PowerPC
From TALinuxWiki
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Generic Linux/PPC
Linux currently runs natively on all PowerPC-based Macintosh computers, some IBM PReP and CHRP workstations, Amiga PowerPC ("APUS") workstations, and various embedded boards.
All Power Macintosh before the G5 are 32-bit PowerPC; the G5 is the first 64-bit Macintosh. Old (pre-PCI) Macs use the NuBus architecture, all others are PCI-based and contain other common hardware like AGP. USB, ATAPI (IDE), and IEEE1394 (Firewire). Aside from PCI/NuBus, the other major hardware division is "New World", meaning iMac and later, and "Old World", meaning pre-iMac.
Altivec is a feature of G4 and G5 CPUs that can process certain types of data very quickly. Some Linux programs, such as DVD players like mplayer, ogle, and xine, can use Altivec to accelerate data streaming.
PPC Models
There are many different PowerPC machines available, the most popular being the Macintosh Power line and to some extent IBM RS6000.
Macintosh
The Macintosh Power machines can be divided into 3 categories, Nubus, Old and New world.
NuBus
The Nubus PPC power is fairly new and support almost all Power Macs with the old Nubus buss. Only 2.4 series kernel is supported at this time.
Old World
New World
IBM
PReP
CHRP
Other
Embedded
Amiga
Toolchains/branch
0.2.0-stable
- gcc 3.2.3
- glibc 2.2.5
0.3.0-unstable
- gcc 3.3.6
- glibc 2.3.5
