DSL for PPC platform
Forum: DSL Ideas and Suggestions
Topic: DSL for PPC platform
started by: ugol
Posted by ugol on Feb. 01 2006,10:03
Hi everybody,I think it could be a good idea to develop a branch of DSL for the PowerPC platform.
I know it would be a very demanding task, but I guess that the new strategy of Apple (I mean the marriage with Intel processors) will let behind a lot of PowerPC machines (for educational, etc.), which could be usefully rejuvenated by light and fast OS. Of course, one can use Debian for this goal, but if one needs something more handy, one can use just Ubuntu (in the "Debian derivatives" category) which is extremely slow on not so old machines (I've made some tests).
Therefore, I guess it will be "a part of the market" on PPC platforms which will be free for projects similar to DSL.
Perhaps, DSL could be take advantage by the Niktaris project, which aims to do a Knoppix-like OS for PPC, please see
< http://www.ppczone.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=220 >
and
< http://www.ppczone.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=398 >
Well, it's just an idea....
Many thanks for all your work,
ciao,
Ugo
Posted by nathan on Feb. 04 2006,04:29
I second! Mac OS X is just too big for simple tasks. Give me FluxBox over Aqua any day!Besides, it would give me great pleasure to run my entire OS in memory on my laptop. No HDD motor to suck up my battery.
If you need someone for testing, I'd be happy to provide assistance.
--Nathan S.
RIT CS Undergrad
Apple 12" iBook (mid 2005)
Posted by cbagger01 on Feb. 04 2006,06:46
Sounds like a great idea.I look forward to hearing updates on your progress.
Posted by ugol on Feb. 04 2006,11:20
Ehm... ehm....I must honestly confess that my idea is largely over my technical knowledge.
I've just thought on this problem, because there is a PC classroom equipped with many Macs (with PowerPC 400 Mhz processors) and, perhaps, in a future I could be in charge of making something with those Macs.
I need your help and not the opposite....
At most, I could do some tests.
We'll see
ciao,
Ugo
P.S. I've seen the message posted about the Niktarix project a long time ago, but he nver added a new release. Perhaps, he needs help too.
Posted by dzubin on Feb. 04 2006,15:27
One problem is that I think XVesa only runs on x86So xfbdev might have to be used
Any other small X servers run on both x86 & PPC?
Posted by AwPhuch on Feb. 05 2006,01:11
Has anyone looked at YellowDog Linux yet...They do have an Ubuntu PPC, I wonder what it would take to "make" a KNOPPIX type PPC client...especially since its debian based
Are all the binaries and such built for ppc, or is just the kernel PPC capable?
They do have a Ubuntu PPC "LiveCD" correct? What would it take to tweak that out
I dont have a MAC or anything PPC...would be cool to see how this project is handled and works
I must say I give this one a "thumbs up" as well
Brian
AwPhuch
Posted by ugol on Feb. 07 2006,23:08
Dear Brian,just to say that I've tried Ubuntu (actually Kubuntu) on PPC both in "live version" and with a HD install.
Everything looked fine, but it was extremely slow.
I don't think Ubuntu is a good base for DSL. Probably, on PPC platforms the hardware detection doesn't need to be as good as in Ubuntu, while running on old machines needs a very fast base...
For this reason I suggested Niktarix, but I never tried it and now I've not any PC where I can test it.
Ciao,
Ugo
Posted by clivesay on Feb. 08 2006,02:24
I have seen a PPC version of Knoppix based on Knoppix 3.2 I believe. Someone could take it and trim it down and maybe add some DSL scripts to it. A good project. 
Posted by hs7sv on Feb. 08 2006,06:30
ugol, Have you tried < knoppix-MiB-PPC-alpha-2e >? A good project 
Posted by Bob B on Feb. 14 2006,18:39
I second the second motion! I just came across DSL and looked at it this morning. In fact I came on the forum to specifically ask the same question and then saw this post. I have an original Bondi Blue (remember?) Imac which I put Kubuntu on. Not practical, too slow. DSL would be perfect. Like to keep those macs chuggin'. Here's hoping.
Bob B
Posted by ripcrd6 on Feb. 14 2006,21:45
You may want to try installing a basic Debian for PPC and see how slow it is if you don't mind installing to HDD for testing. Do you have your old Mac disks so you could roll back if necessary? or a spare HDD?I'm just suggesting this as a real comparison between pure Debian PPC and Ubuntu PPC. Ubuntu is going to default to Gnome, but with Debian, you could get a CLI only PC and then apt-get Xwindows or Xorg and apt-get fluxbox, or apt-get fluxbox may just get you your base. I bet Gnome is as slow on an old PPC as it is on an old x86.
Someday I want to install Debian on my Sun Sparc I have in the garage.