On Tue, 2004-07-27 at 10:30, Matthew T. Atkinson wrote: > > * Does anyone know of any production issues this time around (as there > were in the past, I hear)? I've had a google but not found much. > Having said that I wouldn't really know where to look as I never had a > Mac before :-). > Doesn't just about anything? > * Does Debian testing/unstable work on these machines? Yes. > > * Is it possible to eradicate all traces of OSX from the hard disk? Yes. > > * Would it be possible to re-install OSX at a later date if I'd done the > above. Yes. > > * Does it void the warranty (I'll be getting the 3 years extended > support) if I remove OSX and/or install Linux? > Not sure but I'd be interested to know. > * What bits of the hardware does Debian _not_ support (e.g. ACPI, > Wireless, Bluetooth, DVD-R, 3D graphics, sound)? > I have a G4 powerbook TI and everything works except video out (S video). I never used anything involving Bluetooth. The wireless worked with no problems as did the sound, DVD, CDR, and Power management. It took me about an hour of digging through the archives here to get X running. I think I recall having some odd ball sync rates as well as resolutions (due to the wide screen). I found a few X configs posted and realized what I needed to do. I haven't messed with 3D graphics but I hear they work using a different branch of the X code. Never really had a need for the stuff (on my powebook at least). > * If I got a PS/2 -> USB adaptor for my Natural keyboard, is it likely > to work with the machine? > Not sure. USB works fine. If you're using the thing on an x86 then it should work fine on a PPC. Just note what kernel modules it uses. > * Have you any miscellaneous tips/advice for someone coming from an > almost exclusive x86 background (using Sid/Sarge on the desktop and > Woody on a server for the past 1.5 years)? > I've only ever used an x86 until about 3 years ago when I got this powerbook. At first it was a neat little toy and I bought it to play with OSX. After about 6 months I got bored with it and OSX as well. It sat idle for about another 6 months until I decided to stick Linux on it. It started out as an experiment but soon turned into an obsession. I haven't touched my desktop since. I absolutely love Linux running on a Mac. The aesthetics alone are amazing. Everyone who sees my laptop in action falls head over heels in love with it. I just flew to east coast as well as Hawaii (both 6 hour flights) and I listened to my oggs the entire flight and still had 20% battery life left. I just set my playlist, turn the monitor off, and scale the CPU frequency down. The DVD player works fine and I watch movies (DivX) and DVD's all the time without any problems. All the function keys work fine (eject, brightness, sound). All in all it just works. I have about 6 months uptime now. I never shut down because it sleeps so well I don't see the need to ever have to actually shutdown. I've been using Linux since about 97 and have wrestled with just about every issue known to the OS. Setting up the PPC was one of the easiest setups I've ever done. I guess the lack of broad hardware usage helps. There's only a few vendors used by Apple and it makes things more focused for the Linux/PPC developers (I guess). The only down and dirty issue I faced was hacking the wireless drivers so I could set the card in promiscuous mode and sniff out networks with kismet. Still not a huge deal. I found a patch somewhere on Google and rebuilt the driver. Works fine now and I'm able to probe for wireless networks. I've used all sorts of laptops (all running Linux) and this (PowerBook) is by far the best I've ever seen. I could go on and on with reasons... Trust me. Give it a try, you won't be disappointed. One last note... When I got the idea to install Linux on my Mac I figured I would be forced to use an older set of packages due to lack of support. This is definitely not the case. My packages are just as up to date as anyone running on an x86 (for the most part - Java and Flash are problem areas in general). These Debian developers/maintainers are incredible and I wish I had the money to send them all a Christmas bonus. It seems to be a close knit little family and it's a comfortable place to be using Linux. My nest Desktop will be a Mac. > Thanks very much in advance for any info you may have, > > best regards, > > > -- > Matthew T. Atkinson <matthew@agrip.org.uk>
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