Convince me that Yellowdog is the Linux for me!

[Paul J. Lucas]

On 8 Apr 2002, Kimball Larsen wrote:

> Convince me that Yellowdog is the best one.

	I'll simply state facts.  I don't care about convicing you.

> Here are the machine specs:
> 1999 Apple Powerbook G3 333 (bronze keyboard, codename Lombard)

	I have a 400 MHz Lombard -- it works just fine.

> 1)  Sound.  

	It's always worked for me.  I didn't have to tweak anything.

> 2)  Laptop Specific Stuff.  
> 	2a)  Location Manager:

	I do mostly wireless: for that, the PCMCIA software has
	"schemes" that are funtionally equivalent.  When I do wired, I
	only do DHCP, hence I don't care.

> 	2b)  Battery/Sleep:  Is the stuff needed for sleep built into the
> kernel?

	I have no idea if it's built into the stock kernel since I
	build and use my own kernels.  But, given that, it works.
	You also need pmud.

> If I just close the lid will it go to sleep?

	Yes.

> How about a battery monitor application?

	I use asapm.

> I know they exist.. but do they work on Yellowdog on my machine?

	They work on *my* machine.

> Can I see (accurately) how much time I have left on my battery?

	Yes.

> Will it put the system to sleep automatically when the battery is drained?

	It's supposed to, but I never let it get that drained so I
	couldn't tell you.

> Will it wake back up again?

	Yes.

> Will the system clock be right when it does wake back up?

	Yes.

> (This one in particular drives me nuts about Mandrake...)

	Repeat this over and over: it's not the distro, it's the kernel.

> 	2c)  Brightness/Volume controls via my function keys?

	If you use BenH's kernel, yes.

> 	2d)  Mouse vs. Trackpad

	No comment since I only use the trackpad.

> 3) Apache.
> 	What's the deal with all the funky versions of Apache that are being
> distroed with all the other versions of ppc linux?

	I always build my own Apache.

> 4)  Gnome/KDE config:

	I installed my own Gnome.

> 5)  Package Management:
> 	I have heard horror stories from folks using RH 7.2 that the rpms can
> easily get all messed up, and simple upgrades/package changes will bring
> a system to it's knees... How is the package management in Yellowdog?

	The same as any distro that uses RPMs.

> 6)  OpenGL/other 3D stuff:

	Couldn't tell you.

	You may want to see my pages for my Lombard:

		http://homepage.mac.com/pauljlucas/personal/powerbook/

	However, please do *not* ask me questions about things that are
	*not* there.  If it's not desribed there, I'm either (a) not
	doing it so I would have no idea, or (b) it's not PowerBook-
	specific, hence you can find the answer in any number of
	places.

	- Paul