Best Linux for a G4 MDD?

[honeycombz]

Hey, I want to setup a little garage computer station and I have two okd G4 MDDs lying around thought I’d try out installing linux on them but there are so many different variations not sure which one would be the most fun and installable for this machine? Ubuntu Mate, Fedora, Elementary, Mint, ???

 

[RogerWilco6502]

Hey, I want to setup a little garage computer station and I have two okd G4 MDDs lying around thought I’d try out installing linux on them but there are so many different variations not sure which one would be the most fun and installable for this machine? Ubuntu Mate, Fedora, Elementary, Mint, ???

This is a great starting point:

The PowerPC Debian Wiki

Mac OS X Tiger was released in 2005, its final security update being in 2009. Mac OS X Leopard was released in 2007, given its very last security update in 2011, and is the ultimate version of Mac OS X compatible with the PowerPC architecture, effectively marking the entire family EOL, even for...

forums.macrumors.com

There exist a few PPC Linux distros that have support here on the forums including the following:

MintPPC project

Hi all, Let me introduce myself first. My name is Jeroen Diederen and I am the developer of MintPPC, which was quite a known project back in 2011. The idea of it was to have a solid Debian system, together with a lightweight desktop environment (LXDE) and a slick graphical layer on top of that...

forums.macrumors.com

Void Linux for PowerPC

I've been working on a port of a Linux distro that I've come to love recently. Void Linux is pretty speedy and keeps to a rolling release model (no outdated packages!). However, I noticed there was no ppc port (just x86_64, i686, ARM v6/v7/AArch64, and MIPS), so I took the time to get it on my...

forums.macrumors.com

Lubuntu 16.04 Remix (updated)

2023 update For anybody still using this (16.04 v2) i created a tutorial with some extra files to extend the life of it. Basically we change the sources.list to Debians (since Ubuntu's repo is dead) and make a few changes to allow packages to be updated and installable again. Download it here...

forums.macrumors.com

Debian Sid Remix (ppc32/ppc64)

Seeing as how installing Sid can be painstaking (downloading keyrings to a usb stick, missing wifi firmware, grub breaking and post-install hacking in yaboot, etc) i decided to respin a custom netinstall.iso. This iso uses yaboot by default so there are no hoops to jump through there. There is a...

forums.macrumors.com

I myself am planning to do a MintPPC install on my PowerBook G4 soon, but really I don't believe you can go wrong with just trying each one out and seeing what you like best.

 

[honeycombz]

Hmm, i might start with Lubuntu and see where that gets me. I also have an old G3 iMacDv maybe i’ll just put linux on everything! Thanks for the info!

 

[Amethyst1]

Ubuntu Mate, Fedora, Elementary, Mint, ???

Elementary and Fedora do not run on G4s.

 

[RogerWilco6502]

Hmm, i might start with Lubuntu and see where that gets me. I also have an old G3 iMacDv maybe i’ll just put linux on everything! Thanks for the info!

No problem and sounds good! There are quite a few PPC Linux users on the forum, so if you run into any issues I'm sure there'll be someone to provide support.

 

[Appleuser201]

Hmm, i might start with Lubuntu and see where that gets me. I also have an old G3 iMacDv maybe i’ll just put linux on everything! Thanks for the info!

From videos I’ve seen, lubuntu 16.04 is surprisingly decent on a 366mhz G3 and even could run up to Firefox v. 52 I believe. which is up to new web standards. Although MintPPC is optimized specifically for PPC. It’s just a matter of preference.

 

[timidpimpin]

I would personally go with a light Debian install with LXDE, which also includes Openbox.

 

[Jeroen Diederen]

I would personally go with a light Debian install with LXDE, which also includes Openbox.

MintPPC is exactly that: Debian LXDE with a nicer looking desktop...

 

[timidpimpin]

MintPPC is exactly that: Debian LXDE with a nicer looking desktop...

A Debian netinstall plus just a bare LXDE will be noticeably lighter.