What about Linux on intel mac?

[dman8950]

Ok...so no dual boot to windows yet...but has anyone tried to boot linux? I am far from an expert, nor am I someone who'd know why we would/should not need to dual boot to linux, but was just curious if you could. I analyze large data files on my g5 iMac, and running the same files on a linux box generates different output files. So, just wondering if anyone has tried to dual boot the new iMacs with linux.

Also, I've wondered for a long time if apple would ever make PDAs. When I asked someone before, they said they wouldn't because of all the intel chips in pdas today. Now that intel and apple are friends, does anyone think apple will make pda's? I don't want to buy a PDA because I already have an iPod in my pocket, so if there's a way to meld the nano (at least) and a PDA into one, I'd buy.

Thanks

 

[Peace]

Ok...so no dual boot to windows yet...but has anyone tried to boot linux? I am far from an expert, nor am I someone who'd know why we would/should not need to dual boot to linux, but was just curious if you could. I analyze large data files on my g5 iMac, and running the same files on a linux box generates different output files. So, just wondering if anyone has tried to dual boot the new iMacs with linux.

Also, I've wondered for a long time if apple would ever make PDAs. When I asked someone before, they said they wouldn't because of all the intel chips in pdas today. Now that intel and apple are friends, does anyone think apple will make pda's? I don't want to buy a PDA because I already have an iPod in my pocket, so if there's a way to meld the nano (at least) and a PDA into one, I'd buy.

Thanks

Redhat has announced plans to port a Linux version to the new Intel Macs.

 

[unixfool]

Redhat has announced plans to port a Linux version to the new Intel Macs.

I'm interested in what exactly will need to be ported. A distro such as Slackware isn't as elaborate of a distro as RedHat (no customized kernels and such) and I'm thinking it may run out-of-the-box on a DC iMAC.

Has anyone tried to install ANY Linux distro on their new iMacs yet? If so, which distro?

 

[MisterMe]

....

Also, I've wondered for a long time if apple would ever make PDAs. When I asked someone before, they said they wouldn't because of all the intel chips in pdas today. Now that intel and apple are friends, does anyone think apple will make pda's? I don't want to buy a PDA because I already have an iPod in my pocket, so if there's a way to meld the nano (at least) and a PDA into one, I'd buy.

Thanks

Ever heard of the Newton? Apple has. Two are three years ago, Steve Jobs responded to the PDA question by telling his shareholders that PDA functions were being folded into cell phones. The PDA market, he said, is dying. Since then, cell phones have continued to assume the functions previously performed by PDAs. PDA stalwart Palm continues to decline. PalmOS is now losing its grip on even its old hardware platform. Waving an Intel chip over the shambles that is the PDA market is not going to suddenly set it right.

If you want to see Apple reenter the PDA market, go to bed early and dream on.

 

[unixfool]

Ever heard of the Newton? Apple has. Two are three years ago, Steve Jobs responded to the PDA question by telling his shareholders that PDA functions were being folded into cell phones. The PDA market, he said, is dying. Since then, cell phones have continued to assume the functions previously performed by PDAs. PDA stalwart Palm continues to decline. PalmOS is now losing its grip on even its old hardware platform. Waving an Intel chip over the shambles that is the PDA market is not going to suddenly set it right.

If you want to see Apple reenter the PDA market, go to bed early and dream on.

PDA phones aren't dedicated PDAs. I hate integrated features on a device. I'd rather have a standalone PDA.

 

[topgunn]

PDA phones aren't dedicated PDAs. I hate integrated features on a device. I'd rather have a standalone PDA.

I'd rather have a car with a fifth wheel on the passenger side but I fear we are both in the minority.

 

[ekenny]

I doubt that the linux binaries will have to be recompiled to run on the duo cpu, being that its x86 compatable. The problem with getting linux to run on the intel Macs is the same as getting windows to run on it (getting it to boot with the EFI bios).

 

[unixfool]

I doubt that the linux binaries will have to be recompiled to run on the duo cpu, being that its x86 compatable. The problem with getting linux to run on the intel Macs is the same as getting windows to run on it (getting it to boot with the EFI bios).

Grub and Lilo are fine. Also, there are a few EFI-compatible distros out there already. I don't think those distros make BIOS calls.

 

[mrichmon]

Grub and Lilo are fine. Also, there are a few EFI-compatible distros out there already. I don't think those distros make BIOS calls.

At the moment noone has been able to get an intel mac to boot anything other than os x. The apple implementation of EFI is not identical to the pc implementation.

 

[janey]

At the moment noone has been able to get an intel mac to boot anything other than os x. The apple implementation of EFI is not identical to the pc implementation.

even with elilo? i imagine it wouldn't be impossible, but considering how all the spotlight is on getting Windows XP to run on the Intel Macs, as opposed to Linux or anything else...

 

[Counterfit]

I'd rather have a car with a fifth wheel on the passenger side but I fear we are both in the minority.

I've always wanted one there too! I'm surprised they haven't done this in NASCAR.

 

[mrichmon]

even with elilo? i imagine it wouldn't be impossible, but considering how all the spotlight is on getting Windows XP to run on the Intel Macs, as opposed to Linux or anything else...

EFI based machines that are designed to boot Windows are the machines that EFI variants of Linux will run on. These non-Apple EFI machines have an implementation of EFI that can boot ISO9660 filesystems (or it might be a FAT filesystem that they can boot from CD).

The Apple implementation of EFI appears to only have boot loader code to boot from the Apple GDF partition map. Thus, it is not as simple as just putting a Linux EFI boot CD into the Apple intel machines.

Various people have been poking around with this. The most progress seems to have been made by a guy at UWM I think. The side effect of his experimenting has been a number of intel iMacs that are now unable to boot anything at all.

It is likely that something will ultimately be made to work. This will probably involve someone hacking together some EFI driver code or hacking a OS X install disk so that it will instead boot Linux