Loading Linux on an Apple Computer

[No Forwarding Address]

Hello, I found this Linux Forum while cruising AseanNow........appears to have a lot of good in formation.  I went thru all 29 pages (rainy day) and didn't see anything concerning the subject above.  I have a 2018 MacBook Pro with a 2.6 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7 that I want to use to (re)learn Linux. - I am an old Unix/Zenix programmer and want to get back in the game.

The limitation, I see is (maybe) I only have 16gb Ram (not upgradeable) and a 500gb hard drive..........any tips on if this is doable?  or direct me to a source of information on how/what to do.   Thank's in advance

[ozimoron]

The short answer is just keep macos and run linux in a VM.

 

The slightly longer answer is that macos is just debian linux with a different desktop, software installer and some other restrictions. If you like unix then you obviously want to go terminal. Once in the terminal it's very much like ubuntu and all the kernel(?) level commands are the same. Hell, you could even run cobol in it.

 

I don't think you can get linux to load anyway on that machine. You have way more hardware than you need to run linux in a virtual machine. Those things weren't around in unix days before there was linux.

[No Forwarding Address]

2 minutes ago, ozimoron said:

The short answer is just keep macos and run linus in a VM.

 

The slightly longer answer is that macos is just debian linux with a different desktop, software installer and some other restrictions. If you like unix then you obviously want to go terminal. Once in the terminal it's very much like ubuntu and all the kernel(?) level commands are the same.

Thanx a lot, I thought some of the terminal commands looked familiar, haven't been in this arena since 1993 in Europe, so as a hobby, and mind fuel, I want to get back in and play around.   Glad I found this portion of the site.   Peace

[The Fugitive]

7 hours ago, ozimoron said:

The slightly longer answer is that macos is just debian linux with a different desktop, software installer and some other restrictions.

Thanks so much for this! I'm only an ordinary user and have always bought low-end Windows computers, installing various Linux distros. My newest machine dates from 2012 and all have faults. The students in Thai family don't believe in struggling and have new iPad's and MacBooks. I was on the point of upgrading myself.

[ozimoron]

24 minutes ago, The Fugitive said:

Thanks so much for this! I'm only an ordinary user and have always bought low-end Windows computers, installing various Linux distros. My newest machine dates from 2012 and all have faults. The students in Thai family don't believe in struggling and have new iPad's and MacBooks. I was on the point of upgrading myself.

Unless you're doing a lot of travelling and really need portability, I highly recommend the mac mini m2. I bought one recently and upgraded the ram to 16 Gb and the drive to 512 Gb. I recommend at least the ram upgrade as you can't add more later. You could use an external drive if you need more storage. I didn't choose the pro, it's only necessary if you want to do some serious graphics work or perhaps gaming. I'm not a gamer so don't really know. I wouldn't buy a macbook. The base mac mini is 20,900 baht. The ram and drive upgrades are 7,000 each.

 

I also have an ASUS PN51 mini with linux installed. I use linux for coding because I don't want to give Apple $144 a year for an apple developer license which I would need for in app Firebase services.

[The Fugitive]

4 minutes ago, ozimoron said:

Unless you're doing a lot of travelling and really need portability, I highly recommend the mac mini m2. I bought one recently and upgraded the ram to 16 Gb and the drive to 512 Gb. I recommend at least the ram upgrade as you can't add more later. You could use an external drive if you need more storage. I didn't choose the pro, it's only necessary if you want to do some serious graphics work or perhaps gaming. I'm not a gamer so don't really know. I wouldn't buy a macbook. The base mac mini is 20,900 baht. The ram and drive upgrades are 7,000 each.

Spot on advice! Exactly what I need by the sound of it. Many thanks!

[ozimoron]

8 minutes ago, The Fugitive said:

Spot on advice! Exactly what I need by the sound of it. Many thanks!

Another thing to know about the mac is that it uses a third of the power of current other computers. I believe it is a risc chip. Apple call it silicon but that's just the marketing, all chips are silicon and have been forever. Apple has greater software compatibility than linux (photoshop, autocad, dragon naturally speaking, etc) but linux has all of the software you will likely ever need and does have alternatives to those. When installing software on the mac mini, you need to select apple silicon rather than intel.

[fdsa]

On 4/30/2023 at 2:27 AM, ozimoron said:

macos is just debian linux with a different desktop, software installer and some other restrictions. I

utter bullshít

[ozimoron]

12 minutes ago, fdsa said:

utter bullshít

From user user perspective they both share linux components and the OP was wanting to use terminal. They are very similar at that level.