#Running linux on a mac powerbook mac os x
#Running linux on a mac powerbook drivers
#Running linux on a mac powerbook full
#Running linux on a mac powerbook portable
#Running linux on a mac powerbook pro

First, the big warning: DO NOT PARTITION YOUR IPOD WITH APPLEвЂ™S DISK UTILITY! My fourth-generation iPod - as well as other recent models - contains two partitions: one for the firmware and one for the music.

#Running linux on a mac powerbook mac os x

Since most Mac users considering a SUSE install probably wonвЂ™t want to reinstall Mac OS X from scratch, but may be willing to test it with an iPod installation, I will say a few words about installing SUSE on an iPod. Having seen a tutorial for partitioning an iPod for - amongst other things - Linux installation, I decided to try installing SUSE 10.1 using my iPod as an external hard disk. There was one other testing option before me, however: installation on an external drive.

#Running linux on a mac powerbook portable

Since my PowerBook doubles as a portable recording studio, I did not want to mess with my OS X installation. ThatвЂ™s a big commitment! Given the hesitancy with which one may approach a new distribution, one might expect that a PowerPC live CD would be a priority for the openSUSE project, but there is none for version 10.0 or 10.1 for the PowerPC.

#Running linux on a mac powerbook full

A full installation of SUSE on a PowerPC Mac requires a fresh installation of Mac OS X, followed by the restoration of all applications, preferences, and data. With version 10.0, PowerPC support returned to SUSE, but Novell has quite a few kinks that need to be worked out before this distro hums like its x86 counterpart, starting with some killer problems with installation.Д«efore diving in and installing SUSE 10.1 on my PowerBook, I wanted to take it for a test drive, particularly because SUSEвЂ™s installer cannot shrink existing Mac HFS+ partitions on the fly. Instead, SUSE and Novell have focused on x86 (and x86_64) versions of their desktop Linux distribution. I also think that the new Macs will make wonderful portable workstations in the future when they will no longer be shiny new $1600 items and that the time to start making options available is now rather than later.Since version 7, PowerPC versions of SUSE Linux have been conspicuously absent from the SUSE desktop lineup. I agree that there isnвЂ™t likely to be a flood of switchers and dual booters in the short run. You may want to consider that they could be laughing out loud that you are unable to conceive of why it would happen on a widely available, relatively inexpensive, when compared to Unix workstations and mid-to-mainframes, hardware like the MacBook Pro. But some folks are obviously willing to make the trade-off to the point of having done the work themselves to get it ported. While I havenвЂ™t heard many extolling the elegance and usability of AIX the supporters of IRIX and Solaris have noted that putting Linux on those machines is, at the least, a trade-off. You have a good point in that owners of new Macs arenвЂ™t likely to be installing Linux en masse when they have a perfectly usable Unix based OS вЂњin the boxвЂќ.Д«y the same token Linux exists for and is installed on SGI, SUN and IBM AIX boxes, just to name a few, for various reasons.

#Running linux on a mac powerbook pro

IвЂ™m sure all of those people who just shelled out $1600 on a sexy new MacBook Pro will clamor to get Linux installed, in all its no-Airport Extreme, no-elegant-wifi, no-3D-acceleration glory. Subclaimer (doesnвЂ™t rise to the level of an actual disclaimer): While I think it might be better to be on a first name basis and call you Linux I think for now just using your initials will do.d^

#Running linux on a mac powerbook drivers

No 3D acceleration = show me stable and high-performance drivers for a Radeon X1600 for whatever the latest incarnation of X is.

WeвЂ™re in 2006, take your stuff and go home, and donвЂ™t come back until itвЂ™s as easy as 1-2-3. WhatвЂ™s the Linux solution like right now? Typing a command to get a list of networks, then typing two more commands to GET ON that network? As if. If the network is protected, I get a password/key dialog. In OS X, I click the Airport icon, and I get a drop-down menu of available networks. No elegant Wifi = meaning a lack of management tools for WiFi on Linux in general.

A MacBook Pro owner who has listened to Linux zealots and installed Linux on his MacBook also isnвЂ™t going to care whose fault it is, only that he canвЂ™t get on his wireless networks. I donвЂ™t give a f*ck whose fault it is that there is a lack of such drivers, the fact exists that they are not there. No Airport Extreme = meaning a lack of drivers for the Broadcom chipset.