[K12OSN] Edubuntu Edgy Eft on PowerPC server--some problems

[Terrell Prude' Jr.]

OK folks,

I finally got around to trying out Edubuntu Edgy Eft on a dual-1.3GHz 
PowerPC box.  I did a default Edubuntu install, no fancy stuff like I 
normally would do.  :-)  The server boots fine.  The apps--Firefox, 
OO.o, TuxMath, and so on--work fine.  However, it has some problems with 
the LTSP implementation.

1.)  The /etc/ltsp/dhcpd.conf file refers to a TFTP-boot path of 
/ltsp/i386, where pxelinux.0 is supposed to live.  However, this path 
does not exist at all...anywhere...on the hard disk.  Thinking that it 
might simply be a typo, I even did a "find / -name 'pxelinux.0' -print", 
and nada.

2.)  The /etc/ltsp/dhcpd.conf file points to an option root-path of 
/opt/ltsp/i386.  However, there is only an /opt/ltsp/powerpc, which 
isn't referenced at all in dhcpd.conf.

3.)  There is no apparent way to swap eth0 and eth1 like there is with 
Red Hat-type distros.  The kernel views my 3Com 10/100 NIC as eth0 and 
the built-in Gig-E interface as eth1; these should be reversed.  Yes, 
this one happens on x86 as well, and I know that Debian has this 
problem, too.

Makes it kinda hard to PXE-boot thin clients when there are no TFTP boot 
files or pivot_root target.  :-)

Now, can I manually fix these issues and make the server boot some thin 
clients?  Sure, of course.  But for those who are considering using a 
PowerPC box (e. g. a multi-core Xserve, PowerMac G5, or IBM p-Series) as 
a LTSP server, be aware that if you use Edubuntu, you will be in for 
some manual, and non-trivial, tweaking afterwards.  Shame, too, because 
I rather like the power efficiency and flexibility of PowerPC hardware.

--TP