Old imac g3 what should it boot and how to

[Voldas]

Hello, my name is James

My family's imac g5 2005 model (without isight if anybody was wondering) just died and we are forced to pull out the old imac g3 slot loading blueberry imac with os 9.1 installed on it. i surfed around on this for a good hour or so looking at old claris work pictures I made as a kid. thats when i noticed how slow the operating system was so i looked at os 10.1 and osx 10.2 just finding out they are not abandon ware yet which annoyed me. My Family being the law abiding apple users don't want to download a pirated osx 10.1 or 10.2 ( or shovel out the dough for the operating systems on ebay) so i was wondering what ubuntu (or other lubuntu xubuntu etc.) os would be a good match for this system being so old i know it wont run that fast but we need a quick computer to get us by with our tight budget these days we cant go out and buy a new imac . Also could you please help me by giving directions on how to install this os on the imac it has 10 gig hardrive ill try to get the other specs up if you need them. thanks in advance.

[rsavage]

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1798792

[snafu006]

Can you tell us the cpu mhz speed and how much ram is install

[Voldas]

I am going out of town today but I will tell you tomorrow.

[Voldas]

Here are the specs imac g3 128mb of ram (I think it is able to hold 1 gb of ram) 400 mhz g3 processor 10gb hard with an airport card not sure which one though if that matters. if you need to know anything else just ask.

[oswaldkelso]

128mb of ram is half the minimum recommended for Lubuntu. You really need to build your desktop from the alternate install CD. In that case you'd be better off installing Debian getting better PPC support and being done with it.

With that little ram you can build a usable desktop but running a full blown browser and other "normal" apps will require you to keep an eye on their ram requirements. My guest computer, an imac 333mhz has 256mb and runs lxde fine but 128mb will need to to monitored with care.

[rsavage]

Er no. The minimum memory needed for lubuntu is 128mb. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Lubuntu/Rele...s/NattyNarwhal

The link I gave (post #2) has detailed instructions on how to do a minimal instalation of lubuntu. There is no live cd for ppc, so regardless of your memory that is the only way to go.

How does debian have better ppc support? I'd love this to be explained. Is there a dedictaed place on the debian forum to discuss ppc? If that is the case, then why do debian users come on here?

[rsavage]

Oswaldkelso is correct though that more memory would probably be better. I'd give it a go first with what you have and if you find you are digging into swap memory alot then I'd investigate installing more memory. You can pick up suitable memory on ebay for very little money these days.