To PPC or not PPC?

[Sir Edwin CBE]

Pretty soon I'll be receiving a vintage Mac for free. The specs that I have been given so far are :

Mac Performa 5300
PowerPC 603e @ 100MHz
32MB RAM
2GB Hard Disk
Mac OS 7.5

For reference : this system is an all-in-one, so no separate tower.

What I'd like to know is, would I need a copy of the Mk Linux kernel ( based on Mach and has compatibility for all PPC programs ) or could I put a PPC distro on it?

I've also read that the kernel is dependent on the hardware having x firmware, would it be possible to install this prior to the new OS?

Also, can someone give an indication of PowerPC performance compared to x86? I've only ever tried Linux on x86 but understand PPC is well-supported too.

Thanks

[jledhead]

a ppc version of your distro of choice should work just fine
Debian -- PowerPC Port

[Sir Edwin CBE]

I've now got a copy of the 1st Debian CD with Xfce waiting to be put onto a disk.

I'd also like to know what hardware the PPC linux distros support. Could I get a cheap DVD/RW and put it in and get it working in Linux even if it wouldn't with Macs?