<OT> [G4] Linux (but really OT)

[Joseph B. Gurman]

     As I said, I hope it's changed, but if most of the open source 
code written for Intel-based Linux won't compile out of the box on 
Power PC's, and/or the GUI is a poor rip-off of older versions of 
Windows, Linux on Mac hardware doesn't offer much --- so much is 
ported to Darwin that there wouldn't be a reason to run Linux.

     I wasn't discussing servers, just compatibility and UI's, but if 
I have to pay US$180 for a supported version of Red Hat, that's not 
much less than what my employer pays for OS X Server. I could easily 
see the argument for Linux on servers, particularly if I had lots of 
servers and little spare change for paying for supported OSes. I'm 
lucky enough not to be in that situation, but YMMV, and Linux has 
certainly proven itself robust in that sphere.

     Zoran wrote:

>  >    On topic (but still off topic re: G4's), I, too installed MkLinux
>>  on a G3 (albeit a B&W one) about six years ago. It was, indeed, a
>>  waste of time. The UI was a poor simulacrum of the Windows of the
>>  day, and nothing from the outside world would make properly. I can
>>  only hope that's changed.
>>
>
>(snip)
>
>*** Six years is a lot of time for IT. Ofcourse things changed. Things
>changed for MacOS also, no?
>
>"Waste of time" should be elaborated: You want to run a server? I don't see
>why it should be a waste of time installing it on a G3. If it's to use it as
>a Desktop box? Yes, than I must agree it's a waste of time. Modern Linux
>desktop applications would have problems with the 300Mhz. I don't even dare
>thinking about trying to run KDE...

-- 
"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they go by."
                                                             - Douglas 
Adams, 1952 - 2001

Joseph B. Gurman, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Solar Physics
Branch, Greenbelt MD 20771 USA