LinuxPPC on the Macintosh PowerBook

The great thing about laptops today is that, for most intents and purposes, they are the equal of desktop machines. You may not want to do heavy-duty video production on a PowerBook using any operating system, but for writing, database work, telecommunications, networking (especially networking) and game playing, the PowerBook running Linux is the equal of any machine in its class.

Programming can be a major use of a home-based Linux machine. There is no better platform than Linux for learning to program. UNIXl recently, I wouldn't have said that, because my concept of programming in a UNIX environment was always command-line-based, and professional programming has long since left the command-line world. With the proliferation of X-based GUI environments like GNOME and KDE, not only can a home-based Linux machine enable you to get a good introduction in modern, object-oriented languages like C++, Java and Tcl/Tk, but you have the opportunity to significantly contribute to the Linux community as your skills develop. Now you can develop those valuable skills on the bus ride home with all the included development packages Linux can put on your PowerBook.

A prime use for a home-based Linux machine is in networking. The Internet was built, and continues to be dominated by, UNIX-based machines. High-speed broadband Internet access has entered the home, and it's here that Linux can play one of its most useful roles. Included in any Linux computer is the ability to act as a masquerading gateway machine, allowing many machines on one side of the gateway machine to effectively share one Internet IP address at the same time. This ability allows you to put all your home machines onto an Internet connection simultaneously.

This use mandates grabbing the source code for the kernel you are running (it's on the CD if you bought the package, and on the Net if you downloaded the package) and recompile the kernel to include IP masquerading. Once that's done, grab the latest version of IP chains from ftp://ftp.linuxppc.org/. This tool will allow you to set up your IP masquerading gateway very simply via scripts. More information on how this might be set up for your machine can be found in the Linux on PowerPC FAQ-O-Matic (see Resources).

Feel a little queasy right now at the thought of compiling your own kernel? Well, especially for something as popular as IP masquerading, someone has already done the work for you. Investigate, via the Linux on PowerPC FAQ-O-Matic, the possibility of using a pre-compiled kernel which has already been set up for the features you need. With IP masquerading set up on an older PowerPC Macintosh (even a PowerBook), your home can enjoy the same networking possibilities, for a lower cost and less with complexity, that large corporations did just a couple of years ago.

Linux machines are better at multitasking their resources than any other operating system on the market today. You have unparalleled control over how much CPU time each application will need on average. I use this ability to run such applications as SETI@home and the RC5 code-cracking client in the background while using my machine to do other things. Both projects have PPC Linux versions available as binaries, or you can build your own client from sources in the RC5 project's case. Here, the creativity of the Linux programming community has shown through most strongly. For both of these projects, Linux users have far more choice and control over the information these clients are generating than with either Windows or Mac OS. Use your portable Linux power to contribute to the search for ET or to convince the government that we need larger cryptography keys (see Resources).

How about everyday, real-world applications like word processing, databases and spreadsheets? Even though Linux started life as a “geek project”, significant progress is being made in getting office productivity packages onto PPC Linux. Having said that, I also have to report that PPC Linux is behind Intel-based Linux in this regard. The “version” of Linux you're using isn't a problem if you have the program's source code and can build the binaries yourself, but commercial applications such as Corel WordPerfect don't give their source code away for us to build PPC versions of their programs. We have to persuade these companies that there are enough of us out here in the PPC world to care about!

Does this mean we're out in the cold? Of course not! More and more progress is being made in educating companies to jump onto the Linux bandwagon to offer PPC versions of their binaries. And, as is usual with the Linux community, we've taken the bull by the horns ourselves. One of the most exciting “office productivity” projects currently taking place is KOffice, a Microsoft Office-like program suite made to operate under KDE and licensed under the GPL.

KOffice, which is currently designated “alpha software”, consists of several parts. KWord is the suite's word processor. It supports frames, multiple columns, headers, footers, numbering of chapters, auto-correction, spell checking and templates. Import filters that include Word97 are being written. The suite's spreadsheet component is called Kspread. Other components include KPresenter, KIllustrator, KImageShop, Katabase, KChart and KImage. These components each do exactly what you might guess they would. KIllustrator is a vector drawing program, whereas KImageShop is an image processor and KImage is an image viewer.

What makes me excited about KOffice as opposed to other possible productivity software offerings such as Corel WordPerfect or Sun's StarOffice? Quite simply, KOffice is distributed under the GPL. Leaving aside the legal, financial and possible moral issues with regard to the GPL, the fact that KOffice is distributed under that license means more than just being able to read and study the source code. Even though KOffice might be directly marketed to the x86 crowd, a recompile of the sources will make it a wonderful tool for the portable PPC-chip folks. That's an advantage you don't get with Corel or even Sun, as friendly as they have been to the Linux and Macintosh communities. KDE is currently at version 1.1.2, with the much-awaited version 2.0 due out by the time you read this. KOffice is designed to be integrated into KDE as a collection of components. Indeed, components and how KDE uses them are the main difference between KDE V1.1.x and the upcoming KDE V2.0.

Linux has continued its great advance into the PowerPC/Macintosh world. Slowly—I think more slowly than most Linux fans would want—the operating system is moving into an arena where it might be generally useful. Still, right now, Linux is a specialized operating system catering to developers, networkers and IT professionals. With the ever-increasing hardware support in both the Intel and PowerPC chip communities, and with GUI desktop support given by such packages as KDE and GNOME, Linux is positioning itself for mainstream big time. Already, this is percolating down to us in the form of equal installations on laptop computers, and attention by big-name publishers and developers in both the Intel and PPC-based worlds. The future continues to look bright.

Resources

The Good, The Bad