IEEE 1394 "FireWire"
Having them on the board would not make his kernel automatically see them either :¬)
Basically, you make sure that you have a release that will support it, if you don't you get a release that will support it and then compile it. If you do, you see if they are visible.. if they are not, you likely need to recomile the kernel and tell it to include support for FireWire. If you get stuck with the recompilation or acquiring the necessary new files should yours not support FireWire, check your manuals (hardcopy) if any, read your help and/or ask in a forum dedicated to your particular distribution.
Should be pretty easy though :¬) Mac OS supported FireWire in OS 9 at least.. so I'd imagine yes to "Mac on Linux" too.