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BEST PowerPC Alternatives (Linux etc).
- Thread starter VirtuallyInsane
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Yes, I know that. I was joking about it hating me, lol. It's a totally different operating system, I'm aware of that and you do need a different mindset for it. You need to be open for it. I agree, totally.
Yeah, some Linux builds are simple to use. Using it and learning how to use it is half the battle. The other half of the battle is getting it to run on the PowerPC platform, with 1.25GB of RAM, and a 1GHz Processor. That is seeming to be more difficult than it should be, for some reason.
The problem is also knowing the termninal commands and where to find them at times. Sometimes the websites tell you, but other times you have to do research on forums. Knowing the simple commands helps a lot. Like, what you said. If it's not too command heavy, and it runs well on your system, it can work definitely.
That sounds promising, but what's the GHz of your processor? Mine's 1GHz, as I mentioned and pretty much everything I've tried to run on it Linux wise hasn't been sufficient enough. I can't do any of that on my PBG4 12 inch. I am just considering keeping Tiger on it and optimising it.
I mean, I could probably run Void on something higher spec'd. It would probably run fine on an iBook G4 1.42/1.33 GHz, or a higher spec'd Powerbook but I haven't got a lot of PPC machines with a higher spec than 1.33 to try things out on that aren't running a backed up copy of Mac OS on them.
Yes, I definitely use the blockers (thanks for adding those files btw) for Mozilla Based Browsers, and I have been having some success with ArcticFox on the PBG4. It seems to be fine for general browsing (it can handle MacRumors alright too, but is a bit slow).
If you want newer software, browsers, etc, i say go the Linux route. It wont be as easy on PPC like it is on x86, but you’ll learn, and (hopefully) have fun along the way. If you want nostalgia and period correct software, stay with OS X and tweak the heck out of it. Both are fun. That’s why i have multiple machines. Each one can be dedicated for different purposes.
Yeah, that's one of the reasons I want to install Linux on it. For a challenge, and to learn something new... and having multiple machines helps a lot, I think. Switching between OS X and Linux seems like a cool idea.
Yeah, I wasn't into that, but it's good that there are PowerPC options out othere for people who grew up on Amiga. I am looking more for a desktop kinda thing with a word processor etc. But I guess someone who is into retro computers would really enjoy it.
Aw, no crashing is annoying. That's good that you were able to save a Mac Mini with it. Yeah. I am looking for something that is more of an OS replacement than a straight up tinkering/nostalgia OS. Nothing wrong with that, either.
Hmm... kind of a lot, but again, people spend that amount of money yearly on subscriptions, and more.
Yeah, I agree that support can be sketchy for PPC. It took a while to find some PPC Linux Distros to consider/try. Yeah, maybe something simple like basic desktop apps is all I am after. A media player, productivity, internet. All the basics. If I want to game, I have my Win 11 laptop, which runs well for that. I wouldn't need any exotic hardware, lol.
KDE looks cool, like a fusion of Windows 95/98 and earlier Mac OS. It's good that you didn't need to fiddle with the command line. It looks good.
I tried that, but it made the fans go wild using the Live Disk version. It wasn't half as bad as 16.04. That made it totally want to disintegrate and give up, fans wise. It lagged too much as well. I think 1GHz is too laggy for anything other than OS X, it seems.
And Openbox doesn't look bad on that old machine. It's text based, right? Maybe something like that wouls be alright and run on the PB12. Or an older G3.
Interesting. Mint can work on Intel Macs, but I never knew it worked on PPC. I might go and check that out now, thanks. It seems like people with 1GHz systems are having the same problems as me, and some of them aren't getting the disks installed, either, despite the author saying it works on G3-G5. It might not be feasible for the 1 GHz G4.
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On another note, since I started drafting my reply, I found a cheap (for parts) 1.42 GHz iBook G4 14 inch from 2005 and maxed out the RAM and I ran Lubuntu 12.04 on it because the person before me didn't know how to install programs and store files and put a load of crap on the Tiger installation and I had a spare disk.
It actually runs alright, unlike my Powerbook G4 (even though it can get warm, but the fans aren't running half as bad as it did on the PB G4) , that I decided to just keep Tiger on it and optimise it (it also runs pretty well). Seems like it has the right specs for it, as a 'higher end G4' (well, it's the highest end iBook G4 I can find).
Desktop and theme.
Abiword editor.
Playing music.
Still no progress on the 1 GHz Powerbook G4 in Linux, but like I said, I have no qualms keeping it on Tiger until I find a distro that works well enough. I have plenty of suggestions to try, thanks to you all.
My 12" PB is a 1.33ghz with 1.25gb ram. Not a huge difference from yours. I also ran a few flavors of Linux on a 17" PB that was a 1ghz model. It did well enough.
Here's my 12" running void linux.
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Nice work @VirtuallyInsane , Lubuntu 12.04 looks great and the last gen iBook G4 14” really is a much cooler, happier little PowerPC than the PBG4 12”. MorphOS should run on this too.
As you mention, you could setup a dual boot config to run OS X and Linux.
You could also look at Mac-On-Linux to attempt to run both operating systems at the same time, which is more of a technical challenge than anything... but could be a fun way to enjoy a weekend with your PowerPC ‘books.
As you mention, you could setup a dual boot config to run OS X and Linux.
You could also look at Mac-On-Linux to attempt to run both operating systems at the same time, which is more of a technical challenge than anything... but could be a fun way to enjoy a weekend with your PowerPC ‘books.
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Mine's 0.33, with 256MB installed, and it runs Void. Maybe not necessarily perfectly but it boots up just fine -- the limiting factor isn't the clock speed but the Rage LT Pro that X doesn't know how to deal with, so it's just tty, at least for now. I may test OpenBSD again in the future to see if it plays nicer with the Rage, though. If not, I appreciate the excuse to play with tmux more.
Nope, it’s graphical but very bare-bones.
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IDK why Linux doesn't work on my PB G4 12 inch well. Maybe there is something else that I need to look at, but 1.33 GHz seems to be a good starting point for Linux. And was it a more text based Linux that you used on the 1GHz PB 17 inch? (I also have a 1.33 PB 17, but I am using it for Leopard at the moment, until I install a new Harddrive/SSD into it, which it needs).
I like how it emulates Windows 95, it's cool and nostalgic. That would be cool to run, tbh.
Thanks, yeah it does look great. I like how I can customize it easily. The only downside is that the fan kicks in more than it did on Tiger, lol. If there was a way to have fan control on it, that would help a lot too. I'm also getting another one because it was at a good price and I couldn't resist having another iBook. I have three, and I love them, lol. Two of them work fine (the 1.42 and an older 12 inch from 2003, 1.07 GHz model) but one of them just decided to kick the bucket (iBook 1.33 GHz, late 2004, 14 inch).
Yeah, maybe I will give Morph a go on it someday to tinker with a trial or something. Just not right now. Yeah, dual boot doesn't seem too difficult, it's knowing what to partition and how to set it up that's a bit weird. Saw an Adelie video and it seems a bit of a hassle to set up, without knowing the commands.
MOL sounds interesting, but I only have one G5 machine that I exclusively run Leopard on, my iMac G5. I wonder if I get a well spec'd Mac Mini, if it will run MOL well. I heard they are realiable for Linux. I could put an SSD into that. At leasr the guide is very comprehensive which helps a lot.
Again, 1.33 seems to be the sweet spot for the processor. Or do you mean, 0.33 as in the old iBooks? 256MB isn't a lot of RAM, but at least it runs on it. Yeah, OpenBSD seems cool as well.
Ah, it looks simple too. I had a look at some images of it on the Wiki from ages ago.
Nope. It looked exactly like the 12" screenshot above. Before i sold it i was running Void on it with the same desktop, theme and software.
Took a bit to find, but here is the screenshot of that 1ghz PB in action.
Ah, I see.
That looks really cool. Especially with the IRC client running in the background. I like it, it looks clean.
It's a PowerBook G3 Lombard, with a 750L running at 333MHz.
It runs on less than 100MB without a lot of programs and X running all at once, and the Linux from Scratch website suggests an absolute minimum Linux install would fit in 8MB. The Lombard's MMU maxes out at 256MB/DIMM slot, and with only two of them it's still half the max 512MB. I did try already with a 512MB DIMM, and it only shows as 256, so I'm taking that number seriously.
You need two low-density 256 MB DIMMs to "properly" get the Lombard to 512 MB. Two high-density 512 MB DIMMs register at 256 MB each i.e. will theoretically also work, but I'm not sure I'd trust that setup.
Oh, that makes sense.
8MB is nothing for Linux to run, that sounds cool. 256MB is the absolute minimum for my PBG4 and iBook G4. It can run, but it was a pain to run on 256MB, but again, the Lombard is older and probably can cope with it a lot better, like you said it can run on less than 100MB, which isn't a lot.
Everything was smaller and lighter back then.
Development of Linux started on a 386 with 4 MB RAM. In
It had to be. Nowadays, there’s no reason to be small and light: we have fast CPUs, light speed internet connections and gobs and gobs of memory.
Don’t we?
My Dad told me about his first PC having 4-8 MB of RAM and it being top of the line back then.
I prefer the older aesthetic, but I agree to an extent. The only problem that annoys me is when they put too many unnecessary add-ons and ads on their page. Or they make it too fancy. Personal preference, though.
I like how ArcticFox looks on my PBG4. It makes it look like the older internet days... until it accidentally stumbles across a modern website that's too much 😆
My first PC had 2 MB. It was enough to play the games I “grew up with”.
My statement was somewhat ironic.
Try retrozilla for that real old school vibe.
Ah yes, now we're talking! Might I inquire which PC that was? My PC Jr. had memory measured in KB, which is just nutty if you think about it, but the games were pretty crap too. Good times still.
This might get me in trouble, but allow me to go slightly off topic and point out what I consider one of the most amazing human achievements of all time: we sent a rocket to the moon using physical bits and only 40 KB of physical (non-volatile) memory (10-bit word x 16,000 words per module x 2 modules for redundancy / 8 bits per byte).
Mind you, that's for the Saturn V guidance system and there were more computer systems in Apollo, but still. 40 KB is crazy to steer a rocket to the MOON.
If you want to nerd out and lose an hour or two of your time, this is for you:
And now back to your regularly scheduled PowerPC program =)
My first PC had 2 MB. It was enough to play the games I “grew up with”.
My statement was somewhat ironic.
I fess up my (implied) age as I remember clearly how when the real barnburner of on-board, high-end PC RAM was the 128KB threshold — especially when there was discussion of making it affordable enough to conceivably have at home like an Apple ][+, VIC-20, Atari 400/800, or C-64.
This also would have been just a minute before the birth of the Macintosh 128K: the IBM PC XT. We’d heard of 128K being on the mythical Apple ///, but quite literally no one we know knew anyone who had actually owned one, much less seen one. [There was also the Tandy TRS-80 Model 16, but I never, ever knew anyone with a Tandy or a Sinclair, and these only ever seemed to show up locally in the annual merchandise catalogues of the two local versions of a Sears or Eaton’s: a place called Houston Jewelry (yes, the weird American spelling) and another at a competing place called Best Jewelry (no idea, in hindsight, why one went to buy electronics and TVs at a jewellery superstore).]
We all knew the /// existed, because it would turn up in magazine ads every rare once in a while, but it was, functionally, fairy dust for almost everyone. So the closest we ever expected to run across the possibility of 128K in a PC was seeing an IBM PC in XT form ( the former of which I had seen a total of once before in someone’s house, and nowhere close to my neighbourhood!), but it would have had something like 16, 32, or 64K.
If it did what you needed it to do, that's good
My statement was somewhat ironic.
And I was sharing my opinion unironically about some websites and the state of them
Some of them are awful to navigate, even with modern browsers lol.Try retrozilla for that real old school vibe.
Does that still work? I tried it back when my iBook was still on Panther, and it refused to work for me.
And I was sharing my opinion unironically about some websites and the state of them
< old_woman_with_hearing_aid_with_weak_batteries >
< /old_woman_with_hearing_aid_with_weak_batteries >
For real, though: sometime in these last five years, the preponderance of sites which have just said, “F this” when it comes to making sure their sites’ layouts degrade gracefully with older browsers has advanced, side-by-side, with the re-vamping of sites designed principally, if not wholly, for use with glass UIs (and which, arguably, has made those sites less information-rich and more “fluffy” in terms of big eye candy — to, again, prioritize the kludgy universe of glass UIs and soft phalanges mashing that glass, clumsily).
I’m not a fan.