This would likely be better asked on a Linux or Mac forum but I have found plenty of threads akin to this on those. So, anyway, I suppose it shall not hurt to ask.
Has anyone here run Linux on an iBook? or any Mac, for that matter? I am considering getting either an iBook or the Intel iBook replacement (which is apparently supposed to be shipping this month). Apparently there are some difficulties with Linux running on the Intel Macs, because the firmware is not BIOS but instead EFI.
I'm not exactly technically inclined (especially in terms of hardware), which is one reason why I am interested in running Linux. My PC is dual-boot with Windows and Debian and I find running Debian to be quite a learning experience.
Would anyone say Apple is not the place to go for running Linux on a notebook? If so, what would be better?
If you get a PPC distro on a PowerPC machine it should work fine, i'm not sure about the new intel machines due to the strange firmware.
My suggestion would be to just get a generic laptop with an intel or AMD chip and install linux on it.
Has anyone tried running Windoze on an Intel Mac with BootCamp yet?
Would anyone say Apple is not the place to go for running Linux on a notebook? If so, what would be better?
Well why pay Apple prices for hardware?
Also, if you run *nix, then what does that do to the warranty. Say you think the battery is fautly (for example), won't apple say how do you know it's not a bug in linux and ask you to install OSX or whatever OS they are on and see if the situation improves.
If you want to dual boot of course then maybe... but I'd have Apple as my main machine and linux to play with. Dual booting is a hassle I think -- not setting up but I mean waiting to switch over. So then I'd end up not using *nix so much and knowing that wouldn't pay apple prices in first place.
Personally, I'd look into something with a dual core cpu and try to get a distro with xgl on it (such as suse will in their next release or I think Fedora will have an alternative sometime). Basically it lets your graphic card handle the screen so the cpu doesn't have to and does all kinds of funky things. see http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story...2052013937 You like debian though so why not stick with it. I'd hope it'll get xgl soon enough.
Hey, how about those linux user groups though. Have you ever seen such comedy. The one I belong to constantly has fights over trivial stuff like if someone is quoting from someplace too much or top posting on messages or changing the subject in a thread or ...whatever. People in the group get so upset over what they percieve as the right way to do things and others disagree and the fights go on an on. Still, I've always gotten the help I needed even if people include criticisms of my writing style along with their suggestions.
Linux is a hassle at times when you are busy and have a problem but... I'm hooked and not so IT inclined.
just thought i'd point out that OS X is BSD
just thought i'd point out that OS X is BSD
^One reason I am interested in Mac (but, of course I can just get FreeBSD)
I'm still not so sure what to do, though. :\
Thanks for the input, however.
People are working on getting Linux running with those chips, though: http://www.mactel-linux.org/wiki/Main_Page
To tell you the truth is not even worth it to buy a mac just from the hardware specs point of view. You can buy a much more powerfull machines for the same amount of money. I will agree with Gareth about the BSD, but in the case that you are a newbie i would recommend mandrake or suse. Especially mandrake for my opinion has a much better control center and easier to use than suse. Of course everything is a matter of taste.
My cheers to Gareth and all the other linux comrades of the site :grin: