Yellow Dog Linux

Image:Yellow Dog Linux.png, the default window manager]]

Yellow Dog Linux is based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux/CentOS and relies on the RPM Package Manager.{{cite book|last=Negus|first=Christopher|title=Linux Bible 2009 Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hk74DjrdMlgC&q=Yellow%20Dog%20Linux&pg=PA610|publisher=Wiley Publishing, Inc.|access-date=13 July 2013|year=2009|isbn=9780470459041}} Its software includes applications such as Ekiga (a voice-over-IP and videoconferencing application), GIMP (a raster graphics editor), Gnash (a free Adobe Flash player), gThumb (an image viewer), the Mozilla Firefox Web browser, the Mozilla Thunderbird e-mail and news client, the OpenOffice.org productivity suite, Pidgin (an instant messaging and IRC client), the Rhythmbox music player, and the KDE Noatun and Totem media players.

Starting with YDL version 5.0 'Phoenix', Enlightenment is the Yellow Dog Linux default desktop environment, although GNOME and KDE are also included.

Like other Linux distributions, Yellow Dog Linux supports software development with GCC (compiled with support for C, C++, Java, and Fortran), the GNU C Library, GDB, GLib, the GTK+ toolkit, Python, the Qt toolkit, Ruby and Tcl. Standard text editors such as Vim and Emacs are complemented with IDEs such as Eclipse and KDevelop, as well as by graphical debuggers such as KDbg. Standard document preparation tools such as TeX and LaTeX are also included.

Yellow Dog Linux includes software for running a Web server (such as Apache/httpd, Perl, and PHP), database server (such as MySQL and PostgreSQL), and network server (NFS and Webmin). Additional software is also included for running an enterprise server or a compute server or cluster, although two separate products from Terra Soft Solutions, called Yellow Dog Enterprise Linux (for enterprise servers) and Y-HPC (for compute servers/clusters), were specifically targeted toward those applications.

Although several other Linux distributions support the Power ISA, Yellow Dog Linux was distinguished for its focus on supporting the Apple Macintosh platform before the Mac transition to Intel processors.{{cite web|title=Comparison of Distribution|url=http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxListOfDistributions.html|access-date=13 July 2013}} Before this transition, Terra Soft Solutions held the unique distinction of being the only company licensed by Apple to resell Apple computers with Linux pre-installed{{cite web|title=Terra Soft Ships Apple computers - YDL Pre-Installed |url=http://terrasoftsolutions.com/news/2002-08-08.shtml |access-date=13 July 2013 |date=8 August 2002 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021207090908/http://terrasoftsolutions.com/news/2002-08-08.shtml |archive-date=December 7, 2002 }} (or for that matter, with any operating system other than Mac OS X). Full support for AirPort (Apple's implementation of the IEEE 802.11b-1999 wireless networking standard), and partial support for AirPort Extreme, are also built into Yellow Dog Linux, as are support for Bluetooth and support for accessing the Internet over cellular phones.

Following the Mac transition to Intel processors, Yellow Dog Linux retargeted Fedora Core 5.0 and later to support the Sony PlayStation 3 and IBM pSeries platforms extensively, while retaining its longstanding support for PowerPC-based Apple hardware.

{{cite web|last=Hill|first=Brandon|title=Terra Soft Announces Linux-based OS for PS3|url=http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=4621|publisher=DailyTech|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055626/http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=4621 |archive-date = 2016-03-04 |access-date = 2021-05-01|date=19 October 2006}}{{cite web|last=Boyes|first=Emma|title=Yellow Dog Linux launches for PS3|url=http://www.gamespot.com/news/yellow-dog-linux-launches-for-ps3-6162316|publisher=GameSpot|access-date=13 July 2013|date=27 November 2006}}

Yellow Dog Linux was sold by Terra Soft Solutions (later Fixstars), who also marketed PlayStation 3 consoles,{{cn|date=February 2019}} IBM workstations,{{cite web|title=Yellow Dog Linux Supports New IBM B50|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Yellow+Dog+Linux+Supports+New+IBM+B50.-a055726179|access-date=13 July 2013|date=13 September 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107032223/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Yellow+Dog+Linux+Supports+New+IBM+B50.-a055726179 |archive-date=7 November 2014}} and servers with Yellow Dog Linux pre-installed.{{cite web|title=Yellow Dog Enterprise Linux for the BCU-100|url=http://pro.sony.com/bbsccms/ext/ZEGO/files/tss-ydl-bcu100.pdf|publisher=Sony|access-date=13 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180219090940/http://pro.sony.com/bbsccms/ext/ZEGO/files/tss-ydl-bcu100.pdf |archive-date=19 February 2018}} As is the case with most other Linux distribution vendors, a portion of the revenue from the sale of those boxed distributions went toward development of the operating system and applications, which are made available as source code under various free and open-source licenses.

Gaurav Khanna, a professor in the Physics Department at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, built a message-passing based cluster using YDL and 16 PlayStation 3s. This cluster was the first such to generate published scientific results. Dubbed the "PS3 Gravity Grid", it performs astrophysical simulations of large supermassive black holes capturing smaller compact objects.{{cite web | url = http://gravity.phy.umassd.edu/ps3.html | title= PS3 Gravity Grid | publisher = Gaurav Khanna, Associate Professor, College of Engineering, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth }} Khanna claimed that the cluster's performance exceeds that of a 100+ Intel Xeon core based traditional Linux cluster on his simulations. The PS3 Gravity Grid received media coverage between 2007 and 2010.{{cite news | url = https://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/news/2007/10/ps3_supercomputer | title= Astrophysicist Replaces Supercomputer with Eight PlayStation 3s | magazine=Wired | date=17 October 2007}}{{cite web | url = http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9043942/PS3_cluster_creates_homemade_cheaper_supercomputer | title= PS3 cluster creates homemade, cheaper supercomputer | date= 24 October 2007 }}{{cite news | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/22/AR2008122201980.html | title= Nothing Escapes the Pull of a PlayStation 3, Not Even a Black Hole | newspaper=The Washington Post | last=Peckham | first=Matt | date=23 December 2008}}{{cite web | url = http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/090128-playstation3-blackholes.html | title= Playstation 3 Consoles Tackle Black Hole Vibrations| website= Space.com| date= 28 January 2009}}{{cite news | url = https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100969805 | title= Playstation 3: A Discount Supercomputer?| newspaper= NPR.org}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://www.edepot.com/ps3_linux.html#YDL_versions Yellow Dog Linux on PS3]
• [http://www.yellowdoglinux.com/ Yellow Dog Linux home page]
• {{DistroWatch|yellowdog|NAME=Yellow Dog Linux}}
• [http://www.penguinppc.org/ penguinppc.org] – Linux on PowerPC site
• [http://osarchive.sda1.eu/yellow-dog Yellow Dog Linux archive]

• [http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/02/18/164648.php "Software Review: Yellow Dog Linux 5 for PlayStation 3"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080602110308/http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/02/18/164648.php |date=2008-06-02 }} – BlogCritics Magazine review of YDL version 5.0
• [http://ps3.ign.com/articles/748/748255p1.html "Yellow Dog Linux 5.0 Hands-on"] – IGN.com review of YDL version 5.0
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050920183601/http://www.ppcnerds.org/Article243.html "Yellow Dog Linux 4.0: Some Install Notes"] – ppcnerds.org review of YDL version 4.0

{{Fedora Linux derivatives}}

{{Linux distributions}}

Category:Cell BE architecture

Category:Discontinued Linux distributions

Category:Platform-specific Linux distributions

Category:PlayStation 3 software

Category:PowerPC operating systems

Category:Linux distributions