Terra Soft and the PowerPC Linux community do our very best to quickly support the built-in features of the Power Architecture computers such as ethernet, disk drives, CD/DVD readers/writers, USB, FireWire, and graphics cards.
However, please understand that neither Terra Soft nor the community are often granted specifications for these devices. If, for instance, Apple modifies the part and this modification changes the means by which it communicates with the operating system or application, this change most likely must be reverse engineered which can be a time consuming and challenging process, resulting in a delay in support.
Those OEMs that offer open-source drivers (the underlying code is made available to the community) speed the process by which this support effort is enabled. However, many OEMs remain close-source minded in their product offerings to protect their competitive advantage. While this is understandable, it means that either a) a "hack" must developed, or b) the OEM must provide (and maintain) a "binary" (compiled code specific for Yellow Dog Linux), or c) the device is never supported.
Generally speaking, ethernet, USB, FireWire, drives (ATA, SCSI) printers, and now graphics cards are more readily supported with very little effort. Please note that while Yellow Dog Linux supports the USB and FireWire ports, this does not mean that every individual USB or FireWire device will be recognized.
For more detailed information, please visit the following pages:
Supported Breakdown Not Officially / Unsupported Devices
