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Linux which Distro?
- Thread starter Washac
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It does though. Using a compatibility layer let's that OS run the software...
You know some people run a whole Linux VM just to use the WiFi card on BSD!
maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
Why is it hilarious?
I have largely a secure fasts system that runs all of my apps where I don't have to worry about seeing advertisements, or having information being sent back to the mothership.
The state of windows is not ideal, with MS shoving copilot down down our throat, i.e., adding that button to every app. I mean do we really need a copilot button on the file explorer? Then there's Recall, which records all of my actions, and has been shown to be insecure. there's advertisements, and them collecting infromation. Finally its Microsoft providing poor updates, where their monthly updates have caused more problems then they have fixed.
All in all, Linux does everything I need, runs any and all programs I want or need, regardless if they're native Linux versions or windows. The system plays all of the games I want, and it generally gives me the level of performance on par with windows (for game playing)
it wasnt me
macrumors 6502a
If all you need is something that runs Windows software, Linux is an even weirder choice.
it wasnt me
macrumors 6502a
No.
Not really.
They exist on Linux.
That's called telemetry and Linux distributions have it.
That's true, and I hope Microsoft will undo most of that. Then again, I don't use Windows anymore anyway.
Honestly, if all you need is "a good operating system that also runs Wine", Linux can't do much better than the alternatives.
No? You still get all the benefits of running Linux while having programs you need or want to use. It'd be odd if you're ONLY running Windows software and deliberately eschewing things like the native version of Firefox for the Windows version. These days you have people running Linux apps on Windows through built-in tools like WSL too. Or Windows or Linux apps on MacOS. Or Linux apps and drivers on BSDs. It's not that weird.
And you can disable it unlike Windows, and not all distros do it either. If it's a huge concern pick one of those.
Wine and friends run best on Linux and is the most mature there. Linux has the best hardware support of the free OSs too, especially for stuff like GPU drivers and WiFI chips.
it wasnt me
macrumors 6502a
Which are quite a limited bunch when compared to other free operating systems, honestly.
I cannot confirm nor deny that Microsoft's telemetry disabling checkboxes work better or worse than those of (e.g.) Ubuntu.
How so?
Again, it does not. Or rather, it does if you conflate "support for a trillion devices you'll never even see in the wild" with "good hardware support". Which you really shouldn't.
In my experience, OpenBSD's WiFi support is much more reliable than Linux's on the devices I, personally, have tested. It all boils down to which hardware and which alternatives you use. Sheer numbers won't work here.
The benefits of OpenBSD over Linux are quite limited especially when you factor in things like hardware support.
Again, as you purposefully clipped out, there are distros that have no telemetry. If it's a problem, pick one of those. Windows also doesn't let you entirely disable telemetry with a checkbox anymore. You have to go deeper.
If your problem is with Linux as an entire category having telemetry, would you stop using OpenBSD if I forked it and added telemetry? I don't think so.
Performance and compatibility is better. More apps and games work. Have you heard of things like Proton? Where do you think the focus is?
You need the extra reliability when you're only getting WiFi g speeds. Wifi 6? Nope. Wifi 7? Nope. You can maybe get Wifi g or even ac working on those chipsets, but if you want faster you have to do something like I already mentioned and do PCI-E passthrough from a Linux VM (something like this: https://xyinn.org/md/freebsd/wifibox). And if it's hilarious to you to use a compability layer to run programs from another OS, your sides must splitting after reading how to use an entire VM to use WiFi.
OpenBSD STILL doesn't support Intel Arc GPUs. GeForce cards are super limited and don't support 3D acceleration FFS. That's not "good" or anywhere close to Linux.
These aren't niche devices you never see in the wild. And for all the complaints you see about Linux support on laptops, BSDs are even worse!
maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
I can't speak for Ubuntu, but those check boxes are only a partial solution. There's telemetry that you as the consumer can choose not to send to MS, but there's a whole raft of other data that gets sent that you have no direct control.
That's why tools like from Chris Titus to debloat windows exists.
it wasnt me
macrumors 6502a
iOS runs on an iPhone. Windows does not. Does iOS have better hardware support than Windows now?
I repeat: Numbers are not that relevant.
The point is that you can disable telemetry.
Of course not.
Please name your source. As far as I know (not having used Wine in years, because why would I?), compatibility and performance do not depend on the underlying host kernel.
Actually, yes.
They're on it.
Ah yes, NVIDIA, famously known for their awesome Linux support.
boswald
macrumors 68030
I tried to boot FreeBSD last night from a "memstick" image and it didn't even do THAT. Immediately rebooted into my Linux environment and all was well. Not the same for everybody, obviously, but a bad first impression for a curious new user.
it wasnt me
macrumors 6502a
Great. Only one version behind. And it looks like that's only supported on some Broadcom cards maybe? But also doesn't support WPA3?
There actually have been changes to the kernel for the sake of Wine/Proton like NTSYNC. It's also stuff like GPU drivers, of which the alternatives are behind. Like for example OpenBSD 7.8 has DRM graphics drivers from a Linux kernel over a year old, 6.12, FreeBSD is similar, etc.
It's only been what 3 years...
it wasnt me
macrumors 6502a
Free software projects need developers, testers and hardware to get a device supported. You can help.
I didn't realise Linux could even be installed on a Mac hardware system! No matter what distort.
maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
There is one native distro, but it only works on M1 an M2 chipsets. The only other option is to use VM and install an ARM based distro
BSDnostalgia
macrumors 6502
Until today, I had never heard of Elementary, and would have recommended Ubuntu for this purpose. I would love to hear more about people using Elementary with unsullied users.
MacBH928
macrumors G3
-I do not understand people who say "this OS support modern hardware" i am pretty sure most popular linux distros work on modern hardware. My Only guess they mean hardware that was released in the past 3 months?! Even then, if CachyOS writes a driver for it, why not all other distros adopt it? Now all distros are "optimized for modern hardware"
-I thought Manjaro was the "easy" Arch ?! or is it washed up now?
not really, people hate the OS not the app.
BSDnostalgia
macrumors 6502
Ignoring the fact that Linux does run it. Why would you use Linux instead of Windows? If you have to ask, you will never know.
On one of these threads, someone (possibly you) posted a simple list of favorite Linux plus added packages sufficient to run most Windows software including games, from nearly as fast to faster than Windows. I believe that it was CachyOS Linux plus a few other essentials?
it wasnt me
macrumors 6502a
maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
OpenBSD is not Linux. I was responding to the other member talking about Linux
Here's a link to OpenBSD for more info
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maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
Not sure, but here's the info
sudo pacman -S cachyos-gaming-meta
sudo pacman -S cachyos-gaming-applications
There's info here:
Gaming with CachyOS Guide
It covers essential package installation, Steam gaming with Proton, various Proton version options, Lutris as a central hub for all games, and script installers for popular games.
wiki.cachyos.org
it wasnt me
macrumors 6502a
I am perfectly aware of that. It's just that OpenBSD runs better on Macs than Linux does, so it's even on-topic here.
maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
Whelp, you're in a linux thread, where a member was asking about linux distros and I mentiooned the only one linux operating system available and only for M1 and M2 chips. You're just confusing the issue by offering a non-linux operating system.
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Without GPU acceleration and sound? Seriously?
I'm not sure it's a great suggestion on M1/M2 Macs. PowerPC, sure. Intel, maybe.