Any Use for a 2005 PowerBook?

[Amethyst1]

There’s a reason the local early Intel and PPC Mac subforums are the only Apple forums I visit.

 

[TheShortTimer]

There’s a reason the local early Intel and PPC Mac subforums are the only Apple forums I visit.

Likewise.

 

[Amethyst1]

Likewise.

I don’t understand people pointlessly praising someone or something all day on some forum anyway. Don’t they have more important things to do with their time?

 

[pipetogrep]

Yeah…I'd rather wade into the Intel forums here with an old PowerBook or old Intel than go there and mention anything that even hints at being insufficiently pro Apple.

I think Apple is the worst. I believe in right to repair and data ownership which they are the antithesis of. I do find their older machines fun to use and I’m somewhat nostalgic for them. That’s why I’m here.

 

[eyoungren]

I think Apple is the worst. I believe in right to repair and data ownership which they are the antithesis of. I do find their older machines fun to use and I’m somewhat nostalgic for them. That’s why I’m here.

Way back in 2012 I was ready to buy wholesale into the Apple ecosystem. Got my first brand new purchase iPhone 5 only to find that it would not sync with my PowerBook G4.

A lot of things changed for me tech-wise in 2012, but working around Apple to get nearly if not the full amount of services working between my Macs and my iPhone became a journey. I don't like hearing 'no', but I like hearing 'you can't' even less. I was successful, but it also meant using more than just one service. I wanted those services to function on all my devices so cross platform services are what I gravitated towards.

To a certain extent this continues with my Intel Macs. I refuse to be told 'you can't do that'. I will find another way - and they are the ones that will eat their words to me when I do.

But I don't imagine I will ever be using the newer M1 Macs. Once I eventually have the last Intel and it needs replacing, I expect I will jump back to PC. I've built PCs, that's the world I came from before Mac so that's not any issue for me. Assuming though, that Apple doesn't introduce anything different between now and then.

 

[pipetogrep]

Way back in 2012 I was ready to buy wholesale into the Apple ecosystem. Got my first brand new purchase iPhone 5 only to find that it would not sync with my PowerBook G4.

A lot of things changed for me tech-wise in 2012, but working around Apple to get nearly if not the full amount of services working between my Macs and my iPhone became a journey. I don't like hearing 'no', but I like hearing 'you can't' even less. I was successful, but it also meant using more than just one service. I wanted those services to function on all my devices so cross platform services are what I gravitated towards.

To a certain extent this continues with my Intel Macs. I refuse to be told 'you can't do that'. I will find another way - and they are the ones that will eat their words to me when I do.

But I don't imagine I will ever be using the newer M1 Macs. Once I eventually have the last Intel and it needs replacing, I expect I will jump back to PC. I've built PCs, that's the world I came from before Mac so that's not any issue for me. Assuming though, that Apple doesn't introduce anything different between now and then.

For anything modern, Linux is where it's at for me. I don't like hearing "no" or "you can't" either. And that's just the thing. Proprietary vendors spoon feed you what you can and can't do. The only way to really doing what you truly want with technology is to distance yourself from those vendors as much as you can.

To answer @astrostu's original question, you could try Void Linux PPC on it.

 

[B S Magnet]

Way back in 2012 I was ready to buy wholesale into the Apple ecosystem. Got my first brand new purchase iPhone 5 only to find that it would not sync with my PowerBook G4.

A lot of things changed for me tech-wise in 2012, but working around Apple to get nearly if not the full amount of services working between my Macs and my iPhone became a journey. I don't like hearing 'no', but I like hearing 'you can't' even less. I was successful, but it also meant using more than just one service. I wanted those services to function on all my devices so cross platform services are what I gravitated towards.

To a certain extent this continues with my Intel Macs. I refuse to be told 'you can't do that'. I will find another way - and they are the ones that will eat their words to me when I do.

But I don't imagine I will ever be using the newer M1 Macs. Once I eventually have the last Intel and it needs replacing, I expect I will jump back to PC. I've built PCs, that's the world I came from before Mac so that's not any issue for me. Assuming though, that Apple doesn't introduce anything different between now and then.

For laptops (which constitute about three-quarters of my time before a screen), it will likely be a modular solution like a Frame.work laptop that’ll succeed my final running Intel Mac, and I’ll figure out what to throw on there. It will probably be, much as @pipetogrep plans, something linux-based, as I don’t see much of a user-focussed, user-configurable, and user-accessible future with either of macOS or Windows: at best, either iteration of those operating systems might try to satisfy two of those objectives (on a very good day). What has kept me with OS X and now-“obsolete” gear, per Apple, is they are able to satisfy all three.

And I imagine some fly-by-night Apple otaku/fanboy will cruise through here later on and try to chuckle at Linux, but it is powering a roughly 70 per cent majority of all smartphones across the world right now.

 

[eyoungren]

For laptops (which constitute about three-quarters of my time before a screen), it will likely be a modular solution like a Frame.work laptop that’ll succeed my final running Intel Mac, and I’ll figure out what to throw on there. It will probably be, much as @pipetogrep plans, something linux-based, as I don’t see much of a user-focussed, user-configurable, and user-accessible future with either of macOS or Windows: at best, either iteration of those operating systems might try to satisfy two of those objectives (on a very good day). What has kept me with OS X and now-“obsolete” gear, per Apple, is they are able to satisfy all three.

My biggest problem with Linux, and what has kept me from using it, is the GUI. Because it is open source there are many variations out there and it seems, quite a few clunky interfaces. One of the reasons I have stuck with Mac is that the GUI is consistent and slick looking.

Android, with 10, 11 and now 12 has finally started to look much more polished - but I feel Linux isn't there yet. I may be wrong, especially in relation to the commercial versions available out there, but perhaps by the time this all goes down Linux might have gotten less of an engineer's look and more of an attractive one.

 

[Amethyst1]

And I imagine some fly-by-night Apple otaku/fanboy will cruise through here later on and try to chuckle at Linux, but it is powering a roughly 70 per cent majority of all smartphones across the world right now.

I’ll be blunt and say 1. who cares about fanboys ( ) and 2. while Android does use the Linux kernel (and the statistic is thus not wrong), it is a pretty non-standard “distro”. Lastly, Android’s smashing success on smartphones or Linux' smashing success on embedded devices or servers doesn’t mean much for Linux’ success on desktops.

My biggest problem with Linux, and what has kept me from using it, is the GUI.

The “thing” is that there are so many GUIs, yep. But choice is great. And GNOME, for instance, is very polished and fleshed-out as far as those GUIs go. Same goes for KDE. With that being said, have you used a recent GNOME or KDE desktop?

I feel Linux isn't there yet.

Someone said that in 2000 (when I started dabbling in it).
Someone said that in 2010.
Someone said that in 2020.
Someone will say that in 2030.
And so it goes ad infinitum

I may be wrong, especially in relation to the commercial versions available out there,

The commercial offerings like Red Hat use the same software as the non-commercial ones and their desktop isn’t necessarily any more polished. The main reasons to blow some dough on a commercial distro are support contracts and guaranteed compatibility with enterprise applications.

 

[B S Magnet]

I’ll be blunt and say 1. who cares about fanboys ( ) and 2. while Android does use the Linux kernel, it is a pretty non-standard “distro”. Lastly, Android’s smashing success on smartphones doesn’t mean much for Linux’ success on desktops.

Very fair points.

I think the point of mentioning Android is a case study on “this is what can be done with Linux, when there is co-ordinated commitment beyond niche hardcore users” (who probably always felt more comfortable at a command prompt than a GUI — which is to say: there can be relatively standardized distros of Linux which can bridge the chasm between “roll your own” and “locked-down proprietary”. Even within Android, there is still space for community-oriented builds like LineageOS.

Panning back and also throwing a strike at Android, I’ve never really been warm to the notion that installing onto an Android or iOS device is an all-in-one “ROM” or image using somewhat complicated tools for I guess what amounts to “side-loading” — as opposed to a front-end, “select-options and install” approach as one might expect when installing a GUI-centric OS (on a laptop or desktop) from an install source. by the same token, I also don’t like the OS forcing users onto its creator’s rails to be updated and locked at said creator’s whims and strict time line (yes, that would be you, Apple). And, of course, also jailed.

The “thing” is that there are so many, yep. But choice is great. And GNOME, for instance, is very polished and fleshed-out as far as those GUIs go. Same goes for KDE.

I feel the never-ending Linux desktop environment rivalries are like the macro-scale version of a never-ending USENET newsgroup flame war between a small cluster of hardcore proponents in each camp.

With that being said, have you used a recent GNOME or KDE desktop?

The only two DEs I’ve used in recent years are Xfce on a G3 running Debian Sid, and Linux Mint 13 running MATE on Intel vmware as an occasional foray into Linux when I’m in the mood (or want to trial a utility readily available for Linux but not on, say, macports). I am aware MATE was motivated by teething issues with GNOME 3’s initial release and is based mostly on GNOME 2. I am aware GNOME 40 (41, etc.) is out, and I know they’ve done a lot of work on the user experience. I haven’t yet had a need to install a Linux build with a current DE, though at some point I’m sure I‘ll be given a non-Mac machine which can handle GNOME 40-series DEs.

Someone said that in 2000 (when I started dabbling in it).
Someone said that in 2010.
Someone said that in 2020.
Someone will say that in 2030.
And so it goes ad infinitum

The commercial offerings like Red Hat use the same software as the non-commercial ones and their desktop isn’t necessarily any more polished. The main reasons to blow some dough on a commercial distro are support contracts and guaranteed compatibility with enterprise applications.

As Linux becomes more inviting to a broader, more diversified array of users (who presently might still be committed to macOS or Windows for whatever reason), I completely expect it and its DEs to continue improving with dramatic strides.

 

[Amethyst1]

there can be relatively standardized distros of Linux which can bridge the chasm between “roll your own” and “locked-down proprietary”.

Yep, with Ubuntu's vanilla flavour being one example of a standardised, user-friendly distro that is seeing some more widespread adoption.

I’ve never really been warm to the notion that installing onto an Android or iOS device is an all-in-one “ROM” or image using somewhat complicated tools for I guess what amounts to “side-loading” — as opposed to a front-end, “select-options and install” approach as one might expect when installing a GUI-centric OS (on a laptop or desktop) from an install source.

LineageOS does provide that, but not quite as convenient as outlined. The base "ROM" is a pretty barebones, plain vanilla Android as compiled from the publicly available source code, without any hint of Google stuff whatsoever. You add your desired flavour of the OpenGApps, ranging from a very minimal flavour with just the Play Store (and there are alternative app stores to boot), to the full-blown Google experience.

I feel the never-ending Linux desktop environment rivalries are like the macro-scale version of a never-ending USENET newsgroup flame war between a small cluster of hardcore proponents in each camp.

And the issue is, these rivalries not going anywhere. They're just a waste of energy. GNOME is good and KDE is good too, just in different ways. They have different goals. Fun fact: if it had not been for KDE's reliance on Qt with its initially restrictive licensing, GNOME probably wouldn't have been born.

As Linux becomes more inviting to a broader, more diversified array of users (who presently might still be committed to macOS or Windows for whatever reason), I completely expect it and its DEs to continue improving with dramatic strides.

This has been going on for years, and there's every indication that this will continue to happen.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

I prefer Apple GUI but the cost to stay current and supported within their ecosystem is off puting to me. I just dont care that much about the newest OS, service, subscriptions, peripherals etc. and I sure as heck don't want to drop 1k on a phone. That seems ridiculous to me. Apple silicon I think is pretty amazing in what it has been able to acheive and I will be buying one for my wife at some point (have my eyes on the 16" MBP, 64gb, 1T), but probably not for a year or so. It is hard to justify for myself when my current dailies can run currently supported ubuntu with ease. My wife exists fully within the Apple ecosystem, so I get the experience regardless as family IT guy.

Similar to Erik, as my Intel macs continue to age, I will probably transition them to Ubuntu vs moving forward with current Apple devices for myself. Time will tell.

 

[lepidotós]

I've got one too that just sits around in a Junk box, but still works. I've got no idea what to do with it. Its seems a waste to bin it, and its not worth anything to sell.

Huh? PBG4s go for $250+ on eBay.