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Linux on my Mac? What for?

MacAztec

MacAztec

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Oct 28, 2001
3,028
1
San Luis Obispo, CA
I was looking into installing YDL on my mac. But, I was wondering, what would I do it for?

What can I do with linux? I have heard it is faster then OS X, is this true? Can I play games? Does it have a nice web browser, email program, and chat program built in?

Will it support my computer fully, and my graphics card? What about wireless k/b and mouse?
 
I don't recommend using Linux if you're just a casual user. It can be quite difficult at times. That said, if you want to learn it, it's a fantastic OS, and well worth the time. You can browse the web, do email...pretty much anything you can do on the mac. And yes, it is faster than OS X. You're not going to really find any games for it though, but pretty much all the programs for it are free.
 
Re: Linux on my Mac? What for?

Originally posted by MacAztec
I was looking into installing YDL on my mac. But, I was wondering, what would I do it for?

What can I do with linux? I have heard it is faster then OS X, is this true? Can I play games? Does it have a nice web browser, email program, and chat program built in?

Will it support my computer fully, and my graphics card? What about wireless k/b and mouse?
Click to expand...
I've considered using at one point, but I didn't feel like buying it or downloading and burning it(which, BTW is legal to do with most brands of Linux, including YDL). Chances are, though, like many OSes, it is faster than 10.1 and Jaguar, but not Panther. It can supposedly emulate OS 9 faster than Classic, and can also emulate OS X.

Chances are, it can't do more things than you could do if you were to run X11.
 
Re: Linux on my Mac? What for?

Originally posted by MacAztec
I was looking into installing YDL on my mac. But, I was wondering, what would I do it for?

What can I do with linux? I have heard it is faster then OS X, is this true? Can I play games? Does it have a nice web browser, email program, and chat program built in?

Will it support my computer fully, and my graphics card? What about wireless k/b and mouse?
Click to expand...
I don't like Linux because you have to be a techie to use and install it (at least that's how it used to be...I haven't tried it for a year or so). Granted, I have the techie-ness required to install it and use it, but I don't want to have to bother with all that. That's why I switched to a Mac.

Mac OS X is everything Linux wishes it could be...stable, beautiful, *and* user friendly.
 
Plus Mac OS X has commercial software and games.

But what about using Linux on older machines, e.g. my old 8100? Would it work at all on the ADB/SCSI/IWM hardware? That might be useful. The machine is pitifully slow running Mac OS 9. If it could run Linux I could use it for a firewall or something. (Sigh) I suppose it might as well go to the landfill.
 
Re: Re: Linux on my Mac? What for?

Originally posted by MattG
That's why I switched to a Mac.

Mac OS X is everything Linux wishes it could be...stable, beautiful, *and* user friendly.
Click to expand...

Actually(not sure what linux is like on the Mac, but has to be pretty similar) but Linux is now all three of those things and then some lol. Fedora, redhat, Mandrake...these are as user friendly as you can get, hehe.

Best thing, look getting old? change it! switch windows managers or desktops.

Linux is no longer wishing :D
 
Originally posted by cubist
Plus Mac OS X has commercial software and games.
Click to expand...


Just like the Mac, it will soon be adopter and games made for it I bet. Theres already a few big games usable on it right now. Unreal tournament, Unreal tournament 2003, half life, and a few more which I don't know about, heh.
 
Originally posted by cubist
Plus Mac OS X has commercial software and games.
Click to expand...

That's one of the reasons I got a Mac. I liked fiddling around in Linux, but I got frustrated with the lack of commercial software. I saw that the Mac supports most of the apps I wanted, so I gave it a go. Now I'm on my second Mac, and I agree - who needs Linux when you've got a Mac?
 
Re: Re: Linux on my Mac? What for?

Originally posted by XnavxeMiyyep
I've considered using at one point, but I didn't feel like buying it or downloading and burning it(which, BTW is legal to do with most brands of Linux, including YDL). Chances are, though, like many OSes, it is faster than 10.1 and Jaguar, but not Panther. It can supposedly emulate OS 9 faster than Classic, and can also emulate OS X.

Chances are, it can't do more things than you could do if you were to run X11.
Click to expand...

It is not emulating Classic or OS X, nor does OS X emulate Classic.
 
Re: Re: Re: Linux on my Mac? What for?

Originally posted by leet1
Actually(not sure what linux is like on the Mac, but has to be pretty similar) but Linux is now all three of those things and then some lol. Fedora, redhat, Mandrake...these are as user friendly as you can get, hehe.

Best thing, look getting old? change it! switch windows managers or desktops.

Linux is no longer wishing :D
Click to expand...

Are you being serious?
 
Originally posted by Nermal
Now I'm on my second Mac, and I agree - who needs Linux when you've got a Mac?
Click to expand...

People who want to customize their OS completely, have the best security, its all free!
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Linux on my Mac? What for?

Originally posted by besson3c
Are you being serious?
Click to expand...

Yup, Unreal tournament and 2003 come with a linux installer on them.
 
Because every time I've tried to do something in Linux, I've ended up having to do it manually. Granted I haven't touched Linux in quite a while though, it could be different now.
 
Originally posted by leet1
People who want to customize their OS completely, have the best security, its all free!
Click to expand...

What are you going to secure on it while it is functioning as a client OS?

Linux is *not* a viable solution for the masses as far as a client OS. It makes a great server OS. I've used it for years for this purpose (since switched to FreeBSD).

KDE is not up to the level of OS X, OS 9, or Windows. It is still far too complicated for your Grandma to operate. It is lacking commercial software. The package management is lacking (and your Grandma is not going to want to compile something). There is no clear UI definition, it is lost in the massive amount of customization that is possible (which is nto a bad thing for people like you). It is improving though.

I don't know how anybody over the age of 16 grounded in any sort of reality can claim that this is an OS ready for the masses to use. Until it passes the Grandma test, claims of UI superiority are futile.
 
Originally posted by besson3c
What are you going to secure on it while it is functioning as a client OS?

Linux is *not* a viable solution for the masses as far as a client OS. It makes a great server OS. I've used it for years for this purpose (since switched to FreeBSD).

KDE is not up to the level of OS X, OS 9, or Windows. It is improving though.

I don't know how anybody over the age of 16 grounded in any sort of reality can claim that this is an OS ready for the masses to use. Until it passes the Grandma test, claims of UI superiority are futile.
Click to expand...


I guess its a little complicated for grandma, lol. I just think there are distros out there ready for the masses. There are already schools in certain countries adopting it instead of windows or osx.

www.freshmeat.com is a great site if anyone was wondering where to find software for it.
 
Remember that the schools (or their suppliers) probably spend quite a while tweaking the system, simplifying it, before the rest of the students and teachers ever see it.
 
Originally posted by leet1
I guess its a little complicated for grandma, lol. I just think there are distros out there ready for the masses. There are already schools in certain countries adopting it instead of windows or osx.

www.freshmeat.com is a great site if anyone was wondering where to find software for it.
Click to expand...

Why would a distro make things more user friendly for the masses? The Window Manager is the UI. KDE and Gnome aren't there yet. Even their authors will admit this, I'm sure.

Sure schools and certain workstations can be setup to do a couple of tasks with KDE or whatever, but what if you don't have an IT department to setup a workstation for you? Is the UI intuititve enough that you would stand a fighting chance?

My answer is a resounding "no". This isn't a Linux slam, I want Linux to succeed and overthrow Windows more than anything. I just object to comments like yours which are simply not based in reality, at least as I determine it.... =)
 
Originally posted by besson3c
Why would a distro make things more user friendly for the masses? The Window Manager is the UI. KDE and Gnome aren't there yet. Even their authors will admit this, I'm sure.
Click to expand...

Installing and such are different on each distro. I've tried out a few distros and Fedora or madrake can be installed easily by a novice.

You have a start menu, task bar, alt-tabing, rpm installing(which makes things like installing new software as easy as in windows.


Sure schools and certain workstations can be setup to do a couple of tasks with KDE or whatever, but what if you don't have an IT department to setup a workstation for you? Is the UI intuititve enough that you would stand a fighting chance?
Click to expand...

You have a control panel, all your basic apps already included, and a wizard or instructions to guide you through anything you don't understand. Updating is as easy as clicking on the update program and finding out if there are any updates ready. So yea, even those schools without an IT department can stand a chance, lol

My answer is a resounding "no". This isn't a Linux slam, I want Linux to succeed and overthrow Windows more than anything. I just object to comments like yours which are simply not based in reality, at least as I determine it.... =)
Click to expand...

Oh yea me too I guess in a way. Except I Want it to overthrow OSX too :D Too proprietary, hehe.


Don't know how my comments aren't based on reality though, lol.
 
My $0.02

I just recently bought my first Mac (PB 15") after having run Red Hat on a Dell laptop for the past 2+ years. Since Yellow Dog is based on RH it should be similar.

It is very easy to get a basic system up and running, as long as it's the only operating system on your box. It will actually handle a dual-boot setup well, but you first have to split up your partitions manually for that (the installer can't/won't resize your existing OS X partition in other words). The install is a matter of clicking through a bunch of screens where you're selecting preferences. Piece of cake.

After the install you will have a nice, easy to understand system. I loved Linux... except for those occasions when I HATED it.

- You won't currently be able to use your Airport Extreme card. A regular Airport card on an older system will work fine.

- USB and Firewire work well - but it can be a pain in the neck figuring out just what the heck /dev/???? to use to actually access your USB or Firewire device.

- Your ATI video card will work... but hardware acceleration won't.

- Bluetooth won't work.

- "Sleep" doesn't currently work.

- Check YDL's support pages for the other caveats.

Basically if you're a tinkerer, or if you've got old hardware that doesn't run OS X well, then go ahead. If you've got a big hard disk and can spare ~10GB for a Linux partition plus room to play, go ahead. It can be a lot of fun - but just be aware it can be very frustrating too. I'm glad I've had the "Linux Experience", but I'm doubly glad now to have discovered OS X. It pretty much allows me to still do the stuff I found useful in Linux (especially when you install Fink), but without the occasional bouts of extreme frustration.
 
YDL on 450 Cube?

If I wanted to install YDL on my "second" computer, a 450 MHz G4 Cube, would it be as easy as downloading it (though that could be a little problem in itself!) and running the installer? Sounds like an fun thing to try out.
 
Originally posted by leet1
Installing and such are different on each distro. I've tried out a few distros and Fedora or madrake can be installed easily by a novice.
Click to expand...

What if your hardware isn't detected properly? How do you decide what partition scheme to use? What if you want to use a firewall, is the novice going to recompile the kernel with IPFW/IPTables support? Do you need a /var partition? How big should it be? How big should the swap space be? Sure the installer may suggest some values here, but this is far from novice territory.

Once you have the OS installed, who holds the root password? Can regular users do everything they need to do without the root password?

You have a start menu, task bar, alt-tabing, rpm installing(which makes things like installing new software as easy as in windows.
Click to expand...

No it isn't, RPMs are notorius for having severe dependency problems. How do you uninstall programs? RPMs kind of suck. I like Debian's/Fink's apt-get, and FreeBSD ports far more.

The Start Menu is not a model for UI either, in my opinion.

You have a control panel, all your basic apps already included, and a wizard or instructions to guide you through anything you don't understand.
Click to expand...

What if you don't buy the idea that Wizards account for a good UI?
 
Re: Re: Re: Linux on my Mac? What for?

Originally posted by besson3c
It is not emulating Classic or OS X, nor does OS X emulate Classic.
Click to expand...
Sorry. I know it's not emulation, I just couldn't think of a better word to use.
 
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