[wplug] Linux on Mac questions

[Eric C. Cooper]

On Tue, Feb 24, 2004 at 11:12:42AM -0500, Robert E. Coutch wrote:
> Just a couple of quick questions about running Linux on the Mac.
> 
> 1 - Is anyone doing this?

I run Debian on a headless PowerMac 7600 as the router for my home
network.  It's been very solid: it's been running 24x7 for several
years now, typically rebooted only for a kernel upgrade.

I've also installed Debian on a Cube, which I still use occasionally,
and a Powerbook, which I got rid of because I couldn't stand the
single-button mouse.

> 2 - If so, how does it compare to the PC in terms of hardware
> support, updates and such?

The "BenH" kernel is the one to use for best support of new
hardware.  (rsync from source.mvista.com::linuxppc-2.5-benh for 2.6,
or rsync.penguinppc.org::linux-2.4-benh for 2.4)

The stock linux.org kernel works pretty well on older hardware.
Support and updates are of course as simple as "apt-get ..." :-)

The previous poster answered most of the other questions.  The only
correction I'll make is that you can boot OldWorld machines directly
from Open Firmware, too, via an analog of lilo called quik.  It's a
little harder to set up than BootX, but once you do, you don't need
any MacOS partitions on your disk.

-- 
Eric C. Cooper          e c c @ c m u . e d u