future of PPC (was: KDE and E17)

[Paul Higgins]

Thanks for your thoughts on this, Derick.  I recall an earlier posting of 
yours that was similar, but never got around to adding anything to it myself.

You're certainly right about the future for PPC Macs, though some like the G5s 
will probably be supported for a while yet.  And the non-commercial distros 
like Debian (which Ubuntu is based on) still support Macs which are way past 
their prime.  For the real hardcore Linux fans and those who dislike the 
Debian way of doing things, there's always PLD Linux, which is a Fedora-based 
distro like YDL; PLD supports some *ancient* machines (their main PPC build 
machine was a 604-based box like a 9600 last I checked!).  Wikipedia has a 
good page on PLD, by the way.  For the record, I'm mostly a Debian user, 
particularly on x86.

Do you (or does anyone else) know what the future is for PPC at this point?  I 
know that the PPC has been a major player in the server world, but when it 
comes to consumer-level machines, I'm not seeing much else beyond the PS3 
right now.  There was a PPC motherboard called the Pegasos II that may still 
exist, but that's about all, I think.  I wish I could be a little more 
optimistic about the future of PPC, but I'm not seeing a lot of activity 
lately.

I just had a new machine built for us at work--a dual Opteron (AMD) server 
motherboard built into a tower case, with a removable drive bay and a few 
other goodies, running WinXP and Debian.  It's our primary scientific imaging 
computer (we're a neuroscience lab).  So that gives some idea, I think, of 
what is practical for us in an educational environment where you have to be a 
little "safe" in how you spend your $$ (you're usually amortizing a machine 
over at least 2-3 years).  Note, however, that I did go with a processor 
*other* than Intel for lots of reasons (speed being one of them).

I think the fact that PPCs still rule in the server world bodes well for Linux 
on PPC in the near-term.  However, getting various things working that are 
based on specific hardware (especially badly-documented or undocumented Apple 
hardware) may be tricky.  I'm beginning to hone my skills when it comes to 
compiling from source, etc. as I can see the day coming soon when that will 
probably be necessary if I want to keep around any of my PPC Macs.

Based on what I'm *not* seeing in the PPC world (no consumer PPC machines 
other than the PS3), I'm sad to say that my next personal machine will 
probably be a DIY-built Opteron or Athlon64.

Regards,
-PRH

On Tuesday 24 April 2007 04:30 pm, Derick Centeno wrote:
> Keep in mind Jim, if I may, that the PowerPC Macs are essentially "has
> beens".  Keeping them around will become more costly as parts become
> more scarce.  Sooner or later we are going to have to let them pass just
> as many in prior generations let go of their Model T Ford.  Of course,
> the decision to each individual to either move up to the Cell or switch
> entirely to Intel is a question each person has to address on their
> own.  Hopefully each person will research the details on their own for
> considering sticking with the current PowerPC universe, meaning the Cell
> and beyond, developing a comprehension supporting why such a decision is
> important or otherwise decide to move on to the Intel based universe.
>
> As has been discussed here and elsewhere there exists much more support
> for Linux systems running on Intel.  Recent decisions by some distros --
> like Ubuntu -- to cease supporting the PowerPC merely underlines the point.
>
> For a commercial company like TSS, the problem of keeping these aging
> systems is a serious issue.  Which one to keep; which to let go?
> Although TSS for all it's skill, remains a vibrant though small company,
> I'm sure that it doesn't have the storage or warehouse capacity of Dell,
> Apple or HP.  Even if it did have comparably enormous resources they'd
> still be a user out there with just that particular version of a PowerPC
> which may not be in storage any longer or may have had it's circuits
> fried just that week and therefore unavailable!
>
> As long as we hang on to our PowerPC macs we are all on a slippery and
> decidedly downward facing slope.  Whatever each one of us decides should
> be along the lines of understanding why each one of us chose the PowerPC
> architecture in the first place.  Although I cannot make the move to the
> Cell just now, I do well understand why I've stuck with both the PowerPC
> and YDL over all these years.
>
> The Cell is an outstanding piece of technology which I intend to own as
> soon as I'm able.  In the meantime, I'll use YDL 5 for the Mac as long
> as it is produced for the machine I use.
>
> TSS deserves to survive and compete continuing even more marvelous
> achievements -- if it becomes the case that my machine is not on the
> list of supported systems even in the near future, I will certainly
> understand.
>
> All is not bleak however, there are some pretty brilliant people who've
> managed to extend the life of their systems with YDL and some solid
> imagination. So we'll all see where this all goes.