Hi,

> If I get it, I wouldn't like to have to buy any software to make it
> usable.  Furthermore, I doubt Mac OS X could work fine in it (hey, I may
> be wrong!).  So my idea would be to install NetBSD 3.0_BETA on it all
> alone.

A 600 MHz G3 is more than fast enough to comfortably run OS X provided you 
have at least 256 megs. Since memory is so cheap, you might even go for a 
single 512 meg SO-DIMM. I have a first generation iMac upgraded with a 600 
MHz G3, and it runs OS X just fine - even runs Final Cut Express.

Of course, running NetBSD, 128 megs is more than enough for most things.

> Based on my previous experience with the mac68k, which needs a copy of
> Mac OS to boot NetBSD... is this required in NetBSD/macppc?  I think the
> answer is not, but I'd like to be sure.

No.

> Secondly, how well is the hardware supported by the NetBSD port?
> Networking? The airport card (dunno if it has one)? Graphics?

Yes and yes, but graphics can be a bit of a pain to set up.

> That's it.  Sorry if these questions sound very stupid.  They are
> probably part of some FAQ (and I see some related things in the NetBSD
> FAQ)... but they seem not to address these exact questions related to
> this model.

If you really want to run X on this machine, you should get some other 
feedback for that.

> PS: And The-non-NetBSD-related-question: does 220 euros sound like too
> much for such a computer?  I did a bit of research and similar
> second-hand iBooks seem to be more expensive.  But dunno if it is worth
> it (no idea about ppc prices...).

That's not a bad price, but I guess it depends on what you want to do with 
it. Poor film industry students / interns would gladly pay 220 euros for 
that machine where I am. If you're interested in doing any video work, any 
Mac with FireWire is the best way to do it, and that would be a good price 
for such a machine. And if you run OS X, you can still play around and 
improve pkgsrc, too.

John Klos