If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.

George Bernard Shaw

What is MkLinux?

MkLinux is a project begun by the OSF Research Institute (now Silicomp RI) and Apple Computer to port Linux, a freely distributed UNIX-like operating system, to a variety of Power Macintosh platforms running on top of OSF Research Institute's implementation of the Mach microkernel.

Beginning in the summer of 1998, development work on MkLinux transitioned from Apple and OSF to a community-led effort. A more-complete-but-still-brief history can be found on the About MkLinux page.

Where can I get MkLinux?

Currently, developers are working on completing release 1 (R1). A preview release called Pre-R1 is available on the FTP site. A CD image is also available, and a few users have offered to burn and mail CDs to those people who do not have access to high speed Internet access for a small charge.

For information on upgrading the MkLinux kernel, please see aptly named Kernel Information page.

Where can I get help?

Apple continues to host a number of mailing lists related to MkLinux. The most active of the lists is mklinux-users. If you are new to UN*X, or you need help with MkLinux, please subscribe to this list! All of the Apple-hosted lists have digest versions available.

Prime Time Freeware, (PTF) has produced the reference release (MkLinux: Microkernel Linux for the Power Macintosh). You can purchase the book directly from PTF and from many professional and technical bookstores. Unfortunately, this book is very out of date. Though it may be useful as a guide, the CD that comes with the book includes MkLinux DR3 (Developer Release 3) which is ancient. Please see above, under "Where can I get MkLinux?" for information on how to get MkLinux.