TerraSoft Solutions released an update to Yellow Dog Linux v4.0.1. The press release is here.
Yellow Dog v4.0.1 released
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Eugenia Loli
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Then why doesn’t sound or Modems work with the mini? why doesn’t everything work?
is it that Apple doesn’t release the information to them so they can reach complete compatability?
Exactly. Being an authorized *reseller* doesn’t mean that you also have access to the full specs.
The modems are win modems. No idea about sound, but I know I had trouble getting sound to work on YDL 4 on my Powerbook 12″, while Ubuntu set it up correctly upon install.
Apple’s hardware is pretty standard apart from the processors. It’s really up to the manufacturers themselves like nVidia, ATI and Broadcom to release the necessary specs.
Viro:
What do you mean by “winmodem”? Do you mean that they are non-hardware?
Also, don’t the manufacturers (ATI, Broadcom) have license agreements with Apple (making it difficult to legally release those kinds of specs)?
Yes, Winmodems (or Linmodems) are non-hardware modems. They’re found on most laptops and are used in the Powerbooks/iBooks/Mac minis.
ATI, nVidia and Broadcom do not release specs to anybody and this has nothing to do with Apple. Do these companies release the specs for x86? No. nVidia and ATI release closed source drivers but sadly they only support x86, AMD64 and IA-64. If you’re running Linux on a Sparc, Alpha, PPC or any other architecture, you’ve got no drivers.
Broadcom on the other hand doesn’t even release any Linux drivers. On the PC side, some have managed to get Broadcom devices working via ndiswrapper. This doesn’t work on other architectures due to the way ndiswrapper works.
we have had to make do with yellowdog for a long time (or atempt debian/gentoo), an dit has generally been about a year behind the redhat it is based on. now ubuntu is making an easy to use ppc distro which is very up to date, works well, configures well etc. so can yellowdog, who should really know their stuff by now, keep up?
for a powerbook using linux fan this is good news.
ssam
All Apple would have to do is tell its suppliers, “Look, we want GNU/Linux to run on our hardware, so release the necessary specs or we’ll find another chipset” but they won’t.
Their hardware is only as open as it has to be.
Apple is not totally just a hardware company. As it’s been pointed out elsewhere, Apple doesn’t sell hardware, they sell the “Mac Experience” (hardware + software). And I’m sure it doesn’t please them all that much that folks are ruining their pleasant ideal by putting GNU/Linux on their hardware.
The comment that YDL is a year behind the Red Hat on which it is based has no foundation:
1) YDL is based on Fedora.
2) Red Hat does not have a distribution for Apple hw, therefore it is impossible to be “behind” them.
3) The comments that Apple withholds specs are 100% correct. All features are reversed engineered by Ben H., the TSS staff, and a number of proactive community members.
4) Which feature of any distribution, exactly, is beyond the support provided by YDL v4.0.1?
kai
Assuming for a moment that Apple were to try and do what you suggest, threaten the manufacturers to release specs or they leave, what video card are they going to use then? Matrox? ATI and nVidia do not release the specs to their video cards on *any* architecture. If the PC market which is far bigger can’t get the video card manufacturers to release their specs, how on earth is Apple going to with their minuscule 2% of market share?
Why single out Apple? All computer manufacturers don’t really care for open driver specs. If not why don’t Sun and IBM, the most vocal Linux supporters do something about it?
Apple are not a hardware company at all. they are a design company.
“. If the PC market which is far bigger can’t get the video card manufacturers to release their specs, how on earth is Apple going to with their minuscule 2% of market share?
”
for proprietary OS manufacturers like MS releasing the specs would actually put them at a disadvantage. they arent going to ask.
”
Why single out Apple? All computer manufacturers don’t really care for open driver specs. If not why don’t Sun and IBM, the most vocal Linux supporters do something about it?”
if you think Sun is a linux supporter you havent really understood their strategy with solaris. IBM cares about selling its server hardware and solutions. on desktops they dont bundle linux at all. they dont have to care either. there is a open graphics project effort to built a completely open specs graphics card for linux and other operating systems. it is expected on the second or third quarter. read kerneltrap.org for details
All Apple would have to do is tell its suppliers, “Look, we want GNU/Linux to run on our hardware, so release the necessary specs or we’ll find another chipset” but they won’t.
And then ATI and Nvidia say, “Ok, fine, don’t buy our hardware.” What then?
I’m sure, right now, Apple’s feeling lucky to have Nvidia and ATI both making cards for the Mac platform. Why would they stick their neck out, risking losing a key component to their major products, all for the benefit of a competing OS? And what makes you so sure it would do any good?
It seems pretty clear Nvidia and ATI don’t want to release the source code for their drivers, and they just aren’t dependent enough on Apple to cave to any such demands. Microsoft, Dell, Sony… companies like these might have some influence, but I get the feeling that the problem is that the graphic chipset companies are trying to protect their secrets from each other.
I’m sure, right now, Apple’s feeling lucky to have Nvidia and ATI both making cards for the Mac platform.
Apple feeling lucky about it?! I’m sure Nvidia and ATI are both feeling lucky that they’ve got such a big fat cash cow buying their product in volume.
To think they make video cards for the mac out of the goodness of their heart is naivety at it’s best.
Apple feeling lucky about it?! I’m sure Nvidia and ATI are both feeling lucky that they’ve got such a big fat cash cow buying their product in volume.
I’m sure they’re glad that they have a deal with Apple, but remember, at this point, you’re talking about a small percentage of the PC market (what is it now, 3%?). It’s not a “cash cow” either ATI or Nvidia couldn’t live without. It would be a lot harder for Apple to live without the video cards ATI and Nvidia produce.
Look at it this way: If Apple stopped buying video chips from these companies, what would happen to Apple? They would have to find another manufacturer, and they can’t make more computers until they do. Since there aren’t any alternatives at present that are very good, Macintoshes would get bashed really hard for being “underpowered” and “substandard technology”. All the possibility of Apple attracting game developers dry up. It would be a HUGE problem.
Now, let’s think about what happens to Nvidia and ATI: They still have 97% of the PC market to compete over, plus game consoles. They’ve missed out on some money from losing Apple’s business, but Apple’s 3% market share is dropping due to the fact that they have really crappy video cards. Let’s say it’s gone from 3% to 1%– where did the other 2% go? To manufacturers like Dell. Whose video cards does Dell sell? ATI and Nvidia. So how much have these video chipset manufacturers lost? Very little.
Seeing how a lot of PCs today are sold with Intel Integrated Graphics and not a GPU from ATI or NVIDIA, I couls see how Apple, which uses discrete GPUs for all their products, could be a good market for them.
No reason to get an ATI or NVIDIA chip on a business PC when the integrated graphics will run Office just fine. I wonder how many systems Dell or HP, etc. now sell with integrated graphics vs. ATI/NVIDIA cards.
Anonymous (IP: 209.73.236.—) wrote:
It seems pretty clear Nvidia and ATI don’t want to release the source code for their drivers, [snip]
No one said anything about releasing source code. We’re talking about Apple asking a chip manufacturer to release chipset specs. (I’m guessing that the actual card manufacturer would be willing to release specs if they’re contract with the chip manufacturer allowed them to.)
Anonymous (IP: 61.246.225.—) wrote:
there is a open graphics project effort to built a completely open specs graphics card for linux and other operating systems. it is expected on the second or third quarter. read kerneltrap.org for details
The Open Graphics Project
http://kerneltrap.org/node/4622?PHPSESSID=2b601b8ae81b9ef7a30752b92…
http://www.techsource.com/
I hope they’re marketing like crazy to Apple.
they’re –> their
I ca’t find a single usaility page on Openusability.