Unix on a Mac

• Mac OS X Server - Apple dips it's toe into the Unix market with this Unix-based, MacOS-fronted server operating system.  Released in March (?) 1999 it's the first sign of any of the work done on 'Rhapsody', Apple's well hyped new OS which, as with so many of Apple's other OS strategies, has failed to materialise.  I've personally lost track of what they're up to, the last I heard Mac OS X Server was to be a release to maintain some presence in the server market but is to be replaced by Rhapsody.  However it wouldn't surprise me at all if this hasn't changed since.  One thing for certain is how late this release was from the original plan, mid 1998 if I remember correctly.  (Is there an OS producer in the world who has actually ever released a version on time???)

• LinuxPPC - I don't know how long this has been around, but it's currently in version 4.1. Version 5 will be released any day now and will include full support for USB and the iMac. It's a Red Hat based Linux, and currently supports PCI-PowerMacs, and can be made to work on an iMac with additional files, downloadable from the LinuxPPC ftp site.  This extra software is to be used in conjunction with an 'Installation on an iMac Howto'.  It is available from www.linuxppc.com. I have just installed it on my Tangerine iMac, and looks okay but not having used any other Linux I can't really compare it to anything. Also I have a lot to learn about Linux having only been on the User side (as against the administrator). I have had some problems however, but this is mainly due to my lack of Linux knowledge rather than anything else.  There isn't any sound support in the Kernel for the iMac yet, but besides it's looking good, stable.

 

 

The graphical user interface is from KDE, the installer gives you a comprehensive list of options to install including XWindows, XWindows development tools, games, C/C++ development modules and libraries, news ftp and http servers among lots of other stuff.

Once you have it up and running, you can install a 'BootX' extension into your system folder which will give you the option of whether you want to boot into the MacOS or Linux when you start-up.  I like this feature, especially as you can select a default OS to boot into.  If you don't make a selection for something like 10 seconds it'll continue on booting the default OS.  If you want to do some stuff in the MacOS and then switch to Linux there's no problem there, boot the MacOS & do what ya gotta do, and then simply run the BootX App, select Linux, and shortly thereafter you're face with the Linux login screen.  As of yet anyway this quick and easy facility isn't available the other way around, and probably isn't going to happen without Apple's input (I rate the chances as highly unlikely) but it isn't something that would bother you (well me anyway!).  There's talk about adding MacOS compatibility into LinuxPPC so you can run MacOS apps under Linux.

No point in me writing any more about it, it's all on the LinuxPPC website so if you want to know more go take a look.  Pricing is $32 + $6 handling and shipping to have a CD sent to you, or download all 600MBs for free. Personally I think it would definately be worth getting the CD, save you the disk space and the time to download it. Preorder v5 and get v4.1 sent to you now for no extra charge!

• Yellow Dog Linux- I don't think this is finished yet, wasn't the last time I looked, but it promises full support for the new Yosemite G3 PowerMacs and the iMac, along with the previous G3 PowerMacs.

Pricing is $45 (or is it $50) + post & packaging.

• MacBSD - for 68K Macs, won't run on PowerPC based Macs although there are reports of a PowerPC port of it in Beta. I couldn't find it or get a response from the email addresses on the pages.
  
  
• MkLinux - THE version of Linux endorsed by Apple, they're even providing it with WWW presense at www.mklinux.apple.com. As a result it has greatly discouraged people from working on other versions of Unix/Linux for the Mac. Doesn't support 603e or 604e PPC chips and isn't likely to in the future either.
  
  
• MachTen - Unlike the others this is not free, but, as you're paying for it, it's likely to be developed further and support is probably available. If anyone has it drop me a line and let me know!
  
  
• Minix - this is a 68K application, and so can run on PowerPC based Macs. However there has been some problems reported, including it isn't compatible with RAM Doubler. Nevertheless, it's the one I'm using, and I can't have any complaints.


Minix is the only Unix clone I could find to run on my Performa 6300. It's downloadable in a single 5Mb file which expands to give you a ready to run application. It doesn't take up too much room, about 11.5Mb and isn't memory hungry either!   Note however that it requires virtual memory to be turned off.  There are two users setup at the start:

• root - password "Geheim"
• ast - password "Wachtwoord"


and most of the usual Unix commands are there, including grep and sed. There's a .profile for each user, password file with encrypted password, everything where it usually is! It looks really excellent, thanx lots to the guy who designed / wrote it, Andrew S. Tanenbaum!! I have covered Unix in my computer science course, but haven't really touched on the administration side, so I don't know things like how to create a new user yet. Then again, I haven't downloaded the manual yet so all my answers will probably be in there. The online manual is not included, but is available at ftp://minix1.hampshire.edu/pub/minix.1.5/man

See Also:

• Take a look at my Linux page, where I'm putting various bits of information for the beginning Linux user (such as myself) as I come across it, and also links to useful Linux WWW sites.
• If you're familiar with Unix and want the use of some of the programs on your Mac without having to install an entire Unix clone, then some of what you need is on the Unix and Unix Utilities for the Macintosh page.

This page was last modified on Sunday, 4th April 1999.