Re: Installation on Macbook Pro

[Bill Hacker <wbh@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Christopher Rawnsley wrote:
> On 9 Mar 2008, at 21:10, Bill Hacker wrote:
> > I would actually recommend an external HDD on FW-800 or USB2.
>
> I don't have one of those handy at the moment so I think I'll keep on 
> trying without for the moment.
>
> > Apple marches to the beat of a whole different orchestra w/r disk 
> > layout & labels, so I had to do that to get FreeBSD/PPC or OpenBSD/PPC 
> > up on my G4 PowerBook 17".
>
> Ah maybe but I like to try none-the-less :)
>
> > And I don't use hfs at all - not even for OS X.
>
> Mind me asking what you use and why?

Apple's UFS. Not fully compatible with 'real' UFS, but:

- gives me consistent directory structure, file handling and 
case-sensitivity across the PowerBook and the  *BSD & *n*x servers I 
work with all day.

- makes it easier to keep 'Finder' like stuff from defecating in the 
machinery.

- which - along with a few other tweaks, lets a 1 GHz G4 perform really 
well with 12 'desktops', yet w/o having to listen to its raspy 
variable-speed cooling fan unless the room is over 24 C or so.

> > DFLY  - or any *BSD - needs only a fraction of the resources even a 
> > cleand-up and stripped-down OS X consumes.
>
> Well I don't have any problems with it. Runs lovely and smooth. Of 
> course, I would like to get DragonFly running like that too.
>
> --
> Chris

Not knocking it 'as shipped'.

But the tweaks above - and a higher-RPM replacement HDD - have extended 
the useful life of the G4 by several years already. The replacement may 
well be a few more years out - and maybe ARM RISC based or such as this 
beast is quite heavy once in the Halliburton case it needs to stay 
healthy at 50 to 75 thousand air miles a year.

Other than the above tweaks, I keep the PowerBook as a 'don't f**k with' 
appliance as all but one other machine within reach (seldom fewer than 
half a dozen) is constantly being reconfigured. Some host a full dozen 
OS or variants on one box.

Too easy to lose track of stuff without an 'appliance' as sanity-anchor.

or attempted one, anyway ..

;-)

Bill