Newbie questions ... (yikes! :)

[Bruce Smith]

> > Let me say that I'm a LONG time Linux user, but I'm completely new to
> > PPC hardware, Mac OSX, and Linux on anything except x86.
> 
> You've made a wise hardware choice. Laptop quality is usually
> questionable, and getting a PowerBook or iBook is the surest way to avoid
> problems in that area, even considering the problem models (Lombard, iBook
> G3, etc.). You say that you're a long-time x86 Linux user, but you don't
> say whether it's always been the same x86 hardware or you've had to deal
> with the crapola that different laptop manufacturers tend to put people
> who try to install Linux through. 

I've been using Linux since 1994, exclusively on my desktop since about 1996
(Win95 was my last M$ desktop OS).  I'm also employed as a sysadmin where
we run a lot of Linux servers.  Plus I'm active in my local LUG and open source
development.   So, yes, I've installed Linux on a LOT of different hardware, 
including laptops.    :-)

I always hate shopping for a new (x86)  laptop since it's almost impossible to 
find a Linux review on a _new_ model, and there is usually something that's 
not supported on a new model.

There has been a lot of interest in Apple laptops from other members of my
LUG, which is what got me thinking about getting a powerbook this time.

> PowerBooks are not completely immune to
> this, but the pitfalls and workarounds are well-known. You won't find a
> Linux community dedicated to any specific line of x86 laptops to be as
> large as the PPC Linux community.

There certainly is an advantage to a limited hardware selection!

> > I downloaded PPC ISO's for YDL 4.0, Mandrake 10.1 and Ubuntu to try
> > when my new powerbook arrives.  I want to dual boot OSX & Linux.
> > Is the best plan to immediately reinstall OSX, leaving free HDD space
> > for Linux?  Or is it possible to shrink the preinstalled OSX partition?
> 
> You have almost answered your own question. Almost, because you left out
> the Gentoo LiveCD, which is the one thing you can download that lets you
> shrink the preinstalled OSX partition. 

Cool!  I was wondering if there was a live (knoppix-like) CD for PPC.
Hopefully the "minimal" live CD will do the job, since I don't want to
wait for the full live CD to download.   (my laptop just arrived)  :-)

And I got this email just in time, since I assume shrinking will be much
easier before the initial OSX boot (which may write files toward the end
of the drive).

> Sure, you can reinstall OSX, but
> you've never had to deal with that before, so stick with what's familiar.
> When you boot the current Gentoo LiveCD (by holding the C key), use parted
> from the command line (not qtparted, or anything else), and give the
> "resize" command to shrink your OSX partition (probably /dev/hda2). When
> you're done, reboot and hold down Cmd-S. That will boot OSX into
> single-user mode. At the command line there, type "/sbin/fsck -y" with no
> other arguments, and let it do its thing (you understand all this,
> right?). Ctrl-D to log out of single-user mode, then boot the YDL
> installer.

Very nice, thanks a bunch!!!

> > Modems, same question.  USB?  PCMCIA?
> 
> Unless Apple has changed things in recent models, the built-in modem is a
> Conexant USB HCF-type controllerless software modem. Getting that to work
> under Linux is pretty much the same as getting similar hardware to work on
> x86 Linux. Buying an external USB modem for PPC Linux is the same as
> buying one for x86 Linux, which in turn is no different from buying a PCI
> internal modem for x86 Linux. Since you're experienced with x86 Linux,
> I'll assume you understand the implications of all of the above.

Yes, and I have a couple older PCMCIA modems (non-winmodems) what 
work fine in x86 Linux.

> > FWIW, the reason I'm buying a new PPC laptop instead of an x86 is
> > because I figured I'm going to dual boot whatever laptop I buy with Linux,
> > and what I've heard about OSX sounds much better than what I know
> > about XP....  (and I never use XP on my current x86 laptop)
> 
> All dual-boot computers have an OS that's practically never used. It only
> remains to be seen which one that will be.

Very true.  I want to give OSX a serious look while I'm at it.

 - BS