I'd say that the most likely case.
I've installed various distros umpteen times and never had an install issue - getting it all to work, that's another matter
I would say though, if you're not happy with PowerPC/Leopard performance, Linux is not going to fare any better - it offers different choices but it's not faster.
True. Linux brings more software availability and features (like the ability to run non-emulated PPC64 VMs on a G5), current builds of Firefox and a host of open source software. But for what I do with my PowerPC Macs, Leopard is king for productivity, development and creative purposes, networking with modern Macs and getting the most out of the old hardware.
It would have been great to see a Mac OS X with Tiger level performance and Leopard+ features for PowerPC. I believe the G5s could have handled Snow Leopard easily, but Lion/Mountain Lion and up would have been the hardware destroyer. HiDPI/Retina UI, Core Animation effects and GPU crunching transparency, blurring and effects everywhere. Lion crippled my MacBook Unibody '08 until I finally moved along the bogged down annual Mac OS X upgrade chain and landed on El Capitan, which brought it back to life like a new(-ish) Mac.