Which distro best to use for a low spec, old iMac.?

[Avi Greenbury]

Bas G. Roufs wrote:
> Processor - G4 (2.1.), 700 MHz, L2 cache 256KB per processor;

This essentially limits you to a distro supporting of Power PC. Debian
would probably be your best bet, since it's pretty similar to Ubuntu in
many respects (especially underneath the GUI) and supports PPC.

Ubuntu used to support PPC, and someone was telling me a little while
ago that there's still an active community-driven port to it, but I've
heard very little about it since then. That said, I've not run a PPC
machine for at least a year.

> This could be an option in case my friend does manage to find the
> right password and to update the whole configuration. However, I am
> doubting whether this could deliver a workable, safe result. I have
> very little experience with Apple/ Mc.OS.

It's quite robust, so it should be fine with either a wipe-and-reinstall
or a dual-boot. I've never dual booted it, though.
It's also very easy to reinstall, if your friend has got the
installation CDs.

-- 
Avi