Development version of Mandrake Linux 10.1 alpha PPC

nixgeek · #1 August 31st, 2004, 09:55 PM

All I have to say is that it's about time!!!

After so many years of Mandrake dragging it's feet with Linux PPC development, it looks as though the next version of MDK (10.1) will have an up-to-date version. Mind you, it's a dev version and it's alpha, but it's a start.

Follow this link to the page on DistroWatch with the links to the ISO images.

Here's the release information.

This would be great for my PowerBook G3 "Wallstreet II" laptop from work. OS X is just to slow for it and OS 9 is not enough OS for me anymore. A nice desktop oriented distro will be very welcome here. Let's just hope that Mandrake delivers and doesn't dissapoint like with previous versions.

WeeZer51402 · #2 August 31st, 2004, 10:41 PM

Use YDL, my experience with mandrake on PPC has sucked...It had some initial driver problems and it was slow, not nearly as complete of a distro as YDL. Though this does seem like a good thing I will still remain skeptical of mandrake and their dedication to the PPC platform.

nixgeek · #3 August 31st, 2004, 10:51 PM

My only gripe with YDL currently is lack of support for OldWorld Macs in version 4. It's these Macs which are the prime candidates for running Linux as they aren't supported in OS X. Sure, Debian is there, but not everyone will be able to install it do to its geeky nature. Mandrake is the only one right now that is at least attempting to bring a fresh version of their distro for not just NewWorld, but OldWorld Macs also. YDL isn't even offering an alternate option..talk about limiting your user base since most users of NewWorld Macs will be running OS X. It's the OldWorld machines that make the brunt of Linux/PPC on Apple-branded hardware.

I am hoping that they will ACTUALLY migrate the quality put into the x86 version over to the PPC version this time around. Believe me, I am also skeptical of Mandrake after the last 2 versions. Here's hoping the third time's a charm.

scruffy · #4 September 1st, 2004, 08:25 PM

Have you looked at NetBSD? It'll run on just about anything, and it's a nice lightweight OS (if you don't install a bunch of bloated cruft on it, just like anything)

nixgeek · #5 September 2nd, 2004, 08:17 AM

I actually have tried NetBSD, and I like it a lot. In fact, I had it installed for some time on my Quadra 650. The only thing that held me back was the extra configuration it needed, which wasn't too bad thanks to Matthew Theobald's installation guide for 68K Macs, but took a lot of time out of my life. It';s tough when you have a wife and two kids that need your attention to dedicate lots of time to something like that. Of course, this ordeal could just have been on the 68K side. Maybe it's a little easier on other platforms.

wiz · #6 September 2nd, 2004, 12:16 PM

what about gentoo?

Viro · #7 September 2nd, 2004, 12:31 PM

Gentoo will take too long to install on an Old world mac, especially if you compile everything from source. Once installed, its going to be quite difficult to keep up to date without compiling anything, since the GRP doesn't provide binary updates but expects you to compile your updates.

WeeZer51402 · #8 September 2nd, 2004, 08:09 PM

gentoo takes long enough on a new x86 machine i would never want to do that on a 68k mac