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Recently while cleaning out a closet at school, we found an old iMac with OS 9.2 installed. We want to use it to type up documents and simple tasks like ...
  1. 06-21-2010 #1
    nicbart9
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    Found an old iMac and want to load linux onto it

    Recently while cleaning out a closet at school, we found an old iMac with OS 9.2 installed. We want to use it to type up documents and simple tasks like that for honor society and I got permission to wipe out the os and change it from the teacher. I have experience with ubuntu and would prefer to install that, but what distro do you think will be best suited for this computer? From what i can figure out it is about 10 years old with a 40 gb hard drive.

    Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
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  2. 06-21-2010 #2
    MASONTX
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    With 40 GB you wont be limited by the HDD, it will depend on the RAM. Most *buntu flavors want at least 128 MB RAM (Lubuntu), and Ubuntu and Kubuntu recomend 1 GB. Xubuntu and Mint say 256 MB, but run better with 512 MB. Other possibilities are Peppermint (a Mint offshoot) or Ubuntu Netbook edition. Download live CD's of them and try them each out to see what works on the machine.
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  3. 06-21-2010 #3
    nicbart9
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    I wasn't able to figure out the RAM, but i think that the ubuntu netbook edition would be a decent choice considering the limitations we have. thank you
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  4. 06-21-2010 #4
    MASONTX
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    I don't know a lot about the Netbook edition, but I downloaded it last night to try on an ancient laptop at work (too old). Just to see what it looked like, I put the live CD in my desktop, and was really impressed with what I saw. When I have time, I may check it out further and replace my Lynx desktop with the Netbook one, or at least try dual booting for awhile to test it further. Good look with your project.
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  5. 06-21-2010 #5
    jayd512
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    Quote Originally Posted by nicbart9 View Post
    I wasn't able to figure out the RAM, but i think that the ubuntu netbook edition would be a decent choice considering the limitations we have. thank you
    To figure out the RAM count, click on the Apple menu in the top left. Go to 'About this Computer'.

    It should be listed there.
    Not sure what you have... but a lot of the Macs that came out with OS9 had something like 128 or 192 RAM. Also you might want to look at the 'Apple System Profiler' to see if you can determine what type of processor you have (it's also on the Apple menu).

    You'll likely have a PPC, though I may be wrong on that. If so, however, you'll want to look for a PPC compatible distro.
    Last edited by jayd512; 06-21-2010 at 08:07 PM. Reason: typo
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