Linux-on-PowerPC team update distros' reference release

Linux-on-Mac development team the Linux/PPC Developers have updated their reference version of the open source OS to support a greater range of PowerPC-based computers and peripherals, and bring many of the OS' core components to their most recent versions. Derived from Red Hat Linux 6.1, the PowerPC Reference Release 1.1 is based on version 2.2.14 of the Linux kernel, though it provides USB support through code taken from the pre-release kernel 2.3.41. Also included in the new release are glibc 2.1.3pre3, gcc 2.95.2, XFree86 3.3.6, Gnome 1.0.54 and KDE 1.1.2. The Linux/PPC Developers' goal here is to provide a basis for Mac and PowerPC-oriented Linux distributors' own open source OS offerings. As Tom Rini, the Reference Release project manager puts it, "the ultimate goal of this project is to allow any company to make a release that will be compatible with all other existing packages". In other words, the idea is to try and avoid the fragmentation the Unix world has undergone. The Reference Release still allows distributors to expand the core functionality with their own applications, bundles and other differentiators, providing the limited degree of fragmentation Linus Torvalds was promoting during his keynote at LinuxWorld Expo last week. Despite the connection with Red Hat Linux, there is no link between Red Hat the company and the Linux/PPC Developers group. ® Related Stories LinuxPPC readies retail release SuSE Linux joins Debian to embrace Mac