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Distribution: Ubuntu 11.4,DD-WRT micro plus ssh,lfs-6.6,Fedora 15,Fedora 16
Posts: 2,612
Rep:
Would you recommend the product? yes | Price you paid?: D/L | Rating: 8
Pros:
RedHat Based, Easy to use (apt-rpm based)
Cons:
macs have not as good framebuffer console, defautls to CUPS
Verry good except in my oppinion CUPS isn't as good as LPRng for printing.
Yellowdog linux distribution is touted as the only PPC distribution where apple will still support your machine with it's hardware warrantee.
Would you recommend the product? yes | Price you paid?: D/L | Rating: 4
Pros:
Reasonally well developed distro. Low learning curve from a x86 linux box.
Cons:
Doesn't take advantage of the Macintosh computer features.
Somewhat hurts the Macintosh experience; not as much of a blast to use as x86/Linux. Probably will try Debian, Gentoo, and Mandrake, seeing that one of those three hopefully will make an iMac work as well as a PC in linux and those distros probably have a larger user/developer base.
Would you recommend the product? yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 8
Pros:
Easy to install on iBooks a.s.o.
Cons:
Not all drivers enabled
After trying to install Mandrake PPC on my iBook (problems with the configuration of the screen even in text mode) and Debian (only console), I downloaded the 3 cd's of Yellow Dog.
It installed just the way Red Hat did, no problems at all, everything functions even the build in one button mouse from my G3 could be used without a problem. Only the build in modem is not supported, however there are third party drivers.
There was only one thing I didn't like. For G4 machines there is blue Tooth support, but that isn't available for G3, so I have to do some studieing in getting this up and running.
For the rest it looks good, feels good and works fine. If you want to have linux on your iBook or other Mac (even with OS9 or OS X still available....) this is the way to go.
Since my iBook has just a 10GB harddisk, the size of the linux distro surprised me. After the install of OS9 I had just about 6 GB left. After Yellow Dog I had 8 and it installed a lot off programs on my iBook.
Would you recommend the product? yes | Price you paid?: D/L | Rating: 9
Pros:
works on older PPC's
Cons:
some trouble with display settings
My experience with YellowDog is limited to version 3.0.1. YD is Red Hat 9 for Power PC architecture, so it will run on most Macintosh computers and/or some IBM's.
Why is it an important distro? Well, if you have an older beige G3 laying around the house or office, YellowDog 3.0.1 can make it a darn functional box once again. It's quite difficult to even find a functional browser for OS7, 8 or 9 any longer or office software, etc..., and OSX is difficult to run on some of the older G3's, without substantial upgrades & $$$. YellowDog will help to extend to functional life of such computers by offering the basic everyday type services that most people need. For instance, I've set up my G3 at work as a dual boot OS8/YD box, which lets me get into the Internet using Mozilla which is much more stable than the older versions of Netscape ( like 4.x) and it's quite a bit faster and more dependable than using Netscape 6.x on OS8. Obviously, this distro will have limited appeal to most users, but if you need an extra stable, secure Internet station at work or one capable of running Open Office (included), it could be helpful.
Instillation is rather easy and runs pretty much like installing RH9 on an x86 box. You'll need to download and print the install help PDF however because there are some extra ins & outs involved, like setting up bootx, the YD boot loader control panel in OS8 or OS9. It's not difficult, just different. On OS8 or OS9, you must first boot into Mac until the bootloder loads, then you'll have the option of going either MAC or Linux... The only real problem I've experiences is with the display. Everything worked fine the first time I installed, but when I changed monitors, things went to heck.
In short, a nice, stable, user friendly distro and other than for a few changes in icons, looks & functions just like RH9. There is also YD 4.x out there, which I understand is Fedora Core for PPC, but I fail to see much of a reason to use such an animal. It requires a G4 or a G5 processor, and if you have such a computer, you also have OSX, which is a 'nix anyway, just more user friendly, so why bother with a dual boot or even going to just YD? Would make more sense financially to go with a high end x86 & FC3 at that point.
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