Help this poor forced mac user

[Soybomb]

So I do some dialup tech support work for an isp. For some reason they decided it was a good idea to give me an imac running os 9. Its the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. From not having anything like..say ping or traceroute tools built in to the one button mouse it drives me nuts all day.

I've been thinking about bringing in a logitech usb wheel mouse and was also thinking about changing the os. Its got 128megs of ram so I'm guessing that OS X and it won't get along like great pals. How about some of the mac versions of linux, never tried them, does anyone know how they are or can recommend one? Are there any non destructive repartitioning tools for the mac? Will lilo be used?
Thanks!

 

[smp]

Bring in a logitech, open your mind and learn that macs aren't all that bad. Seriously, it could be worse. It does suck that it's an Imac though, that sucks. Macs are good though.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Running OS X in 128MB of ram is like running Windows in 256MB. Its just not a good idea. Also, if they want you to have that there, you probably shouldnt mess with it. The Logitech mouse thing is fine if they let you bring in your own hardware.

 

[MaximusH825]

WTF? Windows with 256 is not a good idea? Mac OS X should run just fine with 128MB Ram. Personally I think that OS 9 is a better choice though. You can get tons of network utils for Mac goto Version Tracker. This webpage will now be your best friend! Have fun man.

 

[jhu]

i think for linux ppc you can use the openfirmware to boot linux as well as a separate bootloader

 

[n0cmonkey]

<< WTF? Windows with 256 is not a good idea? Mac OS X should run just fine with 128MB Ram. Personally I think that OS 9 is a better choice though. You can get tons of network utils for Mac goto Version Tracker. This webpage will now be your best friend! Have fun man. >>



Come on, lighten up. And 128 would be fine, but 256+ makes a NOTICABLE difference. Atleast it did for me. More customers will have 9, so that is a better choice for helping them, but Mac OS X is just sweeeeeet.

 

[MaximusH825]

Doh! I'm sorry, I thought you ment something else. My bad. No hard feelings... We Linux people need to stick together

 

[n0cmonkey]

<< Doh! I'm sorry, I thought you ment something else. My bad. No hard feelings... We Linux people need to stick together >>



Im not a linux user by choice, but I make fun of Windows where I can

Anyhow, OpenBSD should work wonderfully on that hardware (depending on the specific model). Yellow Dog, Mandrake PPC, and SuSE shouldnt have too many problems either (I recommend SuSE PPC, it was recommended highly in the reviews I read).

 

[Soybomb]

Thanks guys. As far as installing an extra os, they don't care. The only reason it is there is because for some reason the dumb ceo thought it was cheaper than a pc at the time. The crap factor never came into play. We don't actually officially support mac os and we hardly ever get mac os calls so thats of no concern either. If I could right click, have some network utilities, and a windows style taskbar instead of that damn thing in the top right corner I have to pull down to switch apps I'd be alot happer.

I'll check out that website for some utilities, and also look at suse ppc. Must have something better.....

 

[andrey]

The good thing about Macs is that you can run Mac OS, Linux (RedHat, Mandrake, etc..) and even Windows. This makes Macs pretty good tools for tech support, where you can virtualy have every OS in front of you instead of running from one computer to another. You just will need to get Connectix Virtual PC for Mac and you can install anything from Win95 up to XP on your iMac

 

[n0cmonkey]

<< The good thing about Macs is that you can run Mac OS, Linux (RedHat, Mandrake, etc..) and even Windows. This makes Macs pretty good tools for tech support, where you can virtualy have every OS in front of you instead of running from one computer to another. You just will need to get Connectix Virtual PC for Mac and you can install anything from Win95 up to XP on your iMac >>



At DirecPC tech support we had a customer use Virtual PC to use DirecPC on his mac. It sucked

 

[Soybomb]

Actually the way the thing runs its native os, the mere thought of running a windows on it makes me cringe Linux is worth a shot thought.....

I wish I liked macs more as it would be alot easier, but I've just never liked the mac os...and i dislike the 1 button mouse thing too

I want my task bar at the bottom of the screen too damnit

 

[n0cmonkey]

Mac OS X.1 + Logitech mouse (what I use on my iBook) fixes EVERYTHING! Trust me

 

[Soybomb]

Lol now I just have to get osx (i'm willing to try it just for the command line). Of course they won't buy it I'm sure..this last week we were out of toilet paper even so an OS is out of the question......

 

[n0cmonkey]

I stayed out of the stalls at the DirecTV/DirecPC call center. The morons there couldnt fix simple problems, let alone wipe their asses correctly.