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Distributions for the PowerPC
Judging from the number of inquiries and search requests for "ppc" or
"powerpc" we get at DistroWatch.com, deploying Linux (or *BSD) on this
powerful platform is not nearly as rare as some would like us to
believe. Whether it is the attraction of elegantly designed and
innovative Apple computers, or the sheer power behind the high-end
pSeries servers, Linux on PowerPC is alive and well. Here is the list
of current distributions that develop PowerPC editions of their
products.
- CRUX PPC.
The PowerPC port of the CRUX Linux distribution is a contributed
project by Giulivo Navigante. The original i686 edition of CRUX is
designed to be a very light-weight operating system without GNOME or
KDE (it uses WindowMaker instead) and the PowerPC port doesn't depart
from this philosophy. The included software works best on G3 and G4
processors; it supports Pegasos II, dual CPUs, and also has some
special features, such as CPU frequency scaling for laptops. One of the
strength of the project is comprehensive documentation and active user
forums available on the CRUX PPC web site.
- Debian
GNU/Linux and Ubuntu
Linux. The Debian project has been providing a PowerPC
port of their distribution since 1997. The latest stable version,
Debian 3.0 "Woody" is well supported on Power Macintosh and PowerBook
up to G4, Apus, CHRP and PReP machines, although installation on some
of the newer iBooks and PowerBooks need additional, but well-documented
steps to complete. Additionally, those who wish to dual boot Debian
with Mac OS X will also need and an updated version of the yaboot boot
loader, not available in Woody. The upcoming release of Debian 3.1
"Sarge", as well as the new Ubuntu Linux 4.10, have support for the
Pegasos II boards and PowerMacs G5 (32-bit mode).
- Fedora
Core and Red
Hat Enterprise Linux. Although the Fedora project does not
provide official releases for the PowerPC architecture, their development
tree contains a complete set of binary packages for the ppc and
ppc64 architectures. This is, presumably, maintained as a base for Red
Hat's enterprise offering which does include full support for IBM
eServer iSeries and pSeries. The Fedora web site has no documentation
about installing and running the distribution on a PowerPC, but
contributed step-by-step
instructions, mailing
lists, and even an up-to-date
repository of third-party Fedora RPM packages for PowerPC do
exist.
- Gentoo
Linux, Source
Mage GNU/Linux and ROCK Linux.
These are all source-based distributions with PowerPC ports of their
x86 releases. Gentoo Linux is probably the most interesting among them,
for several reasons: it has an enormous amount of excellent
PowerPC-related documentation on its web site, it provides a
fully-functional bootable live CD, and it is actively developing 64-bit
support for the ppc64 architecture. In fact, the Gentoo/ppc64
sub-project has its own development page with
installation instructions, stage tarballs and even beta live CDs for
PowerMac G5 and pSeries systems.
- Mandrakelinux.
Mandrakelinux has been developing consumer-oriented PowerPC editions
since 2001 (version 8.0). The upcoming Mandrakelinux 10.1 is currently
in beta
testing and should be available within the next few weeks. It
includes kernel 2.6.8.1 and is designed to run on Power Macintosh G3
and iBook G4 machines. The iBooks are particularly well supported, with
the only exception being the Airport Extreme wireless networking kit
for which there are no Linux drivers due to unavailability of
specifications.
- NetBSD and
OpenBSD. The
PowerPC port, or "macppc" as they prefer to call it, has been an
integral part of both NetBSD and OpenBSD for several years - in NetBSD
since version 1.4 released in 1999 and in OpenBSD since version 2.8
released in 2000. The projects claim support for all PPC Macs built
after 1995, with the exception of the very latest PowerMac G5 and iMac
G5 systems.
- SUSE
LINUX. SUSE's foray into the world of consumer PowerPC
hardware in 2001 was short-lived and discontinued after version 7.3.
Nowadays, only the SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server family continues to
support the architecture, especially the IBM pSeries systems (Power4
and Power5).
- Yellow Dog
Linux. The Fedora-based Yellow Dog Linux by Terra Soft
Solutions is probably the best-known Linux distribution for the
PowerPC. In development since 1998, the company has created a useful
product with many user-friendly enhancements. The recently released
version 4.0 has support for PowerBook G4 and PowerMac G5 processors
(32-bit only, although a full 64-bit edition is currently under
development), the Mac-on-Linux emulator for running Mac OS 9 and Mac OS
X from within Linux, auto-partitioning and auto-yaboot configuration,
as well as support for most hardware found in the above-mentioned
machines. However, unlike the distribution's previous versions which
were always made available for free download, Yellow Dog Linux 4.0 can
only be had from the company's online store or through its newly
introduced subscription service at YDL.net.
- Other projects. To complete the list, here are a
few less well-known projects that also develop for the PowerPC
platform. Poland's PLD Linux
Distribution maintains a repository of RPM packages in its ppc
directory tree, but unfortunately, the distribution's web site lacks
any information about its current PowerPC activities. The Slackintosh projects
compiles PowerPC packages from Slackware's source files. Those
interested in live CDs will be pleased to know that, besides Gentoo,
the SystemRescueCd project has
also built a live CD for PowerPC (not yet stable). Finally, there are
two active PowerPC development efforts going on in Japan - one of them
is Happy MacLinux designed for
m68k Macintosh computers, while the other is the more popular and
up-to-date Vine Linux.
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