Apple Mac : what model for Ubuntu ?

[Eric Dunbar]

> There is not much choice on Ebay here in France, and I am looking at
> this one (item #5146428104)
> http://cgi.ebay.fr/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5146428104&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT
> 
> That is the tower case I want. I wanted a Power Mac G3 but this one
> seems a bit older, it says Power Mac 8600/200 "604e" processor.
> 
> Does that mean that it runs at 200MHz ? Is it likely to be as "powerful"
> as an Intel Pentium (one) 200MHz ?

Chances are it'll be >233 MHz PII (PPC processors have generally been
more powerful MHz for MHz than their i86 counter-parts; G3s & G4s are
~1.5x at same MHz).

I don't know how supported it is by Ubuntu but I do believe there is a
Wiki at Ubuntu's web site which explains to you how to install Ubuntu
for the 8600 (it's not _as_ easy as for a "New World" Mac but it's
still with the skill of most amateur Linux users).

> It has 64MB of RAM, 2GB disk and Ethernet and CD-ROM and ZIP drive, so
> would be perfect for what I want to do with (basic server install of
> Ubuntu, with no DE).

That it would! Stick in another 64 MB and you'll be running ice or
gnome and be quite happy.

Happy bidding.

PS Given that you seem to be coming from the i86 world... One thing
you may not be aware of is that there's a much more vibrant "old
computer" culture in the Mac world than in the i86 world (you'll find
that 8 year old Macs are sometimes still going for multi-hundreds of
Euro and >10 year old computes regularly sold-and-bought). This is
because old models come with known hardware
(<http://www.apple-history.com/>,
<http://www.info.apple.com/support/applespec.legacy/powermacintosh.html>;
you know exactly what OS and software a model will run, and know what
hardware you can use with this model).

Plus, you don't have Firmware (BIOS-like) limitations on the size of
the HDs you can use (old OSes will require you partition a _large_
drive but you'll still be able to use all of it)... you could have an
8 year old PPC (like the 8600/200) running a 160 GB drive hooked up to
an IDE controller or to the SCSI bus(es... I suspect the 8600 had two
of 'em) (I'm not sure if the 8600 comes with an IDE controller)).

PSS the 8600 also has built-in video in/out ports (the 8600/9600
series were high-end work stations). I'm not sure whether Linux on PPC
supports them but you could always keep an OS 8.6 or 9.1 install
around so that you can digitise/output video (chances are you'll have
to have Mac OS 7.5.5 (no cost d/l from Apple), 8 or 9 on the computer
anyway to boot Linux (it's a two-stage boot process that requires a
boot loader, and doesn't add any overhead to running the computer
(other than to use ~40 MB for an extra OS)). You can use an OSS
bootloader but it's a pain to set up so, unless you're particularly
fundamentalist about your OSS, it's better (IMNSHO) to use Mac OS to
jump-start the process (besides, that way you can use the video-in/out
ports... a friend of mine used his 8600 and his 20" monitor (big back
then) instead of a TV).

Eric.