Suggestion: Debian PowerPC Port Install Web Page Edit
To the page maintainer,
I realize that the Debian PowerPC port project does not support the old
Nubus architecture. For those few users that may still be flogging one
of the older Mac war horses, there is a monolithic PPC Linux kernel and
Debian installer alternative to the moribund MkLinux microkernel. I've
been using it to power my web server (www.mauiholm.org) for three
years, first with Potato, now Woody:
http://nubus-pmac.sourceforge.net/
If you were of a mind to, I'd like to suggest the following edit to
your PowerPC Port installation page at
http://www.debian.org/ports/powerpc/inst/install:
WAS:
<p>
Nubus systems are not currently supported by debian/powerpc. The
monolithic Linux/PPC kernel architecture does not have support for
these machines; instead, one must use the MkLinux Mach microkernel,
which Debian does not yet support. These include the 6100/7100/8100
line of Power Macintoshes.
<p>
IS:
<p>
Nubus systems are not officially supported by debian/powerpc.
However, there is a monolithic Nubus-Linux/PPC kernel project on
SourceForge,
(nubus-pmac.sourceforge.net) which has released kernels and
Debian installers with support for these machines.
These include the 6100/7100/8100 line of Power Macintoshes.
There is a <a
href="http://www.mipaginaweb.com.mx/moguelc/howtos/nubus.html";>
Spanish-language explanation</a> of the Debian installation using
this kernel.
<p>
The current PowerPC Port page at
http://www.debian.org/ports/powerpc/index attempts to address this, but
includes an error. My suggestion:
WAS:
<p>
Debian GNU/Linux does not officially support NuBus PowerPC
machines, such as the 6100, 7100, 8100 and most of the Performa
series. However, an MkLinux-based kernel is available, which can be
launched from a MacOS boot loader. A Debian system can be installed
using this kernel, which is available at
<a
href="http://nubus-pmac.sourceforge.net/";>http://nubus-
pmac.sourceforge.net/</a>. There is a
<a href="http://www.mipaginaweb.com.mx/moguelc/howtos/nubus.html";>
Spanish-language explanation</a> of the Debian installation using
this kernel.
</p>
IS:
<p>
Debian GNU/Linux does not officially support NuBus PowerPC
machines, such as the 6100, 7100, 8100 and most of the Performa
series. However, a monolithic kernel is available, which can be
launched from a MacOS boot loader. A Debian system can be installed
using this kernel, which is available at
<a
href="http://nubus-pmac.sourceforge.net/";>http://nubus-
pmac.sourceforge.net/</a>. There is a
<a href="http://www.mipaginaweb.com.mx/moguelc/howtos/nubus.html";>
Spanish-language explanation</a> of the Debian installation using
this kernel.
</p>
Make of these what you will. The Nubus patch has allowed me to eke out
a little more use from a $5 Pmac 6100 found at a rummage sale, which
then addicted me to apt-get such that my PCI Mac hardware runs Debian
as well.
Sincerely,
Carl Holmberg
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
Carl M Holmberg
AFRL Maui High Performance Computing Center
550 Lipoa Pkwy, Kihei, HI 96753, USA
carl.holmberg@mhpcc.hpc.mil, 808.879.5077
Reply to: