So I managed to download Ubuntu 7.10 (in an hour) and decided to install it on my Mac via Parallels.
It seemed so simple, create a new VM and say I want Linux and Ubuntu Linux at that, point Parallels to the ISO and wahay!
Well not quite.
It seemed to start okay and then I got the following error.
Click the picture to enlarge.
No (real) idea what is going on here.
Success
See https://www.technologystuff.co.uk/blog/?p=60
Basically using the text based installer (rather than use the Live CD installer) worked fine.