Not again

[iolair]

Another stupid distro question. I recently was given an old Apple G3 iBook. I'd like to install Linux on it and use the following network tools: Big Sister, Netdisco, NeDI, Kismet, Nagios, Etherape, and nTop. I have a wireless card and the standard UTP ethernet port. I'd like to use both, depending on what I'm testing. Since I only have 640MB of RAM, I'm wondering if I should use something like SuSE 9, or YellowDog - (older version), or some other version since the USB ports are only 1.1. Any recommendations? If I use SuSE or something similar, I'll probably use a lightweight wm like Window Maker or Enlightenment, not Gnome or KDE. Too bad I can't find BSD versions of the above apps, then I could just run OS X. Any thoughts? Thanks.

Iolair MacWalter
Network Engineer

 

[RhythmAce]

I'm not sure which distro will be compatible with all those since I have no experience with them. However, rather than using the trial and error installation method, you may want to aquire the live cd versions of the distros you like. That way you can keep your current OS until you find one that works for you. If there are things on the old Apple that you like, you can keep those too. To have the best of both worlds, you just setup a dual boot system. You simply add another drive or repartition your current one to make space for the linux installation. Linux comes with a boot loader that will ask you which os you want to boot into. You can set a default just in case it reboots when nobody's lookin'. Or if you've gotten used to the live cd, you can keep on keepin' on with that too.

 

[geirendre]

I would advice against the "old distro for old hardware" idea.
You'll want a new distro with a small footprint rather.
This gives you good hardware support and up to date software.
Choose a lightweight WM to match your machines specs.

Why not try a distro chooser:

http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/

and see what it recommends for you ;-)

 

[iolair]

I've setup dual boot on PCs before, but wasn't aware it was possible with the Mac. Cool. I do have a "live" of Kubuntu, and it looks pretty good.

I'll also keep that tip in mind about the new distro with a small footprint - I'm quite happy with Window Maker as a window manager, and it's fairly fast, even on old pentiums.

Iolair MacWalter
Network Engineer

 

[BadBigBen]

The iBook has a PPC 750L or PPC 750CX, it came with 3.6GB/10GB HDDs, and since it has a standard ATA IDE controller onboard, it can be expanded in the HDD department up to 120GB...

are you sure that you have 640MB of mem? as that would be ODD, as it came with either 32mb or 64mb (later models had this onboard) and expandability was one SODIMM under the keyboard...

take a look at:

PenguinPPC

http://penguinppc.org/

it is based on Debian...


Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[iolair]

My iBook says it has a 900Mhz processor. It came with a 60GB hard drive, and 128MB of Ram. I added a 512MB SODIMM to take it up to 640. Thanks for the penguinppc link, that looks very, very good.

Iolair MacWalter
Network Engineer

 

[BadBigBen]

It came with a 60GB hard drive, and 128MB of Ram. I added a 512MB SODIMM to take it up to 640.

ah, one of the later models, and I stand corrected on that...

glad that the Penguin is appealing... ;-)



Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"