Re: [ydl-gen] Linux yellow dog manual for dummies
Thanks, Derick. Although this is a YDL forum, I am afraid to say that there is no comparison between any linux on PPC and OS X. The former simply doesn't have the software base that I need. I used to think that it would be faster than OS X, but after a few installations of linux on Apple computers, I discovered that OS X wins hands down in the speed area as well. I think that linux is optimized for x86 and of course things like flash are only available on x86 linux (I hate flash, but it unfortunately has become a standard for internet video). There are still some PPC optimizations in OS X apps and maybe even some Altivec usage (which allows Quicktime to smoothly run at 1080p on my PPC machines). The tasks involved in writing my book would have been enormously greater if I had used linux instead of OS X. I notice an increasing dominance of ARM in low power portable devices. This is unfortunate, since ARM simply doesn't have the computational power that PPC has - I am not sure it even has a floating point data type. It is too bad that IBM did such a poor job of promoting PPC; we will need to reinvent the wheel with ARM when we could have had advanced multi-purpose chips with low power consumption from the PPC manufacturers (such as PA semi, which Apple bought and converted to ARM). Anyway, the improvement in the performance of Apple products since the switch has been less than stellar, much less than expected from Moore's law. My 4 year old G5 has a 1.15 GHz memory bus and an 16x dual layer superdrive, which is very competitive with the best that Apple can come up with now (for reasonable prices). It cost much less than a current machine and doesn't require a several thousand dollar investment in software, which I would need to make if I use one of Apple's intel superboxes. Cheers, Warren Nagourney On Dec 24, 2009, at 2:28 PM, Derick Centeno wrote: You may want to know that you may find decent parts for your system from http://macsales.com/ I think we may have to really keep our PowerPC running for longer than that although I did hear of someone developing a multicore PowerPC laptop a month or so ago. I've got to search for who this fellow is again as I lost track, but I did hear of a fellow who created a working Cell based laptop which ran the GameOS and had the OtherOS option. Pretty neat! Caveat: If you replace the power supply or other support parts you shouldn't have trouble running YDL from it. Be careful regarding other components however such as DVD drives: if those go it may be wiser to consider an external DVD drive in that situation. I'm unsure if anyone we knew remains at Fixstars from TSS; it may not be so easy to get the kind of support we became accustomed to. In any case, I'd advise you to consider reviewing what notations remain regarding their advisories regarding which hardware works with YDL and which do not. As best I recall, the past emphasis (by TSS) was to support original Apple parts. So the problems to watch for may not be RAM as much as internal associated devices, such as a newer hard drive or modem or something similar. It may be better to just get an HD which resides on a PCI card which your system should recognize with no problem as an external system; I don't think such a drive would be able to be booted from within YDL. It would be interesting to try that out as a concept though. Anyway enjoy and all the best!! On Thu, 24 Dec 2009 13:57:49 -0800 Warren Nagourney wrote: Thanks, Derick. I still love the PPC architecture and recently bought an Apple dual core 2.3 GHz G5 for very little money and am finding it to be absolutely as fast as I could ever hope for. I will keep it for the next 3-5 years (assuming I can keep the power supply running) and maybe then, the dominance of x86 may have lessened (it can't last forever!). Merry Christmas and Happy 2010, Warren N = Refranes/Popular sayings: The Taino say:No hay mal que por bien no venga. There is no evil out of which good cannot blossom. ___ yellowdog-general mailing list - yellowdog-general@lists.fixstars.com Unsuscribe info: http://lists.fixstars.com/mailman/listinfo/yellowdog-general HINT: to Google archives, try 'site:us.fixstars.com' ___ yellowdog-general mailing list - yellowdog-general@lists.fixstars.com Unsuscribe info: http://lists.fixstars.com/mailman/listinfo/yellowdog-general HINT: to Google archives, try ' site:us.fixstars.com'
Re: [ydl-gen] Linux yellow dog manual for dummies
On Sat, 26 Dec 2009 00:55:12 +1100 Robert Spykerman wrote: Hi Robert, may you and all here and elsewhere enjoy the upcoming celebrations and New Year! I haven't had the time to pursue or discover the article or articles which Warren referred to. If I do discover anything along those lines which approach what he shared, I'll post them in this thread. Regarding what you posted however despite all the running around about this "new architecture" you do understand that media people and engineers paid to do media are rather loose in their definitions of what they mean by "new" or really anything else -- even their mathematics find new inventive realities which more often are explorations of that dimension of imaginary numbers. Remember that universe of estimations and calculations affected by and related to the square root of negative one? The vast production of data generated by media are like that. It may be entertaining and many other things but one, no one, should believe or accept the production at face value, no matter what it is or who produces it. The "new" thing which you should have noted from Plug Computer is what the name tells you itself. They are merely propagating what is old as new; the "new" thing is the redesign of ARM technology so that it does new functions at low energy costs -- which is truly a good thing. But this is as I shared elsewhere no more interesting that bending a paper clip in a new way. There are more uses for utilizing such a clip bent in that new manner, but it is and remains just a paper clip -- Plug Computer's "new" thingy is no more than that. Here's one page which almost approaches the essence of the truth regarding what they actually are doing -- read between the words and the lines and you'll discover for yourself that there is a lot less to their efforts than the hoopla they are creating around it. Here's the link: http://www.marvell.com/technologies/cputech.jsp Now I've got to run lest my relatives proceed to engage upon my demise in creative ways I would not be able to foresee. Happy Holidays!! > On Fri, Dec 25, 2009 at 8:44 AM, Derick Centeno > wrote: > > > I wasn't aware of IBM's announcement. I guess we are the lucky ones > > who got these marvelous computers while they could be had. Too bad > > others won't have the opportunity to explore and develop varied > > programming skills which these systems allow. > > I went down to the local EB the other day hoping the fat ps3s (be they > second hand or old stock) would be significantly cheaper with the > express notion of purchasing another Alas... not :( > > But hmm... there are a few interesting cheap-ish options. Been > thinking of looking into these Sheeva thingies... ie > http://www.plugcomputer.org/ > > No particular reason. Just because they exist and are not x86's - > Thank heavens they did not put atoms in them - I think one would make > a really nice home server with low energy costs, but it won't be fast > for number crunching. > > Cheap ARM netbooks are probably also on the way. Hmm... if these > succeed maybe we may see the evolution of small desktop ARM jobs...and > maybe followed by bigger badder multicore ARMS with a lot of grunt. > Hah, wishful thinking eh? Knowing ARM, probably not...but still they > could try. > > IBM sure don't seem to be. > > I'm bitterly disappointed at (what I perceive to be) the continued > decline of the powerpc architecture I have to say. But hey, I have a > ps3. It runs linux (for now). And I can mess with it and mess with it > I shall. > > > Well, Warren, have a wonderful celebration of the holidays and a > > most splendid New Year!! Likewise to all who are here!!! > > Likewise, seasons greetings to all! > Cheers > > Robert > = Refranes/Popular sayings: The Taino say:No hay mal que por bien no venga. There is no evil out of which good cannot blossom. signature.asc Description: PGP signature ___ yellowdog-general mailing list - yellowdog-general@lists.fixstars.com Unsuscribe info: http://lists.fixstars.com/mailman/listinfo/yellowdog-general HINT: to Google archives, try 'site:us.fixstars.com'
Re: [ydl-gen] Linux yellow dog manual for dummies
On Fri, Dec 25, 2009 at 8:44 AM, Derick Centeno wrote: > I wasn't aware of IBM's announcement. I guess we are the lucky ones > who got these marvelous computers while they could be had. Too bad > others won't have the opportunity to explore and develop varied > programming skills which these systems allow. I went down to the local EB the other day hoping the fat ps3s (be they second hand or old stock) would be significantly cheaper with the express notion of purchasing another Alas... not :( But hmm... there are a few interesting cheap-ish options. Been thinking of looking into these Sheeva thingies... ie http://www.plugcomputer.org/ No particular reason. Just because they exist and are not x86's - Thank heavens they did not put atoms in them - I think one would make a really nice home server with low energy costs, but it won't be fast for number crunching. Cheap ARM netbooks are probably also on the way. Hmm... if these succeed maybe we may see the evolution of small desktop ARM jobs...and maybe followed by bigger badder multicore ARMS with a lot of grunt. Hah, wishful thinking eh? Knowing ARM, probably not...but still they could try. IBM sure don't seem to be. I'm bitterly disappointed at (what I perceive to be) the continued decline of the powerpc architecture I have to say. But hey, I have a ps3. It runs linux (for now). And I can mess with it and mess with it I shall. > Well, Warren, have a wonderful celebration of the holidays and a most > splendid New Year!! Likewise to all who are here!!! Likewise, seasons greetings to all! Cheers Robert -- chown -R us ./base ___ yellowdog-general mailing list - yellowdog-general@lists.fixstars.com Unsuscribe info: http://lists.fixstars.com/mailman/listinfo/yellowdog-general HINT: to Google archives, try 'site:us.fixstars.com'
