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Learning Linux on a PC?

Dirk Pilat - 2002.05.17

G'day everyone, steady she goes!

Yes, while my use of the antipodean idiom slowly but surely broadens, I have neglected you, my dear readers, terribly. This had a reason: I bought myself an old PC (beige, ugly, and loud with a beige, ugly monitor), as they seem to be given away for almost nothing these days. The stats are rather humble: Pentium 166 MHz, 64 MB RAM, old SVGA video card, sound card, ethernet card, and USB card. The whole kablouie cost me 100 dollars and is now sitting in my sun room overlooking the bay, next to my iBook.

But why, oh why, has such a vocal supporter of the Mac started to buy such shockingly unsophisticated hardware, you ask? Well, the answer is OS X, of course! As the innards of our beloved revolutionary new (?) operating system now resemble any old Linux box, I thought I do something useful and pop Linux on some horrible old beige PC and learn how to use the archenemy of every Macintosh user - the command line - just to better understand the goings on inside my iBook. Read all about it on Low End PC.

While all around me "Alpha-geeks" (don't frown, that was a Slashdot heading, and they should know what they are talking about) are drooling all over our computers and typing funny things into terminal (/dev/null anyone?), I was still confined to point and click.

I know that there's no reason for me to leave point and click and do something as sixties as actually typing something to tell the computer what it is supposed to do (especially if it's as convoluted as Unix's command structure), but I always wanted to be an alpha-geek. (Now is a good time, as my girlfriend is 18,000 km away and I don't have anything else to do. Ah, the joys of semi-bachelorhood.) If you wanna be with the in-crowd, you have to have at least a Beowulf cluster of Linux boxes (self-assembled, of course) standing in your living room and posing as a coffee table.

Well, so far so good. After about three weeks of tireless compiling, downloading, patching, and screaming in frustration, "Stinker" (that's the computer's name) has less functionality than a Mac Classic but is starting up and speaking to the rest of the world via the iBook's Internet connection.

I really understand why Linux is still not ready for the consumer market: It's just too bloody complicated. Nevertheless, every day hails another little success-story, and it certainly keeps me busy on these long New Zealandian autumn evenings. At the moment it is able to talk to the iBook, which sits next to its distant cousin like a 2002 Smart Car next to a Ford Model T.

I'm on my way hooking up an ADSL-USB modem and converting it into something as useful as a household MP3 player, IP router, Web server, and firewall. While I am cursing Linux's complicated setup proceedings and lack of ease of use, I have to admit that I am impressed by it's scalability, speed, and multiuser/multitasking options.

I know that I could achieve all this in 5 minutes with an old 7200, but it wouldn't be as much fun. Thinking about it, I actually should do that just to demonstrate a point and actually write something that would be appropriate for a Low End Mac column.

Now there's a thought....

Recent Down But Not Out Columns

Thoughts and advice on replacing a two-year-old iBook G4, 02.01. This iBook G4 has taken a beating. Does it make more sense to buy a new iBook G4, wait for the Intel models, or look at the used market?
iBook on last legs, Mac mini saves marriage, and Macintel meanderings, 01.23. With the iBook G4 "falling apart at the seams", does it make more sense to buy a new G4 iBook or wait for the Intellified next gen iBook?
First impressions of the 14" iBook G4, 11.13. "Apple has managed to produce a machine that combines everything I want from a portable computer with appropriate processor performance for a competitive price."
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More in the Down But Not Out index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: 17" iMac G4/800 MHz, July 2002 - The iMac 'grows up' with a 17" 1440 x 900 display.
Group of the Day: LisaList supports Lisa users.
November 8 in LEM history: 99: OS 9: I think I like it - 01: The simplified Mac life - Soured on Windows - Flea market Mac - 02: Little room for improvement in new 'Books - Combo drive upgrade for iceBooks - 04: Re-Porter - 05: Fix the old iMac or buy a Mac mini? - Apple's Copland project - 06: MacBook Core 2 - MacBook value equation - Cheap is as cheap does - 07: Problems with Classic mode in Tiger - The G4 Power Mac that won't run Leopard

Recent Deals

Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.03. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 8-core. $2,299; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.26 8-core, $2,799; 2.93, $4,999.
Best iPhone Deals, 11.03. New 8 GB iPhone 3G, $$99; refurb 16 GB 3GS, $149; new, $199; 32 GB, $299.
Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.03. Used 867 MHz SperDrive, $348; 1 GHz, $499; 1.33 Combo, $298; SD, $559; 1.5 Combo, $448; SuperDrive, $589.
Best Power Mac G3 and PCI Video Card Deals, 11.02. Used beige 300 MHz, $25; G4/366, $49; blue & white 350, $80; 400, $90; 450, $105; PCI video cards from $15; shipping additional.
Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.02. Used 400 MHz, $50; 733 MHz, $69; 933 MHz, $209; 1.25 GHz dual, $299.
Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, 11.02. Used 2.0 GHz, $800; 2.2, $900; 2.4, $1,000; refurb 2.53, $1,449; 2.66, $1,699; 2.8, $1,949; 3.06, $2,169; new 2.53, $1,579; 2.66, $1,799; more.
Best Mac mini Deals, 10.30. Used 1.33 GHz G4 mini, $379; 1.42, $389; 1.5, $419; 1.83 GHz Core Duo, $350; Core 2, $439; new 2.26 GHz nVidia, $580; 2.53 GHz, $770; Server, $990.
Best G4 iBook Deals, 10.30. Used 12" 1.07 GHz Combo, $225; 1.33 GHz, $298; 14" 1 GHz, $349; 1.33 GHz, $398; 1.42 GHz SuperDrive, $498.
Best Classic Mac OS Deals, 10.30. System 6.0.8 floppies, $10; 7.1, $12; 7.5, $20; 7.5 CD, $4; 7.6 $13; 8.1, $11; 8.5, $20; 8.6, $90; 9.0, $20; 9.2.2, $30.
More deals in our archive.

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Down But Not Out begun April 26, 2002. All Down But Not Out articles ©2002-03, 2006 by Dirk Pilat. Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
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