Yellow Dog Linux
| Yellow Dog Linux | |
|---|---|
| developer | Fixstars Solutions (originally Terra Soft Solutions ) |
| License (s) | GPL |
| Current version | 6.2 and 7.0 (6.2: June 30, 2009 7.0: August 8, 2012) |
| ancestry |
GNU / Linux ↳ SLS ↳ Slackware ↳ RHL ↳ Fedora ↳ CentOS ↳ Yellow Dog Linux |
| Architecture (s) | Power derivatives (including PowerPC and Cell ) |
| Languages) | multilingual |
| Others | Price: 6.2: free of charge 7.0: only with server hardware Desktop environment: Enlightenment , GDM , KDE , Xfce |
| www.yellowdoglinux.com | |
Yellow Dog Linux (short YDL ) is a Linux distribution for your computer with a PowerPC - or power - processor . These include workstation computers from the Apple Macintosh series (with PowerPC processor; from 1994 to 2006) and the original PlayStation 3 (with Cell processor) as well as high-performance computers such as IBM's System p (with Power5 processors).
history
Yellow Dog Linux was first published in 1999 by Terra Soft Solutions , based in Colorado , USA . A license agreement with Apple allowed Terra Soft Solutions to sell Macs with Linux pre-installed. Yellow Dog Linux was optimized for the PowerPC architecture from the beginning and was the most widespread Linux distribution on this computer architecture until the end of the PowerPC-based Macs in 2006 .
In November 2008, Terra Soft Solutions was bought by the Japan- based Fixstars Corporation .
Yellow Dog Linux (YDL) was originally based on Red Hat Linux and uses the Yellowdog Updater, Modified (YUM) for package management . Later versions of YDL were based on Fedora , Red Hat's free Linux distribution that emerged from Red Hat Linux in 2003. Version 7, the current version, is based on CentOS . YUM itself therefore runs on all compatible Linux distributions, i.e. in addition to Fedora and CentOS also on RHEL .
YDL uses the package management system RPM Package Manager and includes well-known programs such as Glibc , GCC , Xorg , KDE , Gnome and a current version of the Linux kernel .
Hardware support
Yellow Dog Linux generally has good hardware support and was considered to be quite fast even on old computers. However, some hardware components that were built into PowerPC-based Apple computers cannot be used at all or can only be used rudimentarily under Linux, as the hardware manufacturers do not offer their own device drivers for the Linux / PPC platform (e.g. there are proprietary Linux driver from ATI / AMD - and Nvidia only for the IA-32 - architecture release) and often no specifications of the hardware, so that a developing drivers by the Open source Association of very difficult, z (B. Broadcom WLAN chips that served as the basis for Airport Extreme ). Due to the Linux development model, the PowerPC architecture also benefits from drivers that were actually developed for IA32: almost all PCI , PCIe and USB components for which (open source) Linux support exists, also work on PowerPC computers .
At the beginning, the focus of development was on computers that were available on the market. As a result, almost all Apple Macintosh computers that are PowerPC-based are supported by Yellow Dog Linux. But in 2006 all Apple computers were converted to Intel processors. PowerPC computers were suddenly rare. The focus of the development has therefore shifted more and more towards the server, mostly power processors are used. Cell processors, which are a derivative of the PowerPC architecture, were also supported by Yellow Dog Linux as the first distribution - as early as 2007, the United States Air Force planned to cluster over 2,000 PlayStation 3s in a research center to form a supercomputer. The cluster called “Condor” has been in operation since 2010 and consists of 1,760 consoles running Yellow Dog Linux. It processes 500 teraflops / s and in 2010 was ranked 12th on the list of the top 500 supercomputers in the world.
The current version has been YDL 7 since December 2012, but it is only available together with IBM PowerLinux 7R2 (with Power7 processors) and the Eiger EG-2S Embedded Cell Board.
The following systems are officially supported by the YDL 6, which is also still available for other systems:
- Apple iBook G4, iMac G4, PowerBook G4, and Power Mac G4 and G5
- Apple Xserve G4 and G5
- CSPI
- Curtiss Wright
- Fixstars' GigaAccel 180
- IBM JS2x
- IBM QSx
- IBM POWER
- Mercury Cell
- YDL PowerStation
Older computers are no longer officially supported, but work with small restrictions. These are e.g. B. G3 Macs that were still officially supported under YDL 5.x:
- Power Mac G3 “Blue & White” , iMac G3, iBook G3
Since YDL version 4 a DVD drive is required for installation and yaboot is used to start the operating system, which requires newer Macs with a PowerPC G3 processor (→ “ New World ” ).
Up to YDL 3.x, older Macs ( “Old World” ) were also supported because bootx was used to start the operating system. Various Mac clones could also be started with YDL. The prerequisite for this, however, was at least a 2nd generation PowerPC processor ( PowerPC 603 ).
PlayStation 3
In October 2006 Sony announced that Yellow Dog Linux would support the PlayStation 3 (short form: PS3) released in mid-November 2006 with the new version 5 . It was then announced that an offline version without support, US $ 100 with support and two weeks after the launch as a free online version will be available for around US $ 50. In addition, code from the Barcelona Supercomputer Center is said to have flowed into the distribution. The distribution can be installed on the hard drive integrated in the PlayStation 3 and used as a full operating system. A lot of programs like Firefox , Thunderbird or OpenOffice.org are also included . The desktop environment Enlightenment 17 is used. Thanks to an agreement between Terra Soft Solutions and Sony Computer Entertainment , Yellow Dog Linux is officially supported on the PS3 and can be installed without any hurdles.
Removed support for other operating systems
The new PlayStation 3 Slim, which went on sale in September 2009, no longer supports the function called “Other OS” , so Linux can no longer be installed.
This function was also removed from the original PlayStation 3 with firmware update 3.21 from April 1, 2010, which led to worldwide criticism and even to a lawsuit against Sony in the USA. The last official firmware that enables Linux as a different operating system ( English “Other OS” ) on the PlayStation 3 is version 3.15 from December 10, 2009.
→ Removal of support for other operating systems in the article PlayStation 3
Current development
Since August 2012 There are Yellow Dog Linux 7, but only combined with IBM Power Linux 7R2 servers - rack . The Fixstars Corporation is promoting this, among other things, with the experience from the cluster project with the United States Air Force . The automatic use of vectorization ( AltiVec ) by GCC 4.7 and the optional parallelization solution “M³ Platform” is cited as a major innovation . YDL 7 uses Linux kernel 2.6.32, GCC 4.4.6 and 4.7.0 and glibc 2.12.
In November 2007, version 6.0 of Yellow Dog Linux, still from Terra Soft Solutions , was released. This version was specifically adapted to the high-performance computers IBM BladeCenter QS21, which are operated with Cell processors, and was only available for purchase as a so-called Board Support Package until March 3, 2008 . Based on CentOS 5, YDL 6.0 brings the Linux kernel 2.6.22, glibc 2.5, GCC 4.1.1, the graphical user interface Enlightenment 17, OFED 1.2.5 for Infiniband support and components from IBM's software development kit for multicore acceleration in version 3.0 with. The current version 6.2 from June 2009, which was already released by the Fixstars Corporation , contains - according to its own information - the following improvements:
- ps3vram is said to be 50% faster and is automatically mounted as a SWAP
- libfreevec has been optimized for G4 / G4 + PowerPC processors and is said to have become 25% faster
- Xfce now stands as the fourth desktop in addition to E17 (default), KDE and Gnome to choose from
- Wicd for Apple PowerBooks and the PlayStation 3 should work more reliably
In general, all existing functions have been improved.
PowerPC G3 processors were officially supported up to version 5. PowerPC 603 processors (2nd generation) were supported up to YDL 3.
Versions and release dates
| Legend: |
|---|
| Old version |
| Current version |
| version | Code name | publication | Comments / innovations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 | - | March 8, 1999 | |
| 1.2 | - | March 4, 2000 | |
| 2.0 | Pomona | May 17, 2001 | |
| 2.1 | Fuji | October 17, 2001 | |
| 2.2 | Rome | March 22, 2002 | |
| 2.3 | Dayton | June 23, 2002 | |
| 3.0 | Sirius | March 19, 2003 | |
| 3.0.1 | Sirius | September 17, 2003 | |
| 4.0 | Orion | September 29, 2004 | |
| 4.1 | Sagitta | January 6, 2006 | |
| 5.0 | Phoenix | November 27, 2006 | Yellow Dog Linux 5.0 was the first Linux distribution to officially support Sony's PlayStation 3 (with a Cell processor). |
| 5.0.1 | Phoenix | March 27, 2007 | |
| 5.0.2 | Phoenix | June 14, June 29 and July 11, 2007 |
In addition to desktops and laptops, high-performance computers with POWER processors are also supported for the first time: IBM "System p" servers including JS20 / 21, OpenPower and generally POWER5 systems. |
| 6.0 | Pyxis | February 5, 2008 | PowerPC G3 processors are no longer officially supported with this version. |
| 6.1 | Pyxis | November 19, 2008 | supports the use of the PlayStation 3's 256 MB graphics memory as a SWAP partition |
| 6.2 | ? | June 30, 2009 | With this version, Xfce 4.6 is available as the 4th desktop environment. |
| 7th | ? | August 8, 2012 | Currently only available in conjunction with IBM PowerLinux 7R2. |
Web links
- Yellow Dog Linux (English)
- Installation Support (English)
- Computers Supported - Hardware Compatibility List
Individual evidence
- ↑ Koen Vervloesem: Linux on PowerPC . In: LWN.net . Eklektix, Inc., July 14, 2010, accessed February 7, 2013 .
- ↑ OS news: Terra Soft Acquired by Fixstars , November 11, 2008
- ↑ Installation Manual for Yellow Dog Linux 7. (No longer available online.) Fixstars Corporation, archived from the original on March 21, 2013 ; Retrieved on February 7, 2013 (English): " Linux is collectively one of the top operating systems worldwide, and Fixstars is proud to be a part of this with a CentOS, RPM based Yellow Dog Linux. “ Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Ulrike Kuhlmann: Supercomputer from Playstation 3. In: heise online. Heise Zeitschriften Verlag, December 15, 2010, accessed on February 7, 2013 .
- ↑ Hardware. (No longer available online.) Fixstars Corporation, archived from the original on February 7, 2013 ; Retrieved February 7, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Computer Supported with YDL v6.x . (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on February 12, 2013 ; accessed on February 7, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Unsupported Computers . (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on May 4, 2012 ; accessed on February 7, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Golem.de: Yellow Dog Linux is coming to the PlayStation 3 , October 17th, 2006
- ↑ a b (yellowdog-announce) Introducing the PowerLinux 7R2 Yellow Dog Appliance and Yellow Dog Linux 7 . Retrieved February 7, 2013 .
- ↑ Auto Vectorization Guide for GCC 4.7 . (No longer available online.) Fixstars Corporation, archived from the original on March 19, 2013 ; accessed on February 7, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ What is M³? . (No longer available online.) Fixstars Corporation, archived from the original on February 7, 2013 ; Retrieved February 7, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ PowerLinux - 7R2 Yellow Dog Appliance . (No longer available online.) Fixstars Corporation, 2012, archived from the original on January 18, 2013 ; accessed on February 7, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b (yellowdog-announce) Fixstars Releases YDL v6.2 with Xfce, USB install, and EPEL: Press Release 29 June 2009 . Retrieved February 7, 2013 .
- ↑ heise online: Yellow Dog Linux 6.1 uses the graphics memory of the PlayStation 3 , November 20, 2008
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from January 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from March 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
