Posted: 7/27/2012 1:53:09 AM EDT
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I'm thinking about running a Linux system on my MacBook Pro (2009 model). I don't have a problem at all with OSX, I'm looking for something new basically just for the shits and giggles; I'm bored and I figured switching my OS is a pretty good way to kill time and learn some new stuff.
First off, can I partition my drive to where I can run both OSX and Linux (not at the same time; be able to switch back and forth)? Second, I'm aware of Ubuntu, but are there other/better options? |
| Ubuntu is great and easy to use. Download and try it: http://www.ubuntu.com/ You don't have to get down and dirty unless you really want to. |
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Ubuntu is great and easy to use. Download and try it: http://www.ubuntu.com/ You don't have to get down and dirty unless you really want to. Thanks for the reply. I'm not really looking to get "down and dirty" programming-wise or anything, but I've grown up with Macs all my life, and I know how to really work the system. By going to Ubuntu, will I be losing capability? I know that a lot of "computing capability" comes with being familiar with your system, and it'll take time to figure out how to do stuff I'm used to doing on OSX, but are there things I can already do with OSX that I'm not gonna be able to do with Ubuntu? That's probably a really awkwardly-worded question, and I know my mileage may vary. |
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I would think you could find much more rewarding ways to spend your free time honestly. (my day job is linux admin, i run a mbp and use whatever version of osx is on it. its really just a means to run firefox and a terminal) Spoken like a man who's never spent summer in a college town 
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I got turned off by Ubuntu in the installments following Lucid. Windows already does everything I need it to do, so I decided to shop around for a better platform for LEARNING. Used several different flavors of Linux Mint, tried a few others, and then discovered #! (Crunchbang). I really liked it. Now I use that either natively or as a virtual on most of my computers. My kids still run Linux Mint 12 LXDE on their virtual. |
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How much RAM do you have? It may be better to set up a VM. This. Buy VMWare fusion. Download a recent CentOS and Ubuntu ISO. Create a VM and run it full screened so it feels like the native OS. This way when you skullfuck a config file or run the wrong rm command you don't lose hours rebuilding a laptop. Also if you suddenly had a reason you needed to do something important and wanted to use OSX you just exit the VM. You also don't have to worry about finding drivers for some obscure video card built into your laptop that you're forced to run in 640x480 without. With CentOS and Ubuntu you get your feet wet with two popular and unique distributions but aren't commited to anything but some harddrive space. Then get familiar with YUM and APT-GET. |
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How much RAM do you have? It may be better to set up a VM. This. Buy VMWare fusion. Download a recent CentOS and Ubuntu ISO. Create a VM and run it full screened so it feels like the native OS. This way when you skullfuck a config file or run the wrong rm command you don't lose hours rebuilding a laptop. Also if you suddenly had a reason you needed to do something important and wanted to use OSX you just exit the VM. You also don't have to worry about finding drivers for some obscure video card built into your laptop that you're forced to run in 640x480 without. With CentOS and Ubuntu you get your feet wet with two popular and unique distributions but aren't commited to anything but some harddrive space. Then get familiar with YUM and APT-GET. agree - this |
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Quoted: Quoted: How much RAM do you have? It may be better to set up a VM. This. Buy VMWare fusion. Download a recent CentOS and Ubuntu ISO. Create a VM and run it full screened so it feels like the native OS. This way when you skullfuck a config file or run the wrong rm command you don't lose hours rebuilding a laptop. Also if you suddenly had a reason you needed to do something important and wanted to use OSX you just exit the VM. You also don't have to worry about finding drivers for some obscure video card built into your laptop that you're forced to run in 640x480 without. With CentOS and Ubuntu you get your feet wet with two popular and unique distributions but aren't commited to anything but some harddrive space. Then get familiar with YUM and APT-GET. He could also download VirtualBox for free.  |
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First off, can I partition my drive to where I can run both OSX and Linux (not at the same time; be able to switch back and forth)? Personal opinion. If you don't know enough about computers to answer that question your self you are probably better off just staying away from Linix. |
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First off, can I partition my drive to where I can run both OSX and Linux (not at the same time; be able to switch back and forth)? Personal opinion. If you don't know enough about computers to answer that question your self you are probably better off just staying away from Linix. Linux requires no special skillset that learning ANY other operating wouldn't. If you can switch from OSX to Windows, you can switch from OSX to Linux just as easily. In fact it's easier than switching from OSX to Windows because most of the functions of OSX are identical to Linux. |
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How much RAM do you have? It may be better to set up a VM. This. Buy VMWare fusion. Download a recent CentOS and Ubuntu ISO. Create a VM and run it full screened so it feels like the native OS. This way when you skullfuck a config file or run the wrong rm command you don't lose hours rebuilding a laptop. Also if you suddenly had a reason you needed to do something important and wanted to use OSX you just exit the VM. You also don't have to worry about finding drivers for some obscure video card built into your laptop that you're forced to run in 640x480 without. With CentOS and Ubuntu you get your feet wet with two popular and unique distributions but aren't commited to anything but some harddrive space. Then get familiar with YUM and APT-GET. He could also download VirtualBox for free.
Good idea. I've always been happy with VMware since it's got such a huge following that many times I don't even have to build my own VM for a specialty application. I import a guest instance someone else built. I doubt the OP will benefit from that. |
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First off, can I partition my drive to where I can run both OSX and Linux (not at the same time; be able to switch back and forth)? Personal opinion. If you don't know enough about computers to answer that question your self you are probably better off just staying away from Linix. Linux requires no special skillset that learning ANY other operating wouldn't. If you can switch from OSX to Windows, you can switch from OSX to Linux just as easily. In fact it's easier than switching from OSX to Windows because most of the functions of OSX are identical to Linux. Well the question is whether the OP is at all familiar with the terminal? If he spends all his time in the OSX GUI it's going to be a bigger shock to switch than if he's familiar using curl and homebrew through the terminal. |
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If all you want to do is work in some office software, do email, listen to music, and surf the internet, then anyone can pick up almost any GUI Linux distro and be up to speed in about 1 day. For those purposes, I think Linux is perfect, since you don't need to pay cash for all those simple little basic things. |
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First off, can I partition my drive to where I can run both OSX and Linux (not at the same time; be able to switch back and forth)? Personal opinion. If you don't know enough about computers to answer that question your self you are probably better off just staying away from Linix. Linux requires no special skillset that learning ANY other operating wouldn't. If you can switch from OSX to Windows, you can switch from OSX to Linux just as easily. In fact it's easier than switching from OSX to Windows because most of the functions of OSX are identical to Linux. Well the question is whether the OP is at all familiar with the terminal? If he spends all his time in the OSX GUI it's going to be a bigger shock to switch than if he's familiar using curl and homebrew through the terminal. terminal is just a place to go for ver few, very specific thing for the vast majority of users. My aunt (65) runs Ubuntu and if she ever has a need to drop to terminal she figured out she can Google her problem and the commands are usually typed for her right on the web, she just copies and pastes (I was so proud when she told me this, she was a support nightmare on Windows). Hell most common tasks that require terminal are already shell scripted and are easily found with a Google search, you don't even need to learn scripting anymore. Generally speaking, there isn't much even I (an IT pro) need to do on most new flavors of Linux that requires dropping to terminal and manipulating CLI. The vast majority of the newer larger distros like Ubuntu, Mint, CentOS and the like are pretty damned user friendly and "point and clicky" for the average person. Shit, if running Linux got my geriatric aunt to stop calling me twice a month with some new computer problem I'd say ANYONE can learn this shit, if they want to. This is not the Linux of the old days, anymore. I'll concede that gaming sucks on Linux but, I don't game so, it's a non issue for me. I have yet to want to do something in Linux that I could do on a Windoze box and found myself unable and I consider myself to be a power user/admin type. In fact, the only thing Windows has going for it over Linux (besides gaming) is a huge userbase which attracts attackers. |
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if you want to do nothing with your system, go linux. its about as fun as smacking your dick in the door. No games, just some apps that sorta work like the real deal. Don't forget the potential for Dale Gribble-tier cryptography and privacy paranoia.
This is actually a good point and, OP, if you're gonna install Linux you may want to play around with a walkthrough like t.his I mean, fuck it, why use the OS without using some of the most powerful tools it offers? |
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I have had the best luck with openSuSE.
openSuSE Project (it just works) |
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How much RAM do you have? It may be better to set up a VM. This. Buy VMWare fusion. Download a recent CentOS and Ubuntu ISO. Create a VM and run it full screened so it feels like the native OS. This way when you skullfuck a config file or run the wrong rm command you don't lose hours rebuilding a laptop. Also if you suddenly had a reason you needed to do something important and wanted to use OSX you just exit the VM. You also don't have to worry about finding drivers for some obscure video card built into your laptop that you're forced to run in 640x480 without. With CentOS and Ubuntu you get your feet wet with two popular and unique distributions but aren't commited to anything but some harddrive space. Then get familiar with YUM and APT-GET. Or you could just run it from a flash drive. |
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How much RAM do you have? It may be better to set up a VM. This. Buy VMWare fusion. Download a recent CentOS and Ubuntu ISO. Create a VM and run it full screened so it feels like the native OS. This way when you skullfuck a config file or run the wrong rm command you don't lose hours rebuilding a laptop. Also if you suddenly had a reason you needed to do something important and wanted to use OSX you just exit the VM. You also don't have to worry about finding drivers for some obscure video card built into your laptop that you're forced to run in 640x480 without. With CentOS and Ubuntu you get your feet wet with two popular and unique distributions but aren't commited to anything but some harddrive space. Then get familiar with YUM and APT-GET. This is probably what I'll end up doing. Thank you for the replies, everyone. It's much appreciated |
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How much RAM do you have? It may be better to set up a VM. This. Buy VMWare fusion. Download a recent CentOS and Ubuntu ISO. Create a VM and run it full screened so it feels like the native OS. This way when you skullfuck a config file or run the wrong rm command you don't lose hours rebuilding a laptop. Also if you suddenly had a reason you needed to do something important and wanted to use OSX you just exit the VM. You also don't have to worry about finding drivers for some obscure video card built into your laptop that you're forced to run in 640x480 without. With CentOS and Ubuntu you get your feet wet with two popular and unique distributions but aren't commited to anything but some harddrive space. Then get familiar with YUM and APT-GET. Or you could just run it from a flash drive. Performance is abysmal... |