Re: Debian on a new iBook G4 14" ?
On Fri, Nov 04, 2005 at 08:49:29AM -0500, Tamas K Papp wrote:
> On Wed, Nov 02, 2005 at 01:40:22AM +0100, Felix C. Stegerman wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > My x86 laptop recently broke, and now I'm looking for a suitable
> > replacement.
> >
> > I've been running Debian on my mac mini for over three months now,
> > and I'm very happy. Especially because of the peace & quiet ;-)
> > (and yes, macs just look good too, just like my iPod)
> >
> > So I'm considering buying an iBook on which to run Debian or Ubuntu.
> > I already know how to use Debian on PPC (well, on a mac mini anyway).
> >
> > I was just wondering whether anyone on this list has any experiences
> > with Debian on an iBook, and whether there are any important caveats.
> > I already know that Airport Extreme won't work (anytime soon).
>
> Felix,
>
> I am using debian on an 2004 Powerbook, but the things mentioned below
> apply to ibooks as well.
>
> The debian maintaners, kernel programmers and others devote a lot time
> and effort to get things working decently. However, this community is
> much smaller than the x86 developer base, some of the things just
> haven't reached critical mass and now (with Apple switching to Intel)
> I don't think they ever will. x86 linux users can frequently grab
> windows dlls and codecs to get things working, and have access to
> closed source software with precompiled binaries. Very few of these
> bother to maintain linux-ppc binaries. So
>
> 1) some binary-only java environment's won't work,
The free javas have been making good progress, and you can always use the IBM
jdk.
> 2) you won't be able to play quicktime movies (except via mol), other
> binary only codecs might be missing
>
> 3) programs like skype (which have no linux-ppc binary) won't work.
Will it work under mol, i think so. Also, there are other tools available,
like gnomemeeting, which as i understand do or will soon speak the skype
protocol.
> 4) some hardware won't work (eg Airport Extreme, though that's not
> much of a loss, it has poor reception anyway), at least you have to
> wait until kernel developers figure out the latest Apple design
> quirks.
Well, hardware is usually better supported than the x86 equivalent and the you
don't have the acpi/pm hell you get there. airport extreme is under way of
being supported, through reverse engineering, and the other sore point, 3d
graphic accel is also solved in Xorg 6.9/7.0 and linux 2.6.14 kernels.
Friendly,
Sven Luther
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