OS updates used to cost 130$ btw, so I don't think they'll go back to paid OS releases. It does not make any sense at this point.
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Switching to Linux after nearly 27 years of Apple ?
- Thread starter Dr. McKay
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robertosh
macrumors 65816
I'm also thinking in switching to Linux as main computer. I'm working with Linux servers since almost 20 years but I never felt confident to move to Linux Desktop. I wanted something that just works in my free time. But after using Fedora for more than a year as a desktop at work, I can say that it's ready. It just works. And it's freedom. Apple closed ecosystem is unbearable for me anymore. I'm apple developer so I would need to keep some mac around for developing but my daily driver will be Linux. And now that you can even do proper gaming on Linux, it's the perfect combo to ditch Mac and windows in one go.
My recommendation if you want to switch is to go to one mainstream distro like Fedora or Ubuntu, that should work out of the box and have better documentation and more knowledge base available. I also recommend Gnome instead of KDE for newcomers, I think is easier to step in.
Terminal? You don't need to use unless you want to do something advanced. For installing apps, the best is just to rely on the app store that you get installed by default. Updates are normally automatic and harmless. The problem on Linux in my opinion is when you want to add a lot of UI customisation, install random packages, etc, but as long as you rely in the stuff you get out of the box and apps from store or that you know, it will be fine.
My recommendation if you want to switch is to go to one mainstream distro like Fedora or Ubuntu, that should work out of the box and have better documentation and more knowledge base available. I also recommend Gnome instead of KDE for newcomers, I think is easier to step in.
Terminal? You don't need to use unless you want to do something advanced. For installing apps, the best is just to rely on the app store that you get installed by default. Updates are normally automatic and harmless. The problem on Linux in my opinion is when you want to add a lot of UI customisation, install random packages, etc, but as long as you rely in the stuff you get out of the box and apps from store or that you know, it will be fine.
maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
CachyOS is currently the most popular distro. I've been seeing this distro and Bazzite being bantered about more often - this of course is due to that these distros are providing excellent gaming performance. I'd also say Pop! OS is a solid OS for those who don't want to mucking about the innards too much.
I've used Ubuntu (a solid distro), and Fedora, the latter needing more hand holding and work with various drivers, and conf files. I'd probably recommend not going that route if someone doesn't have much experience with linux
DCBassman
macrumors 65816
I'm only a recent tinkerer with Apple stuff, I've no use case for any of my Macs. I've tried really hard to like macOS, but even using old stuff, OCLP, etc, it just doesn't 'grab' me in any way. So, Linux. My distro of choice is MX. On nearly every Mac I've tried it on, it simply works. When it comes time to ditch Windows, sometime in the next year or two, max, Linux it will be.
Do, you'll be surprised how easy it can be. And how Mac-like, if you want that.
TechRunner
macrumors 68030
Mac user since 2006, I've dabbled in Linux a handful of times over the years, mostly Ubuntu. For me, the best use was on an older, secondary device I used when traveling. My favorite experience was loading Ubuntu on a netbook (remember those?) to use for road trips. It worked great once I got it to recognize the wifi card.
I haven't touched a distro in about five years, though.
I haven't touched a distro in about five years, though.
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For me it's Ubuntu, these days. It's the most supported distribution and I find it the most stable. I only use Linux when my PC's either run like crap on Windows or are NO longer supported like my 2012 Mac Mini.
My Oracle allocation was a fairly small machine with 20 GB of storage and the RAM was small. This was back around 2008. So I bought a refurb Dell XPS Studio for $580 and installed Oracle Enterprise Linux. I had to get an extra NIC as the distro didn't have drivers for the on-board NIC. I got in up and running and had a few TB of space for development environments and far more RAM than my allocation. It's run macOS via Hackintosh and Windows too. Very old hardware but it has 48 GB of RAM which was a lot for back in 2008.
We ran Solaris before OEL and Alpha/VMS before that.
We ran Solaris before OEL and Alpha/VMS before that.
avkills
macrumors 65816
Man I wish Adobe would release Linux versions to kneecap Apple and Microsoft.
maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
Ubuntu is definitely a safe bet, especially given the number of other distros that are built from Ubuntu. I've stopped following what changes have occurred with Ubuntu, but overall its a solid choice imo
You generally don't want to run Wine on complex products because it isn't a 100% solution and it can crash when you hit that small percent that doesn't work.
capamac
macrumors 6502a
Yeah Ubuntu is nice. That was my system for four years when I used Linux as my sole system (no Macs at all.)
I quite like terminal applications; Terminal.app on Mac is probably my second-highest most-used app.
The command line interface is charming. I first used CLI on Apple II, then later on a 386 running MSDOS. Then later on VT100 and VT420 terminals linked to a VAX/VMS. Then later I installed NetBSD on my Mac IIci and continued using the command line there. Then MacOS X's terminal.
I quite like terminal applications; Terminal.app on Mac is probably my second-highest most-used app.
The command line interface is charming. I first used CLI on Apple II, then later on a 386 running MSDOS. Then later on VT100 and VT420 terminals linked to a VAX/VMS. Then later I installed NetBSD on my Mac IIci and continued using the command line there. Then MacOS X's terminal.
As I said in my first post, I installed Mint LMDE on my 2015 MacBook Pro, although I must admit that I'm still considering Fedora as well.
I'm not a complete noob as far as the command line goes (I dabble a bit with CLI in Mac OS) so I'm not really looking for a distro suited for a complete beginner.
I have tried several distros, though, Ubuntu and some derivatives (regular Mint, Zorin, Pop OS,...) but for some reason, I get error messages during install, and when I do finally manage to install a bistro, I get nothing but graphical glitches.
Strange, as none of these problems happen with Mint LMDE or Fedora...
Tried Cachy OS, too, but it's a relatively new distro, with support from a small team (kudos to them) but since I'm far from being an expert in Linux, I prefer a distro with a large community behind it...
In any case, I'm still in the process of trying out several distros (will try OpenSuse Tumbleweed next). Also, if I do decide to go for Linux and get a PC laptop and Android Phone, I will still keep my M1 MacBook Pro and iPhone 13. That way, if things go awry, I can always go back to my comfort zone... 😁
I'm not a complete noob as far as the command line goes (I dabble a bit with CLI in Mac OS) so I'm not really looking for a distro suited for a complete beginner.
I have tried several distros, though, Ubuntu and some derivatives (regular Mint, Zorin, Pop OS,...) but for some reason, I get error messages during install, and when I do finally manage to install a bistro, I get nothing but graphical glitches.
Strange, as none of these problems happen with Mint LMDE or Fedora...
Tried Cachy OS, too, but it's a relatively new distro, with support from a small team (kudos to them) but since I'm far from being an expert in Linux, I prefer a distro with a large community behind it...
In any case, I'm still in the process of trying out several distros (will try OpenSuse Tumbleweed next). Also, if I do decide to go for Linux and get a PC laptop and Android Phone, I will still keep my M1 MacBook Pro and iPhone 13. That way, if things go awry, I can always go back to my comfort zone... 😁
DCBassman
macrumors 65816
I'm thinking MX will install without a hitch on your 2015. One thing I always keep handy for all my tinkering, in any OS, is an ethernet connector. That will pretty much get you up and running with anything, and give you the opportunity to download stuff that didn't work first time.
You can run Linux on an external drive. That way, you can keep your current setup as you like and experiment with Linux (various distributions) and Linux applications risk-free.
I hope Canva Affinity seriously considers a Linux version of its app. Currently, people are using Wine to run Affinity, which is less than optimal.
I hope Canva Affinity seriously considers a Linux version of its app. Currently, people are using Wine to run Affinity, which is less than optimal.
I refuse to give Adobe any of my money.
I don't recall ever having to kill DarkTable from the terminal (or Activity Monitor). I am not happy that they have prematurely dropped support for Intel Macs but other than that, it's been fine on my Mac.
I know, but I installed it on a 2015 Intel MacBook Pro, limited to Mac OS Monterey.
Support for Apple silicon is still more or less in its infancy so haven't tried your proposed option on my M1 Pro yet...
robertosh
macrumors 65816
Thanks for the data, interesting indeed. It's true that for gaming is important to run latest kernels and package versions but that could also imply stability and security concerns. Unless is for gaming, i would rather go for a distro with stable repositories, at least for your first linux ever distro. Mint is also a nice option indeed.
avkills
macrumors 65816
Linux might be the future for my 2019 Mac Pro; but will not meddle with that if and when I decide to replace it with something. More than likely will just get a Mac mini; the main reason for it was for work stuff, but then work bought me a M3 Max that is pretty loaded, so I don't need the 2019 Mac Pro for work anymore and it is overkill for my basic personal needs.
ClaraStahlbaum
macrumors 6502a
I have played around in Linux a bit in UTM a few times before. I have tried Fedora, but due to me having an M4 Processor, I can't virtualize the OS and so installs were painfully slow. I like Ubuntu, however as it is in UTM, the experience is rather limited. When it comes to Ubuntu, I had trouble installing certain programs, such as Bin Weevils (a flash game I play a lot) due to the program being a .bin file.
DankeBrutus
macrumors regular
I've only been using Linux since 2020, but I have been around the block with many distros.
OP has installed Linux Mint, and that is a great distro. Off the top of my head I can't think of anything the average user would want to do on any mainstream distro or DE (desktop environment) that would require them to open the terminal, but Linux Mint especially has a great set of graphical applications.
My personal recommendation for anyone considering Linux is Fedora Workstation. Fedora is upstream of RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) so it has some pedigree associated with it. It has a major version update every six months, it also is a distro that tends to adopt new technology sooner like BTRFS. When my partner's 2015 5K iMac's Fusion Drive died I installed Fedora on a USB SSD while I waited to get a good Thunderbolt 2 enclosure. She had zero problems with Fedora and she is not a technical person. People are going to mention CachyOS and I think it is a mistake to recommend it for a few reasons:
OP has installed Linux Mint, and that is a great distro. Off the top of my head I can't think of anything the average user would want to do on any mainstream distro or DE (desktop environment) that would require them to open the terminal, but Linux Mint especially has a great set of graphical applications.
My personal recommendation for anyone considering Linux is Fedora Workstation. Fedora is upstream of RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) so it has some pedigree associated with it. It has a major version update every six months, it also is a distro that tends to adopt new technology sooner like BTRFS. When my partner's 2015 5K iMac's Fusion Drive died I installed Fedora on a USB SSD while I waited to get a good Thunderbolt 2 enclosure. She had zero problems with Fedora and she is not a technical person. People are going to mention CachyOS and I think it is a mistake to recommend it for a few reasons:
- Arch Linux being the introduction to Linux makes the OS seem much more complicated than it really is. Arch is fantastic if you want to tinker and have maximum flexibility but that comes with costs of time and knowledge.
- CachyOS is not magic. Depending on hardware you will probably only see margin of error levels of performance uplift. Even under ideal circumstances with your hardware configuration being able to take full advantage of the tweaks the CachyOS team has done the most I have seen is perhaps a ~10% improvement in performance, and that will depend game by game.
- If you want a gaming focused distro then Bazzite is a better choice due to it being immutable. It has a more stable foundation than CachyOS in my experience. My time with CachyOS was spent with my wondering why there were 2 Steam executables and why my mouse was unresponsive, problems I haven't experienced with the 20-30 distros I have trialed over the years.
DankeBrutus
macrumors regular
Out of the box I don't know off the top of my head if Mint comes with a VM manager, Virtual Machine Manager (`virt-manager`) should be available in the software store. I believe virt-manager can use QEMU.