yellowdog-newbie Digest, Vol 21, Issue 13

[Derick Centeno]

Hi Juan:
I am glad that the information is useful to you.  Two books which could  
be helpful are:

1. Linux Systems Administration:
       
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00012OWL0/qid=1149041810/sr=8-31/ 
ref=sr_1_31/103-8928068-4784621?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=551440

2. Linux Programming:
       
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0764546570/sr=8-8/qid=1149042112/ 
ref=pd_bbs_8/103-8928068-4784621?%5Fencoding=UTF8

There are many, many books cover these areas but one needs to begin  
somewhere.  Choose a writer which makes sense to you and work from  
there.

Clarifications you should be aware of.  Ubuntu Linux and YDL Linux  
although they are Linux each require a certain amount of hard-drive  
(HD) space dedicated just for them.  This means that Ubuntu Linux needs  
about 10-20 GB and YDL Linux about the same.  One could quibble about  
their needing less space -- which is quite true, but I'm assuming that  
each version of Linux is actually doing something and some useful work  
is being done within each Linux distribution means space for data.   
Although there may be reasons to use different Linux distributions for  
the PowerPC on one machine accessing one HD, in my mind this is a waste  
of HD space.

More important than this however is what you mentioned regarding  
Virtual PC and that you had installed a Linux distribution running on  
top of or within Virtual PC.
That means that you also have a version of Linux designed to run on  
Intel.  Regardless of which Linux you've installed within or on top of  
Virtual PC (Suse, Red Hat, etc.) because they have to access your  
computer's hardware by accessing Virtual PC first, that version of  
Linux will be slow in comparison to the PowerPC version of Linux  
accessing the PowerPC hardware directly.

The whole point of using Linux is to access the power of the hardware  
faster, not slower.

It is true that not all applications available for Linux running on  
Intel or compatible computers, are available or can be recompiled from  
source to run on Linux running on PowerPC computers.   However, Virtual  
PC cannot help you utilize those Linux applications intended for Intel  
systems accurately because Virtual PC only has access to the PowerPC  
hardware, not Linux itself which is running within or on top of Virtual  
PC.  In short, you won't get an accurate sense of what that application  
can or cannot do because Virtual PC cannot approach or run at the same  
speed as Intel anyway.

The best rationale for using Linux on a PowerPC is to have full access  
to the power of the PowerPC so that it's full capacity is available to  
your programming and other technical skills.  Likewise the best  
rationale for using Linux on an Intel system is similar.

The computer architectures are different for a reason and although  
programs like Virtual PC which are emulators (they allow a PowerPC to  
look like an Intel chip or they allow an Intel chip to look like a  
PowerPC) -- they -- emulators -- suffer from the same problem, they are  
slow.  By the way there are free emulators which are better than  
Virtual PC and are available for use within OS X, Linux running on  
PowerPC and Linux running on Intel; they also however are slow as well.  
  The only really good thing about such emulators is that they are free.  
  Virtual PC is a Microsoft product and is not free.

Best wishes....

On May 30, 2006, at 6:39 PM, Juan R.Leon wrote:

> Derek,Robert,
>
>  Thank you so much for the extensive amount of great help that you  
> have offered!Looks like I have some work to do this weekend.
>
>  Robert,I am downloading the Ubuntu Desktop install as I type this..
>
>  Derek, you wrote about considerations that I had not been aware of.  
> Particularly when it comes to the modem.And the links that you  
> provided are invaluable.
>  I am a little familiar with Linux in that I have installed a version  
> using Virtual PC.The instal was pretty straight forward.Let's see if I  
> have the same results with YDL or any of the other Power PC versions.
>
>  I will keep you informed!
> Thanx again.This is a wonderful support group. ;^)
>
>  Juan