Apple Mac : what model for Ubuntu ?

[Vincent Trouilliez]

Hi Eric,

Thanks a lot for the comprehensive e-mail, that's exactly the kind of
info I was looking for...
Sounds like this model will give me much satisfaction, will bid on it
then. 
If I ever want to do more with it than just a second box for
experiments, I can probably just search Ebay for a dual G3 board, and
more RAM. 

Thanks again,

Regards,

Vince, hoping he won't be outbid on this one...



Le jeudi 16 décembre 2004 à 12:05 -0500, Eric Dunbar a écrit :
> > 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.
>