Linux on PPC machines. This is something that is relatively new in the computer world when you compare it to, say, linux on an x86 based machine or an Alpha, but things are finally starting to come around for us PPC users.

Until now, the options for using Linux on this hardware has been rather limited. First there was MkLinux (Sponsored in part by Apple), and Linux PPC. They were two very different approaches to running Linux. MkLlinux was based on the Mach kernel (same kernel Darwin and OS X are based on), and Linux PPC was the first based on a monolithic kernel, meaning that the kernel is made for a very specific set of hardware components, and can be configured for specific hardware in your machine. This was a great start.

Somewhere along the way MkLinux dwindled into near nothingness, and another contender came into the Linux on PPC marketplace. It is called Yellow Dog Linux, and for most purposes, is very similar to Linux PPC. It and Linux PPC are both based on RedHat Linux, meaning that they carry a similar file system structure and use the RPM package manager, and runs on the same kernels as Linux PPC does. This new distribution of linux gave users somewhat of a choice, but still limited us to a RedHat based (I personally detest RPM based systems, but that is my personal choice) distribution.

In the not so near future, things may drastically change for PPC users. There are some lights on the horizon that are hard not to notice. A couple of the 'big' players in the Linux world are porting their distributions to PPC architecture, and this is a good thing. Both Debian Linux and SuSE Linux have in the works distributions that will run on all PCI or better powermacs and various other selected PPC machines. This is where things get interesting.

You see, Linux PPC and Yellow Dog Linux are relatively new upstart companies when it comes to the Linux world, and they just do not have the corporate power and user base that both Debian and SuSE boast. Debian and SuSE are big players in the Linux world on x86, and I am hoping this success will spread rapidly to the ppc world. They have vast software archives (something which has plagued PPC Linux from the start is the lack of ported software), and can bring a lot of good things to us PPC users.

What is the point to this all you ask? Well, my big question is what is going to happen to Linux PPC and Yellow Dog once the larger companies start promoting their distributions? Are they going to whither and die like MkLinux? I think not, but I know that they are definitely feel the crunch from the competition.

Linux PPC has just released their 2000 release, if you can call it that. I do online support for Linux users on a hotline server at hotline://cafelinux.dhs.org, and there have been no end of problems with this new release. This is forgivable in some ways, as there are many things to be worked out in a small time frame with a smallish staff, but there are some things with this distribution that have been long standing problems that are not yet resolved. I have been a long time supporter of Linux PPC (in fact I was the first person to get a MacTell clone working with this distro back in the day, but alas this was a long time ago). All in all I found the release to be a big dissapointment.

Yellow Dog Linux has announced, multiple times now, their 'Gone Home' release of Linux, geared for the average user. For anyone who has actually used Linux, you will realize that first of all it is not for the average user. You have to have no fear of getting your hands dirty with this operating system. This release seems to be vaporware, or at least so far. Linux is a server oriented operating system as it stands, and I cannot forsee it getting much easier for the average user in the near future. In my eyes this puts neither company in too great a stance for the release of some stiff competition.

So just how are they going to compete with big names in linux such as SuSE and Debian? It seems that we will have to wait as only time will tell...