and G4 Cube but don't play with them much - OSX is so much nicer.

I've got an ANS with AIX installed, but haven't had much chance to break into it (it came installed and configured with old forgotten passwords). It's GUI certainly looks easy enough to drive.

Also got an ANS with NetBSD on it which I haven't played with much. My experience with it on a Quadra 700 wasn't much fun - but I digress.

While I really liked using YDL as a server and would run it again if necessary, but now that I have an Xserve with OSX 10.4 Server I am really happy!

Other than for network applications (ie SSH terminal, web, email), I never really used YDL as a workstation - always preferred OS9 or X.

Kind regards,

Macdownunder

I would the closest I've come has been with Linux. I run Debian on my Powermac G3 every so often, and I did run SuSE 10.2 on the PowerBook G3 once.

I was relatively pleased with Debian on the G3 as a server, but SuSE was not that great, the interface was too big and everything took too long compared to Mac OS X, which has been doing well.

I did like YDL, and long ago I did run like, Mandrake 8.2 on my b/w, which was fun, but in general, I suppose I prefer Mac OS on Mac hardware.
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[Insert Cool Signature here!]

I plan on maybe putting Linux on my Power Macintosh 4400. It always seemed so hard, though. What distribution of Linux PPC is the easiest to install?

Ever since New World Macs came out, the Linux distros have been harder to install on Old World hardware. There is less attention paid to these Macs because they are less common and they are harder to work with at boot time.

I don't know about the 4400, but I could see the CHRP heritage being harder to get working than the average Old World Mac. On the other hand, an old Linux like YDL 2 or 3 might be ideal for a system that is as RAM limited as the 4400...

The installation of Linux on Old World systems is all pretty much the same: Partition the hard drive, install Mac OS on one partition, and use BootX to boot the Linux kernel. Once you are in Linux, the installers are different. YDL and Mandrake have graphical installers. I don't have any experience with Gentoo, Debian, or any of the other major distros nor of *BSD. Nevertheless, they should all be pretty much point-and-click installations even if the installer's interface isn't pretty.

Peace,
Drew
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Power to the PowerPC!

I have PPC Mandriva 2005 disks. Maybe I'll install them someday

The first PPC Linux I've used was Yellow Dog Linux 2.1 on a Power Mac 8550. I had it running with GNOME 1.x at the time and it ran decently. Since then, I've installed numerous distros on various Power Macs. I installed Debian Sarge on my old StarMax 4000. While I managed to get Ubuntu Warty to install at the time (despite not being supported), it was just a bit too much for that clone compared to Sarge. Since then, I've installed Edgy on my iMac G5 and it's really fast. I plan on putting Feisty on the iMac G5 really soon.

Hey Everybody! This is just a quick update to say that I'm running Gentoo 2007.0 on my PowerBook G3! It's a Pismo (500MHz, 512mb/30gig/combo) and everything is going great! I have yet to configure wireless, or find out if there is some kind of battery monitor, but I'll make note of the package names once I do.

I compiled the kernel and all of the packages myself, it was actually quite easy, which makes me happy.

It is actually running quite well, other than my annoyance at the trackpad, which also happens with Mac OS, so there isn't much I can do I suppose.

If I can get it to rip CDs and copy files from my digital camera (it's a temporary storage spot while I'm on trips) then this would be a realistic mobile setup for me. I am pleased with how well xfce4 and OpenOffice.ORG 2 respond. However, I think I might need to find an even lighter-weight word processor, we'll see.
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[Insert Cool Signature here!]

I would rather to see OpenSolaris on Macs (Polaris project).
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To Be Continued...

i use Debian 6.0 Squeeze (testing) on an eMac G4 as a server

I'm very tempted to try Squeeze on my StarMax now that I have it back in my possession. My iMac G5 is dead due to the caps being blown, but eventually that might see a repair if I'm feeling up to it (maybe I'll do that during the Spring Break I have next week).

Fedora dropped PPC but I hear it's coming back in 15. There's also CRUX. Arch, and I also heard about a Linux Mint port to PowerPC called MintPPC. That might be a better alternative to Ubuntu since they're going full-on with Unity as the DE.

http://mintppc.org/