Running Linux, Third Edition

Appendix D. LinuxPPC: Installing Linux on PowerPC Computers

Jason Haas, LinuxPPC Inc.

Linux/PPC is the native port of the Linux operating system to the PowerPC processor. The effort to port Linux to PowerPC began in 1995 by Gary Thomas, and Australian developer Paul Mackerras initiated work on porting Linux to the Power Macintosh hardware. Linux now runs on almost every implementation of the PowerPC processor, including the 60x and 750, and the less-known 840 and 860 processors.

While the Linux port itself is called Linux/PPC (note the slash in the name), the most popular distribution, and the company maintaining the distribution, are called LinuxPPC (no slash). In this appendix, I provide information about the general port as much as possible, but some details will change in the next release (5.0) of LinuxPPC in any case.

Linux on PowerPC has become popular in the past two years as Mac OS users have started to search for alternatives to the Mac OS. For one thing, it’s fast. When people install Linux, they’re amazed at how fast their Macs really are. Linux can turn an old PowerMac 7500 into a responsive and capable machine, and it really unleashes 604 and 750 (G3) machines. It’s also quite stable. When a Linux application crashes, it doesn’t crash the OS as well.

And then there’s multitasking. Linux can run a lot of programs at the same time and not slow down. When you click on a menu in the Mac OS, everything stops until you release the mouse button. The Mac OS can’t do anything ...