this month's macaddict has an article on compiling linux apps for mac os x.

i know this doesn't answer your question but i'm sayin' it anyway.

 

Actually, in the terminal, your using Unix commands. And so is Linux!

So yes, you should be able to get some practice in. Since one system is a Unix, and the other is based on Unix, they are very similar.

Things to look out for:

- there might be some discrepancy between command options, but the basics should be the same
- OS X will have some commands that Linux does not have, and Linux might have a few things that Mac OS X doesn't have, or at least doesn't have natively (you can probably download and compile them though)
- you might want to create a whole new user with limited privliges so you don't risk damaging your system when you play

 

is it possible to install linux and macOSX at the same time?
like a dual boot?

 

is it possible to install linux and macOSX at the same time?
like a dual boot?

That I'd like to know, too. Most Mac users I know that run Linux use a totally different older G3 or other "dust collector" and run just Linux on it (and have a different Mac for their main computer).

 

You can dual boot with Yellow Dog Linux which is the only version of Linux I know for Mac. It's based on Red Hat, but most people do have a different computer or a separate drive (not a separate partition) to install Linux on. Yellow Dog Linux also has Mac on Linux which will emulate the Mac interface at almost how fast you would run it normally. (It hardly has to do any emulation, the hardware is there.)

I'd suggest a second drive to play with.

 

Back when OSX was coming but not yet shipping, I decided to get a head start and run PPCLinux.

To answer a few of the questions so far:
Yes, you can dual-boot (or triple, with OS9) on a Mac.

Linux is derivative of UNIX; many commands are identical while others are different. So, even though you may recognise Linux commands in OSX, don't assume they're all the same.

I used Mandrake, LinuxPPC and YellowDog Linux. LinuxPPC is gone, but YellowDog is the best distro to attempt first anyway. It's RedHat based (so for the most part, if you know RedHat you know YellowDog).

OSX is quite a bit more functional than Linux for an ordinary desktop user like most of us; so I don't have a Linux distro anymore. However, if you're learning it at school or do IT work with LinuxX86 then it's worthwhile to go ahead and plan an install.

You need to totally reformat the HD so a full Mac backup is required. New users will find documentation the biggest hurdle; it's spotty and assumes prior knowledge.

I actually have a YellowDog T-shirt they sent me as a thank-you for writing some documentation for them. (Free software companies won't pay much for that kind of help; a T-shirt is pretty impressive as renumeration goes with Linux companies).

You can download the distro for free; burn it to a bootable CD, and go about it. I suggest heavy reading and having a printer for documentation, because you will need it when you're installing and configuring. I have a binder somewhere with about 300 pages printed out.

It's best to avoid recent hardware if you want to get it running; a G5 probably won't have things like video drivers available for a while. The Apple-OEM ATI or nVidea G4s should be OK.

There are vesions of Linux that run on most any Mac hardware; a very few machines are not supported. The basic system that is supported is:
Any PowerPC Mac with PCI card slots.
Older 68000 series Macs (like a SE-30) can also run certain distributions.
Although few people know it, Apple used to sell a UNIX-OS for Macs; it died with the PPC platform.

Yellow Dog Linux
Penguin PPC

If you are serious about installing, I strongly suggest getting on a PPCLinux mail list; newby questions may not be tolerated much but there are some very helpful people on them, including developers themselves.

It's probably worth your while to buy the distro and documentation from YellowDog for your first install, but it's available for free if you're adventurous and have broadband (or a small fee, without printed documentation and install support, from a bunch of suppliers. It's legal to burn and sell Linux CDs or CD-Rs under most distro licenses).

If you find installing and configuring Windows daunting, you won't like Linux. However, once you are up and running with it, you may prefer it to any other OS.

It's actually easy to configure if you have enough experience with it; the learning curve is steep though.

If your educational or professional interest may be more with UNIX than Linux, or covers both, you might also consider partitioning a drive for Darwin (BSD UNIX-based, available for free from Apple for PPC and X86). Pretty much all the same SW is available or can be compiled for both.

[ November 24, 2003, 01:28 PM: Message edited by: gordguide ]

 

For what it's worth, installing Darwin on x86 hardware is an exercise in frustration. Unless you've got one of the two machines[1] Apple used to port Darwin to the x86, you're probably better off pounding nails into your feet with your forehead.

If you want to install some variant of Unix on your x86 machine (heck, even your PPC machine), I'd argue that you're far better off installing Linux or (Free|Open|Net)BSD. Not only is it far more likely that your hardware is supported, you'll also be spared from Darwin's idiosyncrasies.

[1] From the hardware requirements for Darwin, it looks like Apple ported it to one particular desktop and one particular laptop.