On Sun, 2005-04-10 at 14:04 -0700, John Klos wrote:
> 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.

Cool!  Anyway, aside eye-candy, NetBSD with some lightweight window
manager could fit all my needs, and it'd be free :)

> > 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.

OK.

> > 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.

Aha.  I guess it'll depend on the size of the screen, right?  Graphics
card?  (I'd thought all models could be similar, but I was wrong...)
I just saw a recent post in the archives from a guy saying he got it
working on a 14" model.

> > 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.

I'll ask more if I can get more information about the machine.

> > 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.

Well, I wouldn't do much multimedia stuff on it aside playing some music
and eventually some videos (hence, maybe buying an iBook is not such a
good idea).  I would basically use it to have a machine to carry around
and do some work (writing, programming, etc.) while away from home (so
NetBSD could be enough provided that it supports graphics and networking
correctly).

> And if you run OS X, you can still play around and 
> improve pkgsrc, too.

Yeah, that'd be another use; play around and improve pkgsrc ;)

Thanks for the quick answer!

-- 
Julio M. Merino Vidal <jmmv84@gmail.com>
http://www.livejournal.com/users/jmmv/
The NetBSD Project - http://www.NetBSD.org/