Suggestions for a PPC linux distro

ssl6 · 2012-10-21 17:37:59

I've got this old Mac G4 Quicksilver here that I might setup for my daughter who's turning 5 next month so she can play on.

Now my concern is that it barely runs leopard, I had to install via target disk mode since it doesn't meet the requirements....but I'm not sure how much would be available for it via the app store and thought I could try Linux on it.

So the bottom line is I'm looking for suggestions for a PPC Linux distro if anyone knows any

karol · 2012-10-21 17:39:30

http://distrowatch.com/search.php?ostyp … tus=Active

ssl6 · 2012-10-21 17:55:53

hmmm, some of those are clearly outdated. Unless I'm missing something, there doesn't appear to be a ubuntu available for ppc. I'm downloading a debian image for now.

There's still a wiki article for arch on ppc, but the archlinuxppc site seems to be long gone.

karol · 2012-10-21 18:07:42

ssl6 wrote:

hmmm, some of those are clearly outdated. Unless I'm missing something, there doesn't appear to be a ubuntu available for ppc

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/precise/release/

The desktop CD allows you to try Ubuntu without changing your computer at all, and at your option to install it permanently later. You will need at least 384MiB of RAM to install from this CD.
There is one image available:
Mac (PowerPC) and IBM-PPC (POWER5) desktop CD
For Apple Macintosh G3, G4, and G5 computers, including iBooks and PowerBooks as well as IBM OpenPower machines.

The link to iso: http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/prec … owerpc.iso

blackout23 · 2012-10-21 18:08:32

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PowerPCDownloads/

Might want to install the good old 10.10 version with Gnome 2.

Last edited by blackout23 (2012-10-21 18:09:53)

2ManyDogs · 2012-10-21 18:17:01

The CRUX ppc port seems to still be active: http://cruxppc.org/

karol · 2012-10-21 18:26:59

blackout23 wrote:

Might want to install the good old 10.10 version with Gnome 2.

Or Xubuntu, Lubuntu ... ;P

2ManyDogs wrote:

The CRUX ppc port seems to still be active: http://cruxppc.org/

I think we can believe DistroWatch that the distros marked as active aren't completely dead, although VineLinux haven't release a PPC version recently:
* http://distrowatch.com/?newsid=07364
* http://vinelinux.org/aboutvine61.html
(I'll ask DW about it)

Edit: In case anyone's interested, Vine Linux has a PPC development branch and though it doesn't provide iso releases, it's still active: ftp://ftp.vinelinux.org/pub/Vine/VineSeed/ppc/

Last edited by karol (2012-10-21 19:53:41)

ssl6 · 2012-10-21 18:54:15

Ah, Thanks guys. I had a feeling I missed something with the Ubuntu, I seem to be a little slow today, I'll blame that on it being Sunday

Awebb · 2012-10-21 18:56:51

I once had this rule... if I don't know what I should use, I default to Debian.

ZekeSulastin · 2012-10-21 19:28:24

I've had decent results running Debian Testing on an old iBook G3.

ewaller · 2012-10-21 19:48:23

Gentoo

drcouzelis · 2012-10-21 19:56:51

I received an old iMac G4 from my mom and gave it to my two year old daughter. She loves it! I tried a couple of Linux distributions, but couldn't get them to work quite right, so I just put an old copy off Mac OS X 10.4 on it.

I'd really like to give her a copy of Gcompris, so I'm going to try out the live CD for Ubuntu 12.04 listed above.

ewaller wrote:

Gentoo

You know, I was going to make a joke about Gentoo, but my daughter actually loves watching all of the fancy colored text scroll by as things compile.

fschiff · 2012-10-21 21:37:55

doodoo linux (spelling ?) I believe has an overlay for Debian or Ubuntu, so you can install it.

EDIT: (I meant *after* you had installed Debian or Ubuntu)

Last edited by fschiff (2012-10-22 01:07:07)

drcouzelis · 2012-10-22 00:36:17

According to DistroWatch, there isn't a PowerPC version of DoudouLinux.

hadrons123 · 2012-10-22 00:57:59

when there is Debian, there is no need to go hunting for soemthing else.

doorknob60 · 2012-10-22 01:12:16

+1 for Debian. It's an officially supported port, and Debian is a rock solid choice for any system, with large repos, good support, and an overall stable system. Give that a try first.

ssl6 · 2012-10-22 02:34:52

Heh, I downloaded Debian earlier, have yet to install. I got sidetracked testing a board that was dropped off to me under the presumption it was dead. Instead I ended up with a working Asus P5K Premium. with 10 sata ports on board, there's no question it's moving into my file server

karol · 2012-10-22 02:40:29

ssl6 wrote:

I got sidetracked testing a board that was dropped off to me under the presumption it was dead. Instead I ended up with a working Asus P5K Premium. with 10 sata ports on board, there's no question it's moving into my file server

"So this is Christmas, la la la la ..." :-)

Awebb · 2012-10-22 05:47:54

karol wrote:

"So this is Christmas, la la la la ..." :-)

Then you must be the christmas carol! :-D

ssl6 · 2012-10-23 00:07:34

I just realized I said p5k, i meant P5Q, this monster

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_ … Q_Premium/

i think it's going to run solaris in my chenbro 2u with 6 3tb red edition drives, a pair of ssd's, a core 2 quad and 16gb ram....that should cover my storage needs for 6 months or so

nomorewindows · 2012-10-23 04:12:02

ssl6 wrote:

hmmm, some of those are clearly outdated. Unless I'm missing something, there doesn't appear to be a ubuntu available for ppc. I'm downloading a debian image for now.
There's still a wiki article for arch on ppc, but the archlinuxppc site seems to be long gone.

It was there the last time I went for it, but certainly not there now. The registry shows it will expire in 09 Nov 2012.

Arch Linux

#1 2012-10-21 17:37:59

Suggestions for a PPC linux distro

#2 2012-10-21 17:39:30

Re: Suggestions for a PPC linux distro

#3 2012-10-21 17:55:53

Re: Suggestions for a PPC linux distro

#4 2012-10-21 18:07:42

Re: Suggestions for a PPC linux distro

#5 2012-10-21 18:08:32

Re: Suggestions for a PPC linux distro

#6 2012-10-21 18:17:01

Re: Suggestions for a PPC linux distro

#7 2012-10-21 18:26:59

Re: Suggestions for a PPC linux distro

#8 2012-10-21 18:54:15

Re: Suggestions for a PPC linux distro

#9 2012-10-21 18:56:51

Re: Suggestions for a PPC linux distro

#10 2012-10-21 19:28:24

Re: Suggestions for a PPC linux distro

#11 2012-10-21 19:48:23

Re: Suggestions for a PPC linux distro

#12 2012-10-21 19:56:51

Re: Suggestions for a PPC linux distro

#13 2012-10-21 21:37:55

Re: Suggestions for a PPC linux distro

#14 2012-10-22 00:36:17

Re: Suggestions for a PPC linux distro

#15 2012-10-22 00:57:59

Re: Suggestions for a PPC linux distro

#16 2012-10-22 01:12:16

Re: Suggestions for a PPC linux distro

#17 2012-10-22 02:34:52

Re: Suggestions for a PPC linux distro

#18 2012-10-22 02:40:29

Re: Suggestions for a PPC linux distro

#19 2012-10-22 05:47:54

Re: Suggestions for a PPC linux distro

#20 2012-10-23 00:07:34

Re: Suggestions for a PPC linux distro

#21 2012-10-23 04:12:02

Re: Suggestions for a PPC linux distro

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