Just a quick question. I already know I'm going to be running off Linux soon, (because I choose to do so), but the answer to my question will decide how soon. Eventually, once I've collected all the parts needed for a computer, I'm going to build my own and run it off Linux. But I don't want to wait that long so, after much waiting, here is my question. I have Mac OS 10.2.8, and I want linux. Is it possible to download linux and run it from a CD without affecting my computer or any of the files? I have 2 different disk setts containing Ubuntu, but neither seem to work, I'm guessing because they are not meant for mac.

Did you get the "Mac (PowerPC) live CD" version of ubuntu?
You can look here http://frozentech.com/content/livecd.php and choose PPC or PPC64 in the Display box depending on your hardware.

No, I just got some CD from this kid at my school.
Anyway, I don't really understand, but I'll see what I can do.

Most windows machines use an Intel or AMD chipset. It falls under the ix86 architecture. Macintosh use the PowerPC chip, which is the PPC architecture.

Your Operating System has to be written/compiled to work with specific hardware. You probably have an x86 disc, which won't run on any mac. You need to get a PPC version. They are quite easy to find.

And as for your original question, there are different versions of Linux that will run without modifiyng anything on your hard-disk. These are called Live! distrobutions. Ubuntu makes one. Mepis is one (although I don't beleive they have a PPC version of their distro)

On a side note, if you are using OSX, why would you want to switch to Linux. OSX is basically Darwin Unix. You get all of the benefits of Linux, plus some. If certian programs attract you, you can compile most programs for OSX. (it requires a bit of knowledge of the termial, but you need that in Linux anyway.)

I never said anything about switching. I just wanted a Live CD to run on my mac to get used to Linux. I'm in the processing of collecting and building a desktop computer that will be much more powerful than my laptop mac. Then I'll have both. But in the meantime, can I aquire a Live CD from that site, so I don't have to download. (56k dialup, that doesn;t even download at 56 kilobytes per second. Closer to 36.)
Which leads to my next dilemma. Once I get a desktop computer to run off linux, is there any way I get the CDs for Fedora Core 4 without downloading and burning it myself? Many thanks to anyone who can answer my many questions.

You can buy the cd's offline...

Check out distrowatch, they have a few places you can buy them. I understand about the 56k, I had one that runs about the same.

Sorry about misunderstanding you, thought you meant you wanted to switch your Mac to Linux... Ubuntu will also send you free cd's for whatever version you want (they can send ppc, i86 and x86_64 versions to ya.. they do take a bit to come in though, so you might look into either buying one, or getting a freind to dl one for you)

Ah. I ordered one last night. How exactly long is "a bit" to you? :\

I think the last one took a month or so..

Whihch, is great... for free, I can't complain at all, but if you're in a rush to get it and play with it, you might get a friend to dl a cd for you, if you've got some nice friends.

I'm afraid the only friends I have with High speed wouldnt waste the time unless I offered them something in return, which I have no clue. Plus it would probably be something pretty unpleasant. I'm wondering where I might be able to possibly buy Fedora CDs for at least relatively cheap. Well, I'll keep searching. I've aquired a really old laptop to run off of once i get linux. That should do till I can aquire parts to build a computer of my own.

check www.distrowatch.com
they generally have some good deals.

Thanks. Another question. If I'm going to be completely overwriting a system, does it matter which version I use (i386, PPC, or x86), or can I just get Fedora Core 4 CDs that will work for any computer?

You need to choose the architecture that matches up with the architecture of a CPU. For a standard Intel or AMD x86 chip this is the i386 architecture, unless the chip is one of the new 64 bit chips, in which case x86_64 works. Macs have PPC chips in them as mentioned above.

Ubuntu use to have a live version for the ppc. I am so used to doing things from the terminal I usually do not use the desktop cd's.

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ports/releases/hardy/release/