To build a functioning system, you need a kernel, the Penguin booter, and some parts of the Debian Potato distribution, all of which are linked to from the Mac M68k Linux downloads page. If you are using a 68020-based Mac II with a PMMU installed, you can also run 68k Linux sadly, the same is not true for the 68020-based Mac LC. No dice.īut I did discover that there is a version of Linux, Linux/mac68k, available for more recent 68K Macs equipped with a 68030 or better. However, about two years ago I wondered if it would be possible to run Linux on a Mac Classic. I thought no more of it (I was six years old at the time). I clearly remember a double-page spread on the Sinclair QL, which noted that as it used a Motorola 68000 CPU it was theoretically capable of running the Unix operating system. 68K Linuxīack in 1984, there was a magazine in the UK called Home Computer Course, the purpose of which was to introduce you to all sorts of weird and wonderful machines such as the Jupiter Forth, Lynx, BBC Microcomputer, and (gasp) Apple Lisa. Please bear in mind that it is based on investigation rather than experience. Essentially, it’s a guide to Linux for 68K Macs and NuBus PowerMacs, neither of which can run the usual PPC Linux distros. It is in this spirit that I present this article. Never fear, rule two of journalism applies: If you don’t know what you’re talking about, just make it up. Sadly, I am unable to do this, as the machine is now being used by my father, as opposed to merely gracing his kitchen table. The intention was to run it on my old Performa 5320. In this spirit I broke the first rule of journalism: I spent some money. The thing is, all of the above distros are more or less the same in terms of what machines they’ll run on, and as this is Low End Mac, I thought it would be interesting to see how Linux performs on other Apple hardware. Ditto for SuSE and Mandrake (though, to be fair, SuSE have sent me copies in the past, which I reviewed for Linux Magazine UK). Well, it’s as simple as this: When Debian send me a copy, I’ll happily review it. One frequent question that came up was why I hadn’t looked at the Debian PowerPC port. (One person suggested that I let it die a graceful death for reasons which I happen to agree with, but he was outvoted.) In response, many of you wrote in to ask for it to stay.
Not long ago, I threatened you all with the end of the PPC Linux column.
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