Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: Samuar on June 25, 2003, 10:32:31 AM
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Anyone who has read my latest postings will know I'm rather keen getting Linux on Amigas. Random searching throw Google.com produced these results:
GNU/Linux APUS Project: Linux/PPC for Amigas (http://linux-apus.sourceforge.net/)
and
Linux m68K Project (http://www.linux-m68k.org/)
That seems to pretty much cover all Amigas. Please post your experiences with them, if you have had any.
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I can't tell you anything about the APUS since I don't have any PPC for my Amiga and therefore not been able to try it out.
However, I have been running linux-m68k for years now and it works like a charm. At the beginning I tried the RedHat 5.1 which is the last stable RedHat for m68k. That worked very well indeed but became kind of old so I moved on and tried Debian GNU Linux instead.
I have been using Debian GNU Linux on my A4k with 040/40 for a few years now and I must say that it works very well. It isn't fast, especially running X, but it is quite fun to fool around with anyway. I have been compiling kernels to try different things and so far I haven't had any major problems. X might be a little difficult to get running from start but once you get the hang of configuring it it won't be a problem.
From start it didn't have any drivers for my CV64/3D so I had to start linux up from the screenmode I wanted to run it in, but now the kernel contains a driver for that so I can use lilo and fire linux up which is a hell of a lot easier.
So, as a summary. Running linux on an m68k is fun and not to difficult, you might have to tweak a little but that's the fun part. I really don't recommend running X unless you have at least a 060. It works with a 040 but it is quite slow and patience is a virtue.
Running the APUS should be a charm if you have a PPC. There is a few more choises for a more updated linux if you use that. I would still recommend Debian since I have fallen for that distro.
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The Linux/m68k site seems bit outdated.
Best choice for Linux on Amiga seems to be Debian.org (http://www.debian.org).
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I use Linux on the PC and i know that XWindow alocates itself a hell of a lot of the system RAM and is one of the systems biggest processes. When on 68k machines this can reduce performance severely. However i seem to remember of an XWin equivilant that had slimmer overheads and ran significantly faster, and as far as i am aware is the choice for Thin Client applications. I think its called Tight VNC? Perhapse this could help?
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I use Linux on x86, PPC-Mac and recently on my SEGA Dreamcast. Xwindows does use a lot of memory, but there is a very good alternative - TinyX. Its designed with embedded systems in mind with few resources, but will work on any machine capable of running the linux kernel.
Taking the embedded linux approach should produce a fast and stable linux distro, without losing out too much on the modern looks.
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68k is slow enough as it is without putting Linux on it.