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How useful is linux on an iMac G4?
- Thread starter Dinkhart
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gavinstubbs09
macrumors 65816
My personal opinion of Linux running on a PPC Mac - it's s***. Only installs 1/8 of the time, limited functionality, apps, etc.
Personally with all my PPCs I stick to Leopard or Tiger. You're much better off with one of those OSes and the plethora of apps that are available vs. the offerings on Linux.
Personally with all my PPCs I stick to Leopard or Tiger. You're much better off with one of those OSes and the plethora of apps that are available vs. the offerings on Linux.
Not wishing to get into a flame war but a few points on your statement...
- I do admit that getting Linux running on a PPC is not as simple as putting in a disk and hitting 'next next next' but it is actually quite close to that currently - really only getting 2D and 3D acceleration is the common remaining bugbear and I'm sure this depends which PPC Mac you are installing on.
- Re the 'plethora of apps' there are hundreds and hundreds of apps in Linux and whilst some may be not quite up to some OSX apps many are ahead. Eg. Gimp may not be up to PS standard fully but it has more than most people will ever use and its up to date and will keep being updated (in my case with Ubuntu Mate until April 2019).
- I run the latest version of VLC, full real version of Firefox, Thunderbird, Clementine for Music (which is an awesome music player/organiser) I use Scribus for DTP, Shotwell instead of iPhoto - Libreoffice v5 which runs very fast (2 seconds from clicking on it) - I have access to my Privateinternetaccess VPN through native network tools - I don't have to run an old and unsupported version of Tunnelblick - I use Liferea as an RSS feed news app etc etc/ All my apps are modern, up to date and continue to be updated.
- The OS is secure and security updates and holes are patched.
- Performance is excellent - a real eye opener for me - from a fresh boot Firefox with a fair few plugins starts in less than 3 seconds.
- After the (I admit!) pain of installation and configuration (mainly to do with the graphics which is now sorted) it has been rock solid stable, not one app crash - everything just works.
- A lot of people have put in MASSIVE efforts for FREE to get Linux running on PPC, I think posting that its s*** is both disrespectful and too much of a blanket statement - It's certainly not s*** for me and I appreciate very much what these Linux coders have done to make a machine that is this old and this obscure still be usable with modern software today.
I'm not bashing Leopard/OSX, if I could run a modern supported version of that today I would instead of Linux but as that's not an option I will continue to support the massive efforts put in to keep my machine going in a modern environment.
Linux may not be for everyone, you need some technical skills to get it working but once over that install hurdle it will remain stable, updated and secure with literally hundreds of excellent apps to use.
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KawaiiAurora
macrumors 6502
I agree too. My Radeon 9700 seems to be accelerating 3D/2D effects OOB so I have no issues there. Midori opens quickly and loading times are much better, and I'm loading Lubuntu off a USB pendrive (USB 1.1 speeds).
Only thing you must keep in mind is that you should run an older version if you have low-end hardware. Lubuntu 14.04.5 and 16.04 are very slow while Lubuntu 12.04 flies on my Sawtooth even via USB.
(and it's not as picky.. Ubuntu 8.04 didn't mind my bad GPU back in the day and it made the Mac much more stable. There's 'minitube' which makes watching 360p YouTube without downloading thr video possible on slower G4s at least)
mode11
macrumors 68000
I don't know how fast it is to install OS X then restore via Time Machine, but I imagine cloning your disk onto an external with SupperDuper or CCC, wiping the internal disk, then cloning back, may be more quicker.
Has anyone had any experience of running a lightweight PPC Linux in a VM, just to run a modern web browser? Would this make any sense on a 20" G4 iMac, with 2GB of RAM?
tuxdude
macrumors newbie
I really want to try get linux onto my imac g4 but basically every distro I have tried has run into issues related to the nvidia gpu in the imac g4 I have. I boot the live installation medium and the screen decided to go into lava lamp mode and just display crazy colours. Because of this I just can't boot into the damn desktop at all. I've heard it's a problem with the nouveau driver but I have no idea what I'm gonna do to fix it lol. Any ideas?
From what I understand the 5200 (I think that's whats in all G4 iMac's?) is the ultimate pain for Linux for some reason but here seems to have some instructions http://ppcluddite.blogspot.com/2016/07/getting-linux-on-ilamp-imac-with-nvidia.html
You have to research I'm afraid but my personal recommendation would be either Ubuntu Mate latest for best possibility of working out the box or Debian for best forum support. Best of luck.
1042686
Cancelled
Most every variant of debian (Ubunutu/Lubuntu/Xbuntu etc.) I've ever tried out allows you to demo off the install disk before installing. Its slower obviously but you can see if the os/features are something you'd be interested in before committing to that particular flavor.
The last time I played with Lubuntu it took me a good couple hours to fix the wifi (which I did ultimately figure out with the help of some super smart folks over at the ubuntu forums) so be prepared for some leg work with these older ppc machines. 8bitguy has a quick video on his experiments with linux/ppc.
Good luck
The last time I played with Lubuntu it took me a good couple hours to fix the wifi (which I did ultimately figure out with the help of some super smart folks over at the ubuntu forums) so be prepared for some leg work with these older ppc machines. 8bitguy has a quick video on his experiments with linux/ppc.
Good luck
kge420
macrumors regular
I installed Yellow Dog linux on a previous iMac G4 800mHz. It was long ago and I don't remember if it was good bad or indifferent. This was back when one could install linux on a ps3. It was clunky on the playstation. YDL 5.0.1 was built for PPC
[doublepost=1490403757][/doublepost]also openSUSE 11.0 for PPC is one I played around with.
[doublepost=1490403757][/doublepost]also openSUSE 11.0 for PPC is one I played around with.
zarathu
macrumors 6502a
I installed Ubuntu 14.04 on a x200 Thinkpad, 2.2 core 2 duo 2007. It ran all my software including a virtualBOXVM windows xp without any issues at all. It also has a 256gb SSD. But I can't really say it was more fun than running Leopard. Leopard was more fun and more sophisticated. I finally kept it as a back up and went back to laptop heaven with a very late 2013 rMBP 15 i7 2.6. running Sierra. Running the Ubuntu variation made me feel as if I was about 8 years behind everyone else, despite the fact that it did everything I needed.
I just couldn't compare it even to running Snow Leopard on my 2011 iMac. Its utilitarian and does the job; its not very fun. However, I would still run any current Linux rather than any version of Windows(except for my windows xp which I keep in a cage).
I just couldn't compare it even to running Snow Leopard on my 2011 iMac. Its utilitarian and does the job; its not very fun. However, I would still run any current Linux rather than any version of Windows(except for my windows xp which I keep in a cage).