G5 with Leopard vs G5 with Linux?

[gryffinwings]

Just curious, why would you do this, what capabilities do you have over leopard? What do you lose? Does Linux have programs for photo editing and video editing? What about games? I'm completely ignorant about Linux on a mac.

 

[KítscheñÇinqµe]

Just curious, why would you do this, what capabilities do you have over leopard? What do you lose? Does Linux have programs for photo editing and video editing? What about games? I'm completely ignorant about Linux on a mac.

gimp and blender3d are multiplatform
http://www.blender.org/education-help/faq/linux/

http://alternativeto.net/software/google-sketchup/?platform=linux
http://alternativeto.net/SearchResult.aspx?profile=linux&platform=linux&search=tag:video-editing


games.
I've seen posts about native linux games, but big brand names... um, maybe in WINE? (I don't play games) http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=category&iId=2&sTitle=Browse+Applications
https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-games-33/


ppc linux distros.
https://encrypted.google.com/search..."spin"+|+mint&nfpr=1&tbs=qdr:m8,sbd:0&num=100
disclaimer. I have not run these, and have little personal experience (just some linux on x86)
i think if you've become accustomed to a certain OS interface, you'll feel disoriented or annoyed by other os interfaces.

If you become more interested, i expect you'll see much more discussion at a linux forum.

 

[Imixmuan]

Well...

...there is no comparing video editing on a mac to linux. Openshot and Blender aren't even in the same zip code as Final Cut Pro. Leopard wins.

Also, you can forget about 3-D support or acceleration on LinuxPPC. The only video drivers available are completely open source, and frankly, suck. NVDIA and ATI have released some Intel Linux drivers, but nothing for PPC. So, you have to be grateful you even get 2-D video, once you've sorted out the xorg config file, which usually takes some doing, depending on the monitor, your mac, etc. Leopard wins.

There is also no Flash for Linux PPC. None. Zero. Zip. Nada. There are some workarounds, HTML 5, extensions for Firefox etc that allow some webvideo, but if flash or silverlight are in any way important to you, Leopard wins.

MintPPC is hands down the eaisest, best PPC linux I've ever used. Stay away from Yellow Dog, its so old and whoever owns it now clearly doesn't care give a ****. Ubuntu takes some major heavy lifting to sort out the PPC specific issues. Like getting the OS to recognize a DVD. Seriously, I spent hours in the command line trying to get it to see the DVD player. Lubuntu PPC Precise Pangolin (12.04) is however getting some good reviews, and has a live CD, which MintPPC does not (Debian's fault, not the developers).
Fedora still has a community supported build, as does OpenSuse, I think.

MintPPC wins...only if you want to see what this tux bullsh#t is all about.

 

[vohdoun]

i think if you've become accustomed to a certain OS interface, you'll feel disoriented or annoyed by other os interfaces.

This is where I'd fall under. Used OS X too long to change. Linux to me always feels like some visually hacked up PC modded project. Even the font rendering in Linux feels like some horrid hybrid of Windows thin Cleartype and OS X but still don't look as nice as OS X. I have seen and used some nice versions, though I've forgotten the names but the elegance isn't fully there that I'm so use to on OS X.

I'd really miss iTunes as well. Live in it daily.

I couldn't live without Dashboard either. There's just too many functional perks over the years to leave OS X with spaces and such.

I remember one time OS X was the alien. Very few used it and in this decade more and more use it so more things take advantage of it. Especially keeping track of things with iCal subscriptions. Going to Linux would be like the days of Jaguar.

...there is no comparing video editing on a mac to linux. Openshot and Blender aren't even in the same zip code as Final Cut Pro. Leopard wins.

It would feel like a total downgrade... and hardware color calibration?

Also, you can forget about 3-D support or acceleration on LinuxPPC.

Another major downgrade. 3D in Photoshop CS4.

The only video drivers available are completely open source, and frankly, suck. NVDIA and ATI have released some Intel Linux drivers, but nothing for PPC.

Even last decade I remember seeing PC users complain about that. I don't think much has changed to this day.

So, you have to be grateful you even get 2-D video, once you've sorted out the xorg config file, which usually takes some doing, depending on the monitor, your mac, etc. Leopard wins.

Kind of defeats the purpose of the majority of Mac users. It just works. I could only see a small techy PPC trying this and it wouldn't be a lot. And those others may reach the stage to find it's too much work and can it. Which anyone realistically would use another hard drive.

There is also no Flash for Linux PPC. None. Zero. Zip. Nada.

Can't say I'm missing Flash much if at all on Leopard as it is. I know you're just pointing out. I even don't have Flash installed on Lion. The only time and it's rare that I rely on Flash is for speed tests.

There are some workarounds, HTML 5,

I don't think I've ever came across a video on Youtube or such even 360p versions which I rarely watch. They default to HTML5.

extensions for Firefox etc that allow some webvideo,

This is partially the problem I've ran into with TenFourFox. I can't find any decent extensions to use HTML5. It's WebM thats slower or stuck with missing plugins. So I fall back to Safari with my extensions.

but if flash or silverlight are in any way important to you, Leopard wins.

Silverlight? since when... it's been defunct on Leopard for years now. Nearly every site I've been to requires the latest version of Silverlight and thats Intel only.

Would be handy to get ClickToPlugin with it's killers to revert to HMTL5. It just isn't working. Sky News for example... Even some BBC Flash only wont revert. But it's not something I really rely on. Would be great if it worked though.

 

[Imixmuan]

I don't think I've ever came across a video on Youtube or such even 360p versions which I rarely watch. They default to HTML5.



This is partially the problem I've ran into with TenFourFox. I can't find any decent extensions to use HTML5. It's WebM thats slower or stuck with missing plugins. So I fall back to Safari with my extensions.

WebM in Mozilla is terrible. Video is choppy, audio is broken up. I agree that Safari/ any webkit browser works much, much better.

Have you tried viewtube in tenfourfox? Its a greasemonkey script, it replaces flash with quicktime. It works well for embedded youtube on my ibook G4 1.07 ghz. Nothing above 360p will stream smoothly of course. If for some strange reason I need to stream HD I can usually use downloadhelper and copy the url into Coreplayer. Sorry, I don't live in the UK (though I am a UK citizen), so Sky News, BBC iplayer tricks/tips would be beyond me. I do stream iplayer to the USA (gotta have my MOTD) using a VPN, but I have Dell D620 lattitude running Linux Mint for that.

 

[minifridge1138]

...there is no comparing video editing on a mac to linux. Openshot and Blender aren't even in the same zip code as Final Cut Pro.

That's because Blender isn't a video editing product. It's a 3D animation product.

That's like saying your Chevy isn't in the same zip code as your tooth brush.
I suppose you could use your Chevy to drive to the dentist, but that's not really the same thing.

 

[Jethryn Freyman]

You can't play games in WINE under linux on a PPC Mac, as WINE is just a wrapper for x86 processors to translate the code.

 

[SuperJudge]

NVDIA and ATI have released some Intel Linux drivers, but nothing for PPC. So, you have to be grateful you even get 2-D video, once you've sorted out the xorg config file, which usually takes some doing, depending on the monitor, your mac, etc. Leopard wins.

I agree with pretty much everything else you said except that. I haven't had to touch an xorg.conf file in years. 3D video is totally going to suck because the PowerPC version of radeon isn't so hot and I've only ever gotten generic drivers to work with the NVIDIA cards. However, 2D video shouldn't be a problem since PowerPC Macs have mainstream video cards.

You can't play games in WINE under linux on a PPC Mac, as WINE is just a wrapper for x86 processors to translate the code.

Not entirely true. There is a PPC version of Darwine that includes an x86 emulation component. It's dog slow, but it does work nicely for some older games. I got Roller Coaster Tycoon working acceptably on a PowerMac G5.