Ubuntu on Mac OSX

[Bob Stia]

Hello Ubuntu people,

    My son-in-law gave my wife a Mac OSX 17" (10.5 I think) laptop. (He is in 
a  graphics busines, uses Mac exclusively and recycles his laptops on a 
regular basis) ( I know absolutely 0 about Apple) She knows nothing about Mac 
either but would like to use it as her "personal" computer. I finally got it 
set up for her with wireless, internet access, mail with Thunderbird, etc. 
but she  only knows the Linux way. (My desktop where she is a user.)
    
Sooo....the question is can I install Ubuntu onto that machine? or better yet 
network the laptop to my/her desktop Suse 11.0 or Ubuntu (multiple boot) via 
something like ssh?
    
Thanks, Bob S