Does anyone use any other OS?

[hob]

Was just looking at Gentoo Linux... I don't know why, but I really wanted to give it a shot... I doubt I have the HD space or anything though... So, do any of you use a different OS? If so, what? and what for? Why could i? Please don't tell me why I shouldn't

Hob

 

[Gokhan]

i use win xp via virtual pc on my mac so files are easier to transfer and so on.

 

[5300cs]

Re: Does anyone use any other OS?

Originally posted by hob
Was just looking at Gentoo Linux... I don't know why, but I really wanted to give it a shot... I doubt I have the HD space or anything though... So, do any of you use a different OS? If so, what? and what for? Why could i? Please don't tell me why I shouldn't

Hob

Gentoo Linux? Do you have any experience installing Linux? From what I've heard, Gentoo is the most difficult distrobution to install, and it took my die-hard-Linux-nerd/co-worker 3 days to install. It gives you the source code, gcc (a compiler) and a shell and you're on your own. I could be totally wrong thought, don't believe me, check out their website.

I use a plethora of OSes right now:
- OS X on my main machines (3-4)
- Palm OS
- Newton OS ..very nice
- MacOS 9 for my TAM
- OSes 6~7.6 on my various Mac notebooks
- XP on my VAIO (though I dislike it)

I believe in using multiple OSes just to broaden my horizons and see what's out there, I think one tends to get biased and too "comfortable" using 1 OS for too long.
At the same time I see people who are comfortable in what they use and adamantly don't want to change. To them I say live and let live.

I just gave a small presentation this weekend on Linux, and during the presentation I saw all these win98/2k people's eyes glaze over as I went over the install process. For some it works, for others it doesn't.

 

[robotrenegade]

I run Red Hat and XP.

 

[revenuee]

i messed around in Yellow Dog for a bit ...

but after getting OS 10 ... i get all the *nix i need there ...

i use OS 9 for video capture purposes because my SCSI disk doesn't drop frames under 9 as it does under OS 10

 

[latergator116]

Re: Does anyone use any other OS?

Originally posted by hob
Was just looking at Gentoo Linux... I don't know why, but I really wanted to give it a shot... I doubt I have the HD space or anything though... So, do any of you use a different OS? If so, what? and what for? Why could i? Please don't tell me why I shouldn't

Hob

My brother runs Gentoo, and as somedody already said, it is pretty complicated. You should try out Yellow Dog Linux (http://yellowdoglinux.com/); it is also designed for use with macs.

 

[Westside guy]

I use Red Hat Enterprise Linux on an x86 box. It used to my desktop, but the shortcomings there were what drove me to OS X. Now that box is a testbed Webserver I use before putting stuff on our department's real Webserver.

We have a Windows XP box at home - my wife has some sewing programs that are Windows only. I'll use it to play games occasionally.

I toyed with putting Yellow Dog on this Powerbook; got as far as setting up a partition for it. Then I started reading their Website... doesn't do the power management, may be problems with temp regulation, can't handle the Airport card (BTW there is no good 802.11g support in ANY version of Linux right now), and so on. Made me remember why I switched to OS X in the first place. I do use some of the same apps under OS X that I used under Linux; the fink project is a great way to get those apps. So when I need my "Linux" fix now, I just drop into a terminal window and mess around with the command line.

 

[ExoticFish]

i've got my PC running XP and Gentoo (Gentoo's not hard if you've been in the linux game a while). I've got a server I'm working on setting up running RedHat 9.0. I've got my mp3 server running on an old beige G3 running Jaguar... but my favorite machine is most definately my 12" PB running Panther! HOOAH!

 

[5300cs]

Originally posted by Westside guy
...I'll use it to play games occasionally...[Yellow Dog]... doesn't do the power management, may be problems with temp regulation, can't handle the Airport card (BTW there is no good 802.11g support in ANY version of Linux right now), and so on.

Same here, I keep a windows box around for the odd game. At this moment, it's m$ flight simulator (the ONLY thing they've done right) and good ol' virtual pool (<there is nothing better than VP right now )

I used Yellow Dog for a while on my 500Mhz iBook before giving it to my dad, and it did APM no problem... is that what you mean by power management? I didn't try Airport, and that's too bad about 802.11g; you'd think the Linux guys would be all over it by now.

Fink is really cool ..though Gopher isn't on the list of packages

 

[Westside guy]

Originally posted by 5300cs
I used Yellow Dog for a while on my 500Mhz iBook before giving it to my dad, and it did APM no problem... is that what you mean by power management? I didn't try Airport, and that's too bad about 802.11g; you'd think the Linux guys would be all over it by now.

Yes, the power management stuff apparently doesn't work for the new Powerbooks. Matter of fact they warn you not to run YDL on the 17" at all...

Yellow dog linux - powerbook compatibility page

For my 15" AlPB I see the following shortcomings (I can confirm the GUI issue, since I did make an attempt to install YDL):

- No external video
- No GUI interface at all unless you buy "Yellowdog enhanced"
- No airport extreme
- No sleep
- No bluetooth
- By default will run at reduced speeds

The problem with 802.11g is the hardware vendors are apparently being rather tight-fisted when it comes to releasing the equipment's specs. This means everything has to be reverse engineered which can be a slow process.