[ydl-gen] Yellow Pup Linux

[significant.bit at gmail.com]

Glad to hear you're still enjoying an early iMac -- my rev.a has a zapped flyback transformer, but another friend has kept his running to this day. 

I would also love a slim OS for these older systems, one that uses all the hardware to its advantage, and doesn't have any code for hardware that isn't there.

In one way we're lucky Apple stepped away from PowerPC: all that energy spent keeping up with their latest hardware can now be focused on the known set of PowerMacs. YDL supports machines from other vendors, but a less ambitious OS could consider just the plentiful new world Macintoshes. Each machine has one of only 3 processor types, usually single, sometimes dual, occasionally quad. Wait... that's simply Yellow Dog without PS3, blade, embedded, etc.

More like what you said, a G3 focused version would be awesome, forget about the already well-served G4 and newer. Even better would be an OS for just the G3 iMacs and some portables, since their hardware is similar and known in advance (single processor, usb, firewire, ati rage graphics, airport).

Available memory is something else to look out for in a lean version, as we got by on less when the G3s were new. That first iMac can handle 384MB (a very decent baseline), but of course shipped with only 32MB. When I upped mine to 160MB, Photoshop, Pixels3D, and Unreal became very happy. Today's software would say "is that all?"

On that note, it's amazing how well the full YDL runs on the memory-limited PS3.

I've got enough development projects to keep me busy for the next three years, but a modern OS for G3 iMacs sounds like a lot of fun. They'll still be old then, right?

Mike Erwin
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
tomasz brymora wrote:

I'd love to see something like PuppyLinux or DamnSamllLinux equivalent for the older hardware. By older I mean G3 ( as in iMac rev.. A or B ). Something REALLY slimmed down.

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