- #UBUNTU FOR MAC G5 INSTALL#
- #UBUNTU FOR MAC G5 UPDATE#
- #UBUNTU FOR MAC G5 SOFTWARE#
- #UBUNTU FOR MAC G5 PASSWORD#
- #UBUNTU FOR MAC G5 PLUS#
Your mileage may vary, but I know I’m not alone in singing Ubuntu’s praises in this department. For anyone who’s ever had to fiddle with kernel modules and such to get sound or video, you may shed a tear over the way things tend to “just work” with Ubuntu. Overall, the installation is much easier than other PPC Linux variants, with Ubuntu always recognizing my sound card, video card, and other hardware without a bit of configuration. The difference in the two approaches is small, but the latter has a slight security edge by disabling root.
#UBUNTU FOR MAC G5 PASSWORD#
OS X and Ubuntu disable root and add the first user created to the sudoers file, giving them the ability to call root power when needed using their own password (i.e., using sudo at the command line or authentication boxes for graphical apps).
#UBUNTU FOR MAC G5 INSTALL#
Many Unix variants have you set a root password at install and then create the first user account as a normal user, encouraging you to use su to switch to root for administration tasks or entering the root password into authentication boxes for graphical apps.
Ubuntu is similar to OS X when it comes to system administration. After a reboot, the rest of the packages were installed, a few configuration items were set, and that was pretty much it. However, Ubuntu’s installer is not difficult to navigate, even for those used to point-and-click operations.Īfter auto-partitioning my hard drive, Ubuntu’s installer found my DHCP server, configured itself, and downloaded everything it needed over the Internet. The installer itself is text-based, whereas most Linux installers have very nice graphical shells. I’m not sure how dialup users will fare in this situation or if the installer disc even has PPP support for dialing out. Hooked up to my LAN backed by a 3 Mbps cable modem, this wasn’t a big deal for me. On the down side, the installer must then go out to the Internet to download the rest of the needed packages. Downloading and burning just one CD – versus the four or five required for other distros – is definitely a plus. Ubuntu’s installation scheme packs some core components onto a single CD-ROM. Performance of both OS X 10.3 Panther and 10.4 on this Cube was okay, but definitely on the sluggish side. I also upped the RAM from the stock 64 MB to 768 MB. When I acquired it a while back, it had a bum 20 GB hard drive, so I replaced it with a 7200 RPM 40 GB drive.
That’s a topic for another column, but if anyone’s experienced a “no Unix” B&W G3 and fixed it, please let me know how you did it!įor comparison’s sake, my Ubuntu box is a 450 MHz G4 Cube with a CD-RW drive (a relatively rare configuration, as most Cubes have DVD-ROM).
#UBUNTU FOR MAC G5 UPDATE#
Sometimes applying the latest G3 firmware update helps (always a good idea anyway), but other times it doesn’t. Much to my puzzlement, I’ve run across several blue and white G3s in the past few years that refuse to take not only Linux, but also OS X, even though this is Apple-supported hardware for OS X 10.4 Tiger and earlier. It installs and runs fine, just a little slower – but usually faster than OS X on the same hardware. Ubuntu only mentions “G4 and G5” on their front page, but I’ve read many success stories with Ubuntu on G3 hardware. So if you’ve got open source fever after reading Ubuntu’s public commitment, it’s time to get down and pick out that old Mac on which you’re going to try Liinux. The importance of this cannot be overstated – with other distros, you may find yourself compiling packages by hand to stay up-to-date while you’re waiting for your vendor to put out an official patch.
#UBUNTU FOR MAC G5 PLUS#
This’s important, because some vendors just don’t take the time to optimize their PPC Linux, if they make one at all.Īnother big plus is that Ubuntu releases a new version every six months and is committed to providing updates to the current version in the meantime. This means they have put considerable effort into making their PPC version on par with its x86 counterpart.
#UBUNTU FOR MAC G5 SOFTWARE#
First and foremost, in my mind, is their credo that everyone with a computer should have access to free, usable software no matter what platform they use.
The front page of Ubuntu’s website contains a declaration of principles that they call their “public commitment”. Indeed, their slogan is “Linux for human beings”, and I don’t think I’ve ever come across a Linux distribution that’s as easy to set up, maintain, and use for daily tasks as this one. Ubuntu Linux has done some of the best work in the open source community at making Linux palatable for the average end user. In last week’s column, I outlined the requirements for setting up a useful and fast PowerPC (PPC) Linux desktop, and I’m going to start with what I consider the best of the bunch.
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