PowerPC, often abbreviated PPC, is a CPU architecture developed by IBM, Apple, and Motorola (now Freescale). Variants can be found in many embedded applications, as well as video game consoles such as the PS3 (Cell), Xbox 360 (Xenon), and the Wii (Broadway). It could previously be found in Apple Macintoshes, before the switch to Intel processors.
Linux support[]
Linux first supported the starting in 1995. It now supports virtually all models of PowerPC processors, and many devices with the chips in them. Supported devices include:
- Most PPC Macs
- The PS3
- The Xbox 360 (unofficial; via the Free60 project])
- The GameCube (unofficial; via the GameCube Linux project)
- The Nintendo Wii (unofficial)
Distributions[]
Many distributions are available for PowerPC computers. Some of the following are:
- Yellow Dog Linux
- OpenSUSE
- Fedora (unofficial)
- Ubuntu (Community support only; official support for versions pre-7.04)
- Gentoo
- Debian
- GeeXboX (support dropped in newer versions)
External Links[]
Useful sites[]
- PenguinPPC - A useful repository of information about Linux on PowerPC processors.
- PPCNUX - A magazine with the latest news about PPC-related Linux releases.
- History of Linux on the PPC
Distributions[]
- CRUX PPC
- Yellow Dog Linux
- OpenSUSE
- Fedora -Download page with PPC version
- Ubuntu PPC port (community support only) - The Ubuntu forums where you can find help are here
- Debian PPC port
- GeeXboX
- Slackintosh