# PPC G4 switching advice



## jjex22 (Oct 6, 2010)

Hi all, I have been using linux for a around a year now and am happy with it on the whole - I have pretty basic hardware - an intel atom netbook (as a writer I'm often working on the move) and a now frankly ancient Emac (ppc g4, 1ghz, 1Gb RAM, 40GB Hdd, usb 1.1, 1394, ati radeon, dvd-r) I run gentoo linux on both as my primary work environment (as I am able to tailor it easily at set up to my simple systems.) I also keep a copy of the original software (tiger osx, windows XP) on the respective hardware for when they come in handy and have been using ubuntu as my general 'just on the computer' OS.

Using Gentoo has developed my interest in BSD as they seem to have 'borrowed' the portage system from BSD, and I am interested in trying it out on the old emac to potentially replace ubuntu, a very bloated system for my needs I just have a couple of questions;

Are there going to be unreconcilable compatibility issues? with USB 1.1, I tend to use firewire to an external SATA Hdd (internal is ATA) and unfortunately, this functionality is a core requirement.

What kind of performance can I expect? Is this going to be a case of install a live cd then spend days stripping the system out and rebuilding the desktop with lighter programs? 

Provided it is possible to meet my over the top requirements, as BSD users, which variant (is it right to say distro in BSD?) would you recommend? I understand this is a free BSD forum, but it seems from my browsing that several variants base themselves on this OS, so it seemed a good place to start!

Thank you so much in advance for and help and advice you can offer!


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## sossego (Oct 6, 2010)

> Are there going to be unreconcilable compatibility issues? with USB 1.1, I tend to use firewire to an external SATA Hdd (internal is ATA) and unfortunately, this functionality is a core requirement.


 No. You have to choose a disk from which to install. If it is external, The boot block must be on it followed by the other partitions.




> What kind of performance can I expect? Is this going to be a case of install a live cd then spend days stripping the system out and rebuilding the desktop with lighter programs?


 The kind you get building from the base up. There is no liveCD unless you make it yourself. You may spend days building the system. Since I have the same graphics card as you but on a G4 Powermac, I'll probably post my xorg and other files on here in the event you need them.



> Provided it is possible to meet my over the top requirements, as BSD users, which variant (is it right to say distro in BSD?) would you recommend? I understand this is a free BSD forum, but it seems from my browsing that several variants base themselves on this OS, so it seemed a good place to start!


 I've had positive experience with OpenBSD and FreeBSD on a G3.


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