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Buying an iBook (questions)

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Calum:
I'm probably going to buy an iBook and i have some VERY basic questions that i would like to hear answers to please:

* it's a G3 iBook. is this a waste of time? i can't really afford anything snazzier.

* it's software is "Mac OSX/OS9", is this good or bad, and why?

* should/can i upgrade it to Jaguar, if so, how, if not, why?

* do i need to do anything special to have normal user admin (eg i want to open an xterm-like window and be able to su - to root, everybody logs in as a nonpriveleged user, can use passwd to change their password, must login using an xdm style login window etc), as is generally default in a graphical linux?

*i am particularly concerned in case the default is to have all users just login as root without any passwordage etc, how can i fix this?

* is there anything else i should know?

thanks in advance! :-D

Pantso:
Calum, if you do buy an iBook I can assure you that you will have made a great investment. Now, to answer your questions:

1) A G3 iBook is what I have also. Specifically, I have an iBook 2002 G3 with a PowerPC processor running at 600MHz. Let me only say that it runs perfectly. If you plan to run OS X though, you should upgrade the RAM and anything above 128MBs will suffice. It's a great investment for a laptop that is worth every penny, or cent or whatever.

2) This means that it comes with both OS 9 (probably 9.2.2) and OS X (probably 10.1.4) as did mine. If it comes with Jaguar which I'm now using (10.2.*), then that's even better. Of course, you may install OS X or OS 9 only but I'm sure you'll opt for the former   :D  If you install both, then you will be able to use OS X's Classic Environment to run OS 9 apps from within OS X with an option to boot into OS 9 directly if you wish, although I don't see the reason why  

3) Of course you should if you can. What I did was buy the upgrade version which came in a discount. I can send it to you. I know I shouldn't be saying this here but it's too expensive to buy, so I'd be glad to help. Also, I can send you the Developers tools CD to take FULL advantage of the BSD subsystem. That way you'll be able to install Darwin Ports, FreeBSD ports etc.

4) The default account in OS X is an admin account. Note that I said admin account and not root account. You can use this account with absolute safety and create as many users as you like, even normal ones without any admin privileges. You can do everything from the Terminal, with the tcsh shell coming as the default one or just go to System Preferences and manage your accounts there. What I did was add my account to the sudoers list and when I have an root job to perform, I type sudo... etc and that's it. Also note that the root account is by default de-activated in OS X and you have to activate it yourself. I will give you more details on that when you get your iBook.

5) Read my post above

6) There are many things I'll tell you to avoid, be aware of so that you may squeeze the best out of the BSD subsystem that comes with OS X. For example, don't get XWindows from Apple but use XonX from the Sourceforge project. I will also tell you how to use Darwin Ports, FreeBSd Ports etc. For more info go to promote-opensource.org

Now, in September I'll probably dump OS X for OpenBSD. The reason is mostly Apple's continuous upgrade cycles and radical changes to the file system, kernel etc with every new version. There's also a rumor that the Developer Tools will be offered as a paid version. Sigh.

That's about it. PM me for more info  

jasonlane:
Panos has said it all so eloquently, can't add anything other that 12'' ibooks are shit hot.

Good job   :D

Calum:
two or three things then,

1) thanks panos! you seem to know a lot which i have no idea about when it comes to MacOSX, so if i do get an iBook i expect i will be coming to you for info a lot

2) money! has reared its head again. it's hard to buy a G3 iBook for

xyle_one:
The upgrade cycles are bothersome. Everytime they release a new os, i have to pay $129. Kinda sucks, wish i could use the "free upgrade coupon" i got when i bought jaguar the first time, but we all know those things don't work. But i still think that getting an iBook is a good idea, and if you get bored with osX, you could always just install a linux distro on there  

i am looking forward to Panther. And i probably will dish out 129 for it  :(

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