Re: Linux on my Mac

[Manuel]

Am 28/12/2006 um 10:02 schrieb Anthony W. Youngman:

> > I've been working with Macs since the silver days of system 7,  
> > when Jobs was out and Linux was a baby. Since I forgot how a  
> > semiconductor works, I can't understand computers. Now in those  
> > days someone would come and write: "optimize your computer doing  
> > this" and then you did it and nothing more worked. This made me  
> > sceptical.
>
> I was around in the days of CP/M, although I never used it ... :-)

And I wonder what kind of animal was a CP/M

> > I fear that if I install, no, try to install Linux in my Mac, an  
> > asteroid will fall on earth.
>
> Just put it on a second hard disk. If you've got a Power Mac,  
> you'll probably need to download Yellow Dog Linux, rather than get  
> it off a cover disk. Debian and Gentoo would also be fine, but  
> Gentoo is NOT a good choice for somebody who doesn't have linux  
> experience.

You are kidding me, right? Buy a second hard disk just to have an  
asteroid fall on earth? And Power Macs are over, Jobs went Intel a  
while ago. But you do have an interesting point: perhaps some day  
I'll turn a penguin loose over my old 68k and PPC and see if I can't  
still use them, though I don't know about those serial ports and  
suchlike they changed to force us to upgrade.

> > Besides which, though Linuxers seem to be nice people, I don't  
> > quite see what I would do with it, or do better than now. I'm glad  
> > that in the 80' a rocket scientist (yes, that is what he was) told  
> > me to buy myself an Apple if I could afford it. Since just then  
> > the Macs  started to get cheaper and it was my first computer...
> Sounds like he had his head screwed on right :-)

At least he got that right, yeah.

> > Oh, the smiling guy you see in the newsstands! Is he called Tux  
> > because of a tuxedo? (funny word, "tuxedo")
> I don't think it comes from there, but I don't know. He was created  
> by a guy called Larry Ewing (iirc), and the copyright says "feel  
> free to use him to promote linux", which is why he gets everywhere :-)

Apple uses an apple, somehow turned blue now (the rainbow colours are  
now in that turning wheel you get instead of a crash under OS X) and  
Windows uses an ugly window. That's logical. Linux got a penguin? At  
least he's smiling.

> > > Just don't expect it to be like Windows
> >
> > I wouldn't dream of it - don't like nightmares.
> >
> >
> > > (it's MUCH more reliable
> >
> > Yeah, well, that's no great feat. How does it compare wth OS X?
> I gather OS X is a fairly hard act to beat. Windows, of course, is  
> not a fair fight :-) But I think linux does have the edge over OS X  
> - it has the edge over most things :-)

But where is the edge in this case, I mean from the point of view of  
somebody like me, computer-stupid as opposed to -illiterate. What  
would *I* get out of it?

> Linux and OS X are both Unices, so I think you'll find them  
> similar. Yellow Dog in particular will probably feel Mac-like.

If there is a blue apple, why not a yellow dog.

Manue