Tikkabik

Just for fun, I'm trying to install Yellow Dog Linux 3.01 on a coupla different Macs around the office to see how they do. This is Terrasoft's latest implementation of a PowerPC-optimized Linux environment, and it's based on the enormously popular RedHat distribution.

First off, if you're using a NewWorld Mac -- anything with a color in the case beside beige, basically -- you're gonna be able to do the install quite easily. The software incorporates a very user-friendly installer that walks you through the process and asks you a few questions that -- unless your name is Evan Marriott -- you should be able to field with a minimum of head scratching, even if you're a relative newbie. The only possibly daunting part of it is if you have to reformat your hard drive to give the installer the opportunity to set up partitions correctly.

YDL gets a bit squirrely if you're installing on an OldWorld Mac, like by venerable beige G3/300. These things can't boot straight into the installer, so you have to futz with BootX, a Mac OS 9 control panel and extension apparatus that forces your Mac to boot into a Linux environment.

To this end, Apple has been much more user-friendly with OS X, which supports beige Power Mac G3s and all newer machines too. My Jaguar installation CD recognized the computer right off, and told me that I'd have to reinitialize the hard drive with smaller partition sizes (it's a 20GB model, bigger than all of the stock models that Jaguar would have installed on presumably with no problem.

So -- if you're using a newer Mac, YDL and OS X are in a dead heat on setup. If you have a beige G3 in the house, OS X might have the advantage.

More thoughts to come later.