Loading Linux on an iMac

If your iMac is intel based, then yes:

This link might be of interest.

You should be able to formally install linux two other ways. The first way is to create a Boot camp partition. See this link. To run Boot Camp requires a reboot of your machine and specifically select Boot Camp when it restarts. When you boot from Boot Camp you can not run OS X at the same time. You must reboot and select OS X to get back to the Mac environment.

The second method is to buy Parallels for the Mac. Parallels allows you to run OS X and a Parallels window at the same time.

The Mac OS X also comes with X11 on the install disk. This is a Unix shell.

Lastly, I think you can create a Boot Camp partition and point Parallels to that partition. That way you can run Linux either from Parallels or boot directly into Boot Camp and run Linux that way.

The advantage to Boot Camp is that intel based programs run at 100% speed. Parallels will slow things down a little because it must create a virtual environment for Linux to interface to.

Thank you for your response. I must admit that I have Ubuntu installed in a VMware installation, but it does seem to run rather slowly and keeps holding. I do have an Intel based machine, but was wondering about running direct from a disk, as a pc can, if that would free up the processor to do the main task at hand and not all the background stuff it always seems to be doing.

I was intending to look at CAELinux, which comes as an ISO diskimage for the pc.

I've never even seen an imac but this might be helpful. There are several "live CDs" for different Linux distro's that can be booted in an Intel Architecture PC and allow you to "taste" Linux with no install and no changes to your hard drive. If "install" is what you want then skip this comment. If "taste" is what you want then you might want to Google "Linux live CD" and "imac".

When I start an iMac up. It doesn't give me the F8 or F12 option that a pc does. Where I can us a Linux Live CD.

Oops Should have logged in.

Oh well

Sorry, as stated earlier I have never even seen an imac.

The Linux people are very dedicated to being helpful to lots of different people with lots of different needs. You are not the first person that has been interested in giving a live CD a "test drive" on an imac without causing any changes to the hard drive. Try to Google "imac" and "Linux live CD". When I did it I got 352,000 hits. I don't know the answer, but I bet it is in one of the first few Google hits.

Download a copy of [link="http://www.knoppix.net/get.php"]Knoppix and burn up a bootable disc.

This is a premium example of what's possible and will load well enough with a half gig of RAM. More is better of course.

This is the boot disc from the gods. You'll see what I mean when you get it up. There is a heck of a lot of software on the disc. It is a full and complete operating system.

Being a boot disc means that nothing of your original installation ever comes into play. Knoppix boots up like a game might. This is the grand daddy of live DVD's.

Knoppix is based on the Debian distribution of Linux, which for me has become the be all and end all. It even migrates, through it's updates, to the next version, thus avoiding a lot of re-installation. No antivirus, malware, spybots... The more I learn the more I can't understand peoples unwillingness to embrace change.

M$ free since 1/2001

Another oops, not logged in. Not sure what was up with that link either. Bah.

I believe that there is gOs (possibly a newer BeOs see one of the links below) that is a Linux system for Macs. Also, since your system is Intel based, if you have MacOs X or higher, it is a from of Linux, since it is Unix under the Gui. If you open a command window, you can carry out Unix commands.

I did a quick search and found these:

Mac Linux Links

• Mac-on-Linux

  Mac-on-Linux is a Linux/PPC program that virtualises MacOS or MacOSX in Linux. mac-on-linux.sourceforge.net/ - 21 hours ago - Similar

• Operating Systems: Win/Unix on Mac, Mac on Others,

  Jump to Running Linux and UNIX on Macs‎: It also inlcudes MoL (Mac on Linux), a network-capable Mac OS environment in a window or in full-screen mode. ... www.macwindows.com/emulator.html - Similar

• Linux Online - News - Distributions

  What's free, looks like Mac OS X, just works and is actually Linux? The answer is gOS, which recently launched a new beta that builds on the distro's ... www.linux.org/news/distros/index.html

  Best regards, Vince

I have read up a few bits from t'interweb and aparently a disk image of the relevant operating system can be chosen from the startup of a mac by holding the 'C' or 'option' buttons on the keyboard.

I will be trying that tonight.

Thank you for all your replies.

After some unsuccessful struggles with Fink Commander, I got Parallels as part of an app package and it works flawlessly. Switching between OS is simple and it is possible to move material from one desktop to the other. I would recommend this option.