Best Mac aware Linux distro?

chas_martel · #1 9th May 2007, 02:54 PM

My company is in the process of planning to replace OS X with Linux in
a product which we provide in the printing industry. The machines are
"appliances" with process graphics files prior to being RIPed for use
in plate making on presses.

My question is which distro is most Mac aware and friendly. For example
is there a distro which makes dealing with Apple talk "easy". I am not
interested in supporting Apple hardware as our device/appliance is
based on generic PC hardware. I am looking for a distro which will
have the least problems fitting into environments which are by
and large Mac centric.

ibbo · #2 9th May 2007, 03:08 PM

I have a mixed OSX linux office.

We use both appletalk and samba for network stuff. I also run several distro's from Slackware to Fedora and all of them hook up just fine. So I will happily state that any distro will acheive your goals.

Ibbo

chas_martel · #3 9th May 2007, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibbo

I have a mixed OSX linux office.

We use both appletalk and samba for network stuff. I also run several distro's from Slackware to Fedora and all of them hook up just fine. So I will happily state that any distro will acheive your goals.

Ibbo

Hmmm, I've not been successful in getting netatalk working with Ubuntu nor
with Fedora. One thing I wanted was a distro that is known to be easily
setup to do netatalk. Anyone in Dallas, Texas want a consulting gig
showing us how to setup netatalk?

ibbo · #4 10th May 2007, 11:29 AM

So I am guessing your exporting directories from the MAC to be mounted by linux.

If so save your headache and use samba which can easily be setup using your Directory Access Util.

Ibbo

mokawi · #5 10th May 2007, 09:55 PM

Gee, I didn't know people still used AppleTalk. I thought openSUSE had done a good intergration work, although I didn't go very far with it because it is very slow--if that's not an issue, it can very well replace Ubuntu, which has abandonned Ubuntu PPC development. I heard some good things about debian; indeed, their speciality is multiple architecture. But in general, I recommend throwing appletalk away; it's not a very compelling technology for linux hackers.
As for Samba: this one gave me some headaches on Ubuntu, so I went for SSH, which has always been a very easy install for me, and simply CUPS for printers. For network anounce, I use avahi (Rendez-vous for linux) along with a few shell scripts (but there might be a decent gui tool for that, I haven't checked). As you might discover, Linux is easier when you build your own scripts.

ibbo · #6 11th May 2007, 02:37 PM

Actually I always found appletalk to provide a much quicker link over other protocals. Perhaps it was simply me and my observations.

That said OSX still comes with its native appletalk so it is still in use and it still works well.

**Finalzone** · #7 12th May 2007, 08:19 AM

Try Yellow Dog Linux which is a derived version of Fedora.

Detonate · #8 12th May 2007, 02:12 PM

I have no personal experience with yellow dog, but I have a friend with a Mac that loves it.
http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/products/ydl/

***Dan*** · #9 12th May 2007, 02:26 PM

Hmmm.

Another question.

Which liveCD distro would be best to stab into a g4 iMac?

Dan

#10 12th May 2007, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finalzone

Try Yellow Dog Linux which is a derived version of Fedora.

/Me slaps Finalzone round the head with a wet kipper!

Why Yellow dog, that's for PPC? The OP said:

Quote:

My question is which distro is most Mac aware and friendly. For example
is there a distro which makes dealing with Apple talk "easy". I am not
interested in supporting Apple hardware as our device/appliance is
based on generic PC hardware. I am looking for a distro which will
have the least problems fitting into environments which are by
and large Mac centric.

Note the bit about: "I am not interested in supporting Apple hardware as our device/appliance is based on generic PC hardware."

Wayne

***Dan*** · #11 12th May 2007, 02:38 PM

Quote:

... slaps Finalzone round the head with a wet kipper!

Ayuck!

Mornin' Wayne.

**Finalzone** · #12 12th May 2007, 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rondonjin

/Me slaps Finalzone round the head with a wet kipper!

Why Yellow dog, that's for PPC? The OP said:

Doh! You're right.

#13 13th May 2007, 12:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finalzone

Doh! You're right.

One of those 'senior moments'

Wayne

#14 13th May 2007, 12:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TangledWeb

Ayuck!

Mornin' Wayne.

Ummm, morning Dan. wondering what to do with the kipper now, even the cats won't touch it

Wayne

powerpc64 · #15 20th May 2007, 10:26 AM

chas_martel: You mean networking/connectivity? Samba is one obvious thing. Network Attached Storage (NAS) might get you places - any box with ethernet can access it. AppleTalk? Do you really need that? I doubt it.

The best way to view OS X from a *nix compatibility standpoint is that it's BSD Unix tweaked for customer lock-in.

Linux can r/w HFS+ file systems, though some distros are configured read-only (Ubuntu) and others require turning the HFS+ journal off, making plain HFS. Do not even bother with Apple's broken "Unix" file system which is a 44bsd bastard child and useless for compatibility, I know from experience. If Apple wanted compatibility they would have done ext3 and XFS.

If you need to run Linux PPC on embedded devices then T2 Linux supports PPC very well.

Macs can get performance boosts by turning Spotlight off - and I mean really off.
http://www.tuaw.com/2005/05/13/tiger...t-turn-it-off/

What you may need to worry about more than "what Linux" is "what image processing code" as you may need specific Mac image formats, depending.

I'd be glad to consider a consulting gig. I have lots of embedded, image processing, and Mac experience (20 years).