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Going from Apple and MAC OS X to Linux???

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RedCroissant

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Aug 13, 2011
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Hello everyone,

Don't think I'm crazy here so let me explain why I am posting this...

Finances have become a little tight as of late and I was hoping for some advice on selling my current Apple products and migrating to Linux.

I have:
1. 2009 20" iMac 2.66GHz, 320GB HDD, 4GB RAM, OS X 10.7
2. 2010 21.5" iMac 3.06GHZ, 500GB HDD, 6GB RAM, OS X 10.6
3. 2011 15" Macbook Pro 2.4 GHZ i7, 750GB HDD, 4GB RAM, OS X 10.7
4. iPad2 32GB WiFi (w/dock, smart cover, camera connection kit)
5. AppleTV2
6. iPhone 4S 16GB White AT&T (w/universal dock)
7. iPhone 3GS 8GB Black
8. Apple Wireless extreme base station 802.11N
9. 2 black 32GB iPod Videos

I also have the original boxes and accessories for everything except the iPods.

I was curious to know what people thought I could get for this and really how much I would be losing/gaining by migrating to Linux. I've thought of a few downsides but I just need help thinking of a better pro/con list. Thanks a lot for any help.
 
It depends on your computational needs and if whatever Linux distro can suffice those. If one does, you will gain a lot of money by selling those Apple devices and getting a PC and putting Linux on it.
 
Desperate times demand wiser decisions, not desperate ones.

Sorry to read your motive, but re-think about it.

Sell some stuff but not all.

Keep your most current Mac and the Airport, as well as some iOS device.

Download iBooks Author, write a book, sell it.
Learn how to code, develop Apps and start getting money.

Anyway, besides the dreams listed above.

Keep your Mac, and use it to work on your Resume, search for new better paying job, learn something with it.

Good Luck.

And you can run Ubuntu or Linux n a Mac anyway, so don't commit that sad mistake of loosing your Mac.
 
Last edited:
Usage

simsaladimbamba said:
It depends on your computational needs and if whatever Linux distro can suffice those. If one does, you will gain a lot of money by selling those Apple devices and getting a PC and putting Linux on it.
Click to expand...

My wife and I are full time college students so I use the computers for those purposes. It's mostly the basic things including a little bit of video conversion and beginning coding. I don't want to sell all of my stuff necessarily because I know I would be losing my iTunes compatibility and don't want to use Windows just to be able to sync my iPhone/iPad/AppleTV.

And I know that I can run Linux on my Mac and do so every once in a while through virtualization, but if I'm going to keep my Mac that already has an awesome OS, why would I even bother making Linux(Ubuntu, Mint) my main OS?
 
RedCroissant said:
Hello everyone,

Don't think I'm crazy here so let me explain why I am posting this...

Finances have become a little tight as of late and I was hoping for some advice on selling my current Apple products and migrating to Linux.

I have:
1. 2009 20" iMac 2.66GHz, 320GB HDD, 4GB RAM, OS X 10.7
2. 2010 21.5" iMac 3.06GHZ, 500GB HDD, 6GB RAM, OS X 10.6
3. 2011 15" Macbook Pro 2.4 GHZ i7, 750GB HDD, 4GB RAM, OS X 10.7
4. iPad2 32GB WiFi (w/dock, smart cover, camera connection kit)
5. AppleTV2
6. iPhone 4S 16GB White AT&T (w/universal dock)
7. iPhone 3GS 8GB Black
8. Apple Wireless extreme base station 802.11N
9. 2 black 32GB iPod Videos

I also have the original boxes and accessories for everything except the iPods.

I was curious to know what people thought I could get for this and really how much I would be losing/gaining by migrating to Linux. I've thought of a few downsides but I just need help thinking of a better pro/con list. Thanks a lot for any help.
Click to expand...

Two desktops, a laptop and an iPad? No need to sell it all, get rid of either the laptop and a desktop, or the desktops and the iPad. That way, you'll have a computer and portability no matter what you choose. Two phones? Sell one of them, the 4S if you need a lot of money, the 3GS if you only need a breather. The router isn't worth selling, you need one either way and if those 50 bucks will make a world of difference you have bigger problems than can be solved here. Sell one or both of the iPods.

As for pricing, check eBay and http://www.mac2sell.net/
 
Before I switched to Mac from Windows years ago, I really tried to convert to Ubuntu first. I just couldn't do it successfully, mainly due to video editing (which Apple does better/easier), which was important as I have little kids.

Now, if I were you, I'd keep these and sell the rest.
2. 2010 21.5" iMac 3.06GHZ, 500GB HDD, 6GB RAM, OS X 10.6
3. 2011 15" Macbook Pro 2.4 GHZ i7, 750GB HDD, 4GB RAM, OS X 10.7
8. Apple Wireless extreme base station 802.11N

With this, you have 2 computers that allow both to be working/coding/editing video. I recommend that you sell all media consumption device?

As for the 2 smartphones, are they off contract? If not, keep it. If it is off contract, I'd recommend selling it and picking up one of those newer android devices. I have galaxy nexus and quite happy with it. I avoided previous android devices due to clunky OS but ICE is quite good.
 
Is Windows not an option?

I dual-boot Linux (Debian) and use it occasionally for development, but there's just not enough good software for my daily use beyond, like, email and internet. No native Adobe Creative Suite and few games.

But since you said you run linux in a virtual machine, I think you have everything there to decide for yourself if it's good for you.
 
Sorry to hear about your situation.

If I didn't have my Mac I'd be using Mint Linux. I just recently started using Mint (normally I use Fedora) but I REALLY like it a lot.
 
More Linux stuff..

No, Windows is not an option; at least not to be my primary OS. I have to use it for school because universities really like using IE exclusive content so I have XP running in virtualization in addition to the various versions of Linux. I know that XP is not the best representation of Windows, but I was running Vista before I switched to Mac and my wife dual boots Windows 7 because she also needs it for school.

I like Linux Mint a lot and I favor it more than Ubuntu. The problem I am now facing is that virtualization does not seem to be the best environment for another OS. Either that, or the distort that I downloaded are unstable. On both Ubuntu and Mint, the menu bars disappear and update manager does not initialize or operate properly.And yes, I know how to use the terminal to do this.

I think what I will have to do if I do in fact decide to sell some of my things will be to just do it and then buy a computer that is certified by Ubuntu. That way I know that Mint will also run on it and then I can have all the system resources dedicated to the OS.
 
I'm a huge advocate for Linux.

Having used it very successfully for several years, concurrent with my Macs & Windows machines, I find it fast, fun & very reliable.*

I've used six or seven Linux distro's and settled in with Mint 12 as of late. I might suggest you consider obtaining a live install DVD, along with the 12 DVD set that contains a vast repository of every possible software app one could want.

Here's a link to purchase high quality disks at a very low cost. I've patronized this company for years. They're fast & very trustworthy.

I'm running Mint on a ThinkPad T60, ThinkPads are very Linux friendly.

Linux Mint 12
Platform: PC
Contents: 1 Install/Live DVD
Price: $5.95

Linux Mint 12 Software Repository
Platform: PC
Contents: 12 Software DVDs
Price: $29.95

http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view....nt?ad=google&gclid=CPPi3srDq68CFQZ_hwodPFS6oA

Here's another great resource.

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/ThinkWiki
 
RedCroissant said:
No, Windows is not an option; at least not to be my primary OS. I have to use it for school because universities really like using IE exclusive content so I have XP running in virtualization in addition to the various versions of Linux. I know that XP is not the best representation of Windows, but I was running Vista before I switched to Mac and my wife dual boots Windows 7 because she also needs it for school.

I like Linux Mint a lot and I favor it more than Ubuntu. The problem I am now facing is that virtualization does not seem to be the best environment for another OS. Either that, or the distort that I downloaded are unstable. On both Ubuntu and Mint, the menu bars disappear and update manager does not initialize or operate properly.And yes, I know how to use the terminal to do this.

I think what I will have to do if I do in fact decide to sell some of my things will be to just do it and then buy a computer that is certified by Ubuntu. That way I know that Mint will also run on it and then I can have all the system resources dedicated to the OS.
Click to expand...

Why are you dead set on selling all your Apple stuff? It would be interesting if you answered my or 2oahu's post.
 
I'm not dead set on selling all of it.

hafr said:
Why are you dead set on selling all your Apple stuff? It would be interesting if you answered my or 2oahu's post.
Click to expand...

I don't even want to sell my computer stuff, but I know what has value both to me and others, and when the time comes when I need extra money this is what I would have to do.

My situation is not dire, but I know some things could be improved by downsizing my "collection." Both of the iPhones are on contract(the 4S was a recent upgrade before other financial stuff happened). Also, the 21.5" iMac is my wife's while the other iMac and MBP are mine. My iMac also serves as our media hub while the iPad helps decrease our reliance on cable TV thanks to mirroring.

I did in fact install Ubuntu and Mint and had a lot of fun trying them out, but I have decided that switching Operating Systems and relying on the possible proceeds to fund future purchases was not the right move.
 
RedCroissant said:
I was curious to know what people thought I could get for this and really how much I would be losing/gaining by migrating to Linux. I've thought of a few downsides but I just need help thinking of a better pro/con list. Thanks a lot for any help.
Click to expand...

It depends.

Linux has plenty of shortcomings, mostly in the fields of audio, video, hardware support and user interface consistency. If you've been a long time mac user it will drive you nuts.

And I say that having been a unix guy for 15 years +
 
I don't think selling your hardware just to buy new hardware makes much sense unless you really need something faster than what you have. Realistically though, your 2011 iMac is going to be about as fast as anything else out there in that clock speed range. If I were in your shoes, I'd probably just sell my "extra" hardware and make different reductions.
 
RedCroissant said:
I don't even want to sell my computer stuff, but I know what has value both to me and others, and when the time comes when I need extra money this is what I would have to do.

My situation is not dire, but I know some things could be improved by downsizing my "collection." Both of the iPhones are on contract(the 4S was a recent upgrade before other financial stuff happened). Also, the 21.5" iMac is my wife's while the other iMac and MBP are mine. My iMac also serves as our media hub while the iPad helps decrease our reliance on cable TV thanks to mirroring.

I did in fact install Ubuntu and Mint and had a lot of fun trying them out, but I have decided that switching Operating Systems and relying on the possible proceeds to fund future purchases was not the right move.
Click to expand...

I'm not questioning the downsizing, but selling all of it.
 
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