# Running Linux on your Mac



## Androo (Feb 1, 2004)

how would one do this?
i am curious about linux, and i wanna give it a try.... not redhat, it reminds  me of windows too much, but maybe that connectiva one, it looks a bit like os x 
Is there an emulator, an OS installment, or could i just run it thru unix?


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## Satcomer (Feb 1, 2004)

Androo, Yes there is. It's called YellowdogLinux.


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## Sogni (Feb 1, 2004)

Androo - you already have it!
Go to Applications / Utilities and click Terminal!
There - instant Linux (UNIX actually) 

Get a Unix for OS X Book (sorry, donno any names off hand, look at places like Amazon for 'em).


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## Hydroglow (Feb 1, 2004)

Well you can use Fink for OS X to get a small feel of the *nix environment. But my recommendation would be to back up everything you have and make a seperate Linux partition that's really the only way to learn linux. Linux has more *nix features then OS X. You can compile your own kernel and pick your own file system (ReiserFS rocks) and etc. I heard that Yellow dog is good. SuSe makes a version for the PPC so does mandrake. I believe mandrake is for beginners. If you wanna get serious and really learn about your computer using Linux I would recommend Gentoo. It's not a distro that you just pop in and it install's itself you have to do everything from scratch but that's what makes it great. It's fully optimized for your computer. O and don't forget about MOL (mac on linux) where you can run OS X on linux (hence the name MOL) http://www.maconlinux.org/


Some links to check out if you do decide to go with Linux.

www.gentoo.org

http://www.yellowdoglinux.com/

http://penguinppc.org/

http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/ppc.php3

http://www.suse.com/us/private/download/suse_linux/index.html

Best of luck.


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## Androo (Feb 1, 2004)

i talked to a few friends, and im getting mandrake now 
i'll check out that yellowdoglinux one as well rite now


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## Androo (Feb 1, 2004)

which is better...... Mandrake or YellowDogLinux, and why?


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## hulkaros (Feb 1, 2004)

YellowDogLinux is much more customized for Macs than any other Linux out there, maybe


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## Trillian (Feb 1, 2004)

If you feel up for a chalange, and don't mind spending days installing it, gentoo is great. You just have to be prepeared to go to the fourms at their site for help, and actualy follow the directions. it takes a while to install, and it doesn't have a GUI installer, you do it all by hand, but the end result is worth it.

Gentoo has replaced os X as my default os.


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## Randman (Feb 1, 2004)

Androo + Gentoo. Soounds too much oof a cooincidence.


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## WeeZer51402 (Feb 1, 2004)

Androo stick YDL dont use mandrake, its pretty incomplete in terms of tools for the ps i cant imagine its that great for Apple amchines, I've used YDL before its pretty nice, its just like RedHat 9, it has alot more config tools, though mandrake is easier to use YDL beats it by a long shot.


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## nixgeek (Feb 1, 2004)

WeeZer51402 said:
			
		

> Androo stick YDL dont use mandrake, its pretty incomplete in terms of tools for the ps i cant imagine its that great for Apple amchines, I've used YDL before its pretty nice, its just like RedHat 9, it has alot more config tools, though mandrake is easier to use YDL beats it by a long shot.


 I agree....I tried Mandrake PPC once, and went back to YDL. It felt unfinished. I had tons of problems with this version that I never experienced in the x86 version. Kind of feels like a half-a$$ed job.

 Go with YDL if you want Linux and are a newbie. Once you're confortable, you can try Gentoo or Debian for kicks...they are both good distros, but not as easy to set up as YDL unless you know what you're doing.

 As for RedHat looking like Windows, it doesn't have to look that way. Remember that Linux is only a kernel and it has a shell that allows you to send commands to that shell. The GUI is separate from Linux. You can have GNOME or KDE in FreeBSD also, and not even know the difference (unless you get down and dirty with configs and stuff). KDE and GNOME are quite customizable that you can make it look like Mac OS if you wanted to. For the record, Connectiva uses KDE, which can also look more like Windows than GNOME.

 There are also other window managers you can use that are much lighter than the above two, but tend to be a little minimalistic. They are Window Maker, FluxBox, BlackBox, AfterStep, xfwm, and many others... Heck, if you are really into minimalistic, there's always twm.  

 Just remember to have fun. It might be tough from time to time, but don't be discouraged....you will reap the rewards in the end.


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## Androo (Feb 1, 2004)

Yellowdoglinux looks more known, and looks like its the kind of thing i would trust to be on my mac....
Now i got some questions:
#1: Is installation as easy as Mac OS X panther?
#2: Is there a risk of losing my files during installation?
#3: How do i switch back to OS X once i am in linux?
#4: Why don't i have a fourth question?


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## nixgeek (Feb 1, 2004)

Androo said:
			
		

> Yellowdoglinux looks more known, and looks like its the kind of thing i would trust to be on my mac....
> Now i got some questions:
> #1: Is installation as easy as Mac OS X panther?
> #2: Is there a risk of losing my files during installation?
> ...



Answer to #1:
While it's not like OS X, it's pretty easy now.  The latest version of YDL uses Red Hat's Anaconda installer (see it on this page).

Answer to #2:
As with anything, there's always the risk of losing files.  Backup everything before you start.  I haven't played with YDL in a while, but I think you can repartition it nondestructively.  If this isn't the case, someone please inform us.   

Answer to #3:
You can set up your system to dual boot.  There will be an option close to the end of the installation where you configure your boot loader (either LILO or GRUB) to either boot to OS X or Linux.  When you start your machine, OpenFirmware kicks in and prompts you to choose which OS you want to boot to (it should list them by the names you gave them when you configured the bootloader during installation).

Answer to #4:
Because we're not talking about Windows, which would surely go beyond Question 4...   

Hope it all works out.


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## Androo (Feb 1, 2004)

that's awesome 
so then that means... that im ready to get it and install 
thnx a bunch  ::love::


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## Trillian (Feb 2, 2004)

btw, if you'r running an imac lcd, the screen might be funky (off centered). To counter that, just update the system to the latest version, and it should be fixed.


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## leinad256 (Feb 2, 2004)

hi, I have a question...I must pay for yellowdog??? I cant find the link to download it

thanks!


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## MikeXpop (Feb 2, 2004)

nope

http://linuxiso.org/distro.php?distro=12

There you go. Enjoy.


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## nixgeek (Feb 2, 2004)

leinad256 said:
			
		

> hi, I have a question...I must pay for yellowdog??? I cant find the link to download it
> 
> thanks!



They have a download link at the top right of the page, and there they have links to the ISOs.

Here is their direct link.

ftp://ftp.yellowdoglinux.com/pub/yellowdog/iso/

Be sure to download 3.0.1.


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## leinad256 (Feb 2, 2004)

thanks 
I gonna enjoy it


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## solo (Feb 2, 2004)

nixgeek said:
			
		

> Answer to #1:
> While it's not like OS X, it's pretty easy now.  The latest version of YDL uses Red Hat's Anaconda installer (see it on this page).
> 
> ...
> ...




While most of this is true, your bootloader isn't going to be either LILO or GRUB... For an Old World PPC machine you'll use BootX. For a New World machine, use YaBoot  .


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## nixgeek (Feb 2, 2004)

solo said:
			
		

> While most of this is true, your bootloader isn't going to be either LILO or GRUB... For an Old World PPC machine you'll use BootX. For a New World machine, use YaBoot  .



You are absolutely correct.  It has been a while since I've run PPC Linux.  Forgive my error.  Considering it's an iBook, it would be yaboot.  Thanks for reminding me.  Been playing in x86 Linux for too long...  

Speaking of which, I'm currently compiling 2.6.1 on this Dell laptop with Slackware 9.1.  If it's anything like it's been on my Dell at work, it till be FAST!


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## Androo (Feb 8, 2004)

how do you run yaboot?
whenever i try to boot with the disc [restarting and holding C], [this is disc 1], it wont start up. It just boots with panther 
what is wrong!??!?!


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## Arden (Feb 8, 2004)

I tried several times to download various versions of Linux, and each time there was something that went wrong that prevented the download from completing.   Anyway, I was going to try Mandrake but I guess I'll go with YDL... thanks for starting this thread, Androo!


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## nixgeek (Feb 8, 2004)

Androo said:
			
		

> how do you run yaboot?
> whenever i try to boot with the disc [restarting and holding C], [this is disc 1], it wont start up. It just boots with panther
> what is wrong!??!?!



I don't know if this is still the case with OS X, as I haven't tried to dual boot with OS X and Linux, but make sure that Caps Lock isn't on.  Also, you might want to tell OS X to startup from the CD from within System Preferences.


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## Androo (Apr 23, 2004)

well, it was a crazy week, and after all that, i realized what the best os was for sure - the Mac OS. Linux was cool though, but it reminded me of windows too much


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## nixgeek (Apr 24, 2004)

Androo said:
			
		

> well, it was a crazy week, and after all that, i realized what the best os was for sure - the Mac OS. Linux was cool though, but it reminded me of windows too much




Oh, PLeAsE don't judge the penguin book by THAT cover!!!    Looks and function are two completely different things!

Or maybe you were running this as your desktop environment.


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