PearPC

OK, so I'm currently installing Debian-PPC, with the intention of using PearPC for both my linux and mac adventures.

Of course I know nothing about either operating system, so I was wondering if I was actually wasting my time here or not - does linux ppc run the same exes OK as linux x86 does? I'm presuming the bmax linux exes will be x86 code, so I figure I probably am wasting my time...

If that's the case, then can anyone recommend good virtual machine software for me to run an x86 version of linux on? I'm not in a hurry to repartition my harddrives...

Oh and any recommendations on which flavour of linux? It's a big, confusing world out there for a newbie.

No.

It's my understanding that VirtualPC and VMVare seem to work pretty well.

Depending on what you're looking for you might want to go with a minimalist distro like Puppy Linux which is an x86 Linux distro that you can boot off an USB device if harddrive partitioning is a little too exciting for you.

Also, if you've got a FAT32 partition on your harddrive already you may want to go with one of the many 'Live CDs' which will allow you to boot from CD into a Linux environment, and you can go from there.

As for which distro to go with I usually recomend Mandrake Linux for a 'complete' package, Puppy Linux for a minimalist distro, and Knoppix for a 'Live CD' experience.

If you like Debian however, that's a pretty good choice too. Those guys have a very likeable position on which direction they'd like to see Linux evolvle.

Thanks for your input Flamey. It's not so much that I -like- Debian, it was just recommended in the PearPC newbie guide as a distro that tends to work OK ;]