Newbie - Linux on Power Mac G5 (OSX 10.5.8)

P

Philippe Neron

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I am new to the world of Linux and looking to see if I can use my Power Mac G5 for Linux.
Can you advise which version I should use and best APPS/GUIs for managing this env.?
Specs below.

Thanks

Philippe

Model Name: Power Mac G5
Processor Name: PowerPC 970 (2.2)
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
Number Of CPUs: 2
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 1 GHz
 


The problem with Power Macs (I have a G4, I think) is that they are of the PowerPC architecture. This means that the popular distros don't really work.

Debian has a PPC port:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Mac_G5
You would probably want a very light DE so GNOME classic, LXDE, XFCE, MATE, CINNAMON should all work.

Once the PowerPC port is available I would also recommend Ubuntu Mate edition:
http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2015/01/dust-off-ibook-ubuntu-mate-powerpc-support-coming

In the end you really should not still be using the PPC architecture. Almost none of the current releases of software are available for it.
 

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