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| Company / developer | Terra Soft Solutions |
|---|---|
| OS family | Linux |
| Working state | Active |
| Source model | Open source |
| Latest stable release | 6.0 ‘Pyxis’/ February 5, 2008 |
| Supported platforms | Power Architecture, Cell |
| Kernel type | Monolithic kernel |
| Default user interface | Enlightenment |
| License | GPL, LGPL, others |
| Website | www.yellowdoglinux.com |
Yellow Dog Linux, also YDL, is a free-software, open-source GNU/Linux distribution for the Sony PlayStation 3, PowerPC 970- and POWER5-based IBM System p workstations and servers (including IBM 510/520/540 and IBM JS20/21), and PowerPC G4- and G5-based Apple Macintosh computers. Developed by Loveland, Colorado (USA)-based Terra Soft Solutions, Yellow Dog Linux was first released in 1999 for the Apple Macintosh. The most recent version, version 6.0 ‘Pyxis,’ was released on 5 February 2008.[1]
Contents |
Features
Yellow Dog Linux is based on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux/CentOS core and relies on the RPM package manager. Like other mainstream Linux distributions, Yellow Dog Linux includes common free-software user applications such as Ekiga (a voice-over-IP and videoconferencing application), The GIMP image editing program, Gnash (a substitute for Adobe Flash), GStreamer (and the Fluendo codec installer), gThumb (an image viewer), the Mozilla Firefox Web browser, the Mozilla Thunderbird e-mail and news client, the OpenOffice.org productivity suite, Pidgin (an instant messaging and IRC client), the Rhythmbox music player, and the Noatun and Totem media players.
Since YDL version 5.0 ‘Phoenix,’ Enlightenment has been the default desktop environment in Yellow Dog Linux, although GNOME and KDE are also included.
Like other Linux distributions, Yellow Dog Linux supports software development with GCC (compiled with support for C, C++, Java, and Fortran), the GNU C Library, GDB, GLib, the GTK+ toolkit, Python, the Qt toolkit, Ruby, Tcl, and XFree86. Standard text editors such as Vim and Emacs are complemented with IDEs such as Eclipse and KDevelop, as well as by graphical debuggers such as KDbg. Standard document preparation tools such as TeX and LaTeX are also included.
Yellow Dog Linux includes software suitable for running a Web server (such as Apache/httpd, Perl, and PHP), database server (such as MySQL and PostgreSQL), and network server (NFS and Webmin). Additional software is also included for running an enterprise server or a compute server or cluster, although two separate products from Terra Soft Solutions, called Yellow Dog Enterprise Linux (for enterprise servers) and Y-HPC (for compute servers/clusters), are specifically targeted toward those applications.
The most recent version of Yellow Dog Linux, version 6.0 ‘Pyxis,’ is based on version 2.6.23 of the Linux kernel and ships with gcc version 4.1.1, glibc version 4.1.1, and Eclipse version 3.2.2. This version is also claimed to be the “[t]he only Linux distribution to include by default Cell SDK v3.0.”[1]
All in all, Yellow Dog Linux Version 6.0 ‘Pyxis’ ships with over 2000 software packages.[2]
Although several other Linux distributions support the Power Architecture, Yellow Dog Linux was distinguished for its focus on supporting the Apple Macintosh platform before the Apple Intel transition. Before this transition, Terra Soft Solutions held the unique distinction of being the only company licensed by Apple to resell Apple computers with Linux pre-installed (or for that matter, with any operating system other than Mac OS X). As a result, compared to other Linux distributions that support the Power Architecture, to this day Yellow Dog Linux has equal or better support ‘out of the box’ for Apple hardware, including accelerated graphics and sound card support for Apple Power Macs and notebooks (and in particular, ATI and Nvidia graphics chip sets), as well as built-in support for backlit keyboards, power management, and trackpads on Apple iBooks and PowerBooks (Apple’s discontinued line of PowerPC-based notebook computers). Full support for AirPort (Apple’s implementation of the IEEE 802.11b-1999 wireless networking standard), and partial support for AirPort Extreme, are also built into Yellow Dog Linux, as are support for Bluetooth and support for accessing the Internet over cellular phones.
Following Apple’s transition to using Intel processors exclusively in their Macintosh line of computers, Yellow Dog Linux has now been retargeted to support the Sony PlayStation 3 and IBM pSeries platforms extensively, while retaining its longstanding support for PowerPC-based Apple hardware.
Distribution
Yellow Dog Linux is sold by Terra Soft Solutions in several packages ranging from $50 for DVD media (install DVD plus source code DVD) to $100 for DVD media plus support. Terra Soft Solutions also markets Sony PlayStation 3 consoles and IBM workstations and servers with Yellow Dog Linux pre-installed. As is the case with most other Linux distribution vendors, a portion of the revenue from the sale of these boxed distributions goes toward development of the GNU/Linux operating system and applications, the results of which are then re-released into the free software community.
Releases
The following table summarizes the release history of Yellow Dog Linux (source: DistroWatch.com):
| Version | Name | Release date | Linux kernel | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 | ? | 8 March 1999 | 2.2.15 | |
| 1.2 | ? | 4 March 2000 | 2.2.19 | |
| 2.0 | Pomona | 17 May 2001 | 2.4.10 | |
| 2.1 | Fuji | 17 October 2001 | 2.4.18 | |
| 2.2 | Rome | 22 March 2002 | 2.4.19 | |
| 2.3 | Dayton | 23 June 2002 | 2.4.20 | |
| 3.0 | Sirius | 19 March 2003 | 2.4.22 | |
| 3.0.1 | " | 17 September 2003 | 2.4.22 | Fixes issue with RPMs in ver. 3.0 |
| 4.0 | Orion | 29 September 2004 | 2.6.15-rc5 | |
| 4.1 | Sagitta | 2 February 2006 | " | |
| 5.0 | Phoenix | 27 November 2006 | ? | Support for PlayStation 3 (Cell) |
| 5.0.1 | " | 27 March 2007 | ? | |
| 5.0.2 | " | 14 June 2007 | 2.6.22-rc4 | Support for IBM pSeries |
| 6.0 | Pyxis | 5 February 2008 | 2.6.23 |
References
- ^ a b “Terra Soft Releases YDL v6.0 for Apple PowerPC, Sony PS3, IBM System P,” Terra Soft Solutions press release, 5 February 2008.
- ^ Yellow Dog Linux Web site.
External links
Primary links
- Yellow Dog Linux home page
- YDL download mirrors for both the DVD ISO images and all source code
- YDL documentation
- Yellow Dog Linux mailing list
- YDL.net – Yellow Dog Linux user community and services
- Terra Soft Solutions home page
Related links
- DistroWatch.com page for Yellow Dog Linux – YDL stats, specs, and version info.
- yellowdog-board.com – Yellow Dog Linux user forum
- amulet.co.jp/YDL – Japanese version of YDL from Amulet (a Terra Soft Solutions business partner)
- penguinppc.org – Linux on PowerPC site
Reviews
- “Software Review: Yellow Dog Linux 5 for PlayStation 3” – BlogCritics Magazine review of YDL version 5.0
- “Yellow Dog Linux 5.0 Hands-on” – IGN.com review of YDL version 5.0
- “Yellow Dog Linux 4.1 on a PowerMac Quad G5” – PPCNUX review of YDL version 4.1
- “Yellow Dog Linux for the Macintosh: Popping the Kernel” – InformIT review of YDL version 4.0
- “Yellow Dog Linux 4.0: Some Install Notes” – ppcnerds.org review of YDL version 4.0
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