On Fri, 01 Apr 2011 22:57:02 -0400, [email protected] wrote: > We've received a great big Mac from my kid's employer. Haven't been > near one since the time you had to squint to see the screen. So I'm > looking for prior experience on: > > > Is it worthwhile to install Ubuntu? > > > Is it difficult to install? > > > It's already running a "nix" - why bother? > > thanks for replies. Chuck Stevenson
I have Ubuntu running on two Macs - iMac 21" intel core duo, rev A, about 4 years old - PowerBrook G4 17" 1GHz rev A, about 7 years old So these are different architectures, so its a different setup. iMac Intel: I dual boot with Mac. I like Linux here because it is free software and more hackable. About 2 years ago I got a PC Laptop and switched to Ubuntu as my main OS. I don't like how Apple built up a business on free software and then started moving in the other direction with iOS and now with the Mac App store. I don't want to use software that doesn't respect me or let me use it the way that I want any more than I have to. That being said, Linux runs faster on this Mac than Mac does. Mainly because this computer maxes out at 2GB, and Linux has a smaller memory footprint, and does not do quite as much disk access. To install, use BootCamp to make a windows partition for your Ubuntu install and also install ReFit, which helps with Linux boots on a mac. Once you have partitioned, reboot off the Ubuntu CD and install to your new partition. Reboot and choose to boot off the new partition. It should pretty much just work. You may need to install some proprietary drivers once Ubuntu is running. It will let you know. Partitioning can be a pain if your Macs drive is fragmented. You may need to buy and run a disk defragmenter first. This will need to run off its own boot disk to do the job right. Also, Intel Macs cannot boot Linux off external drives in an easy way. PowerBook G4: I just booted off the install CD and let it reformat the whole drive as Linux. It installed fine. An update messed up video on me, but a later update fixed it again. Dealing with the one button trackpad is a bit of a pain, but a USB mouse fixes that. I use this computer mainly as a testbed to see how things work on a slow (1GHz PowerPC G4) and low memory (1GB) environment. These specs are similar to a lot of phones and plug servers you can get new now. Overall I found installing Linux on Macs to not be much harder than on a PC. On Intel Macs there is the extra step of setting up BootCamp and Refit, but both are pretty automatic. _______________________________________________ Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium Apr 6 - Introduction to IPv6 May 4 - Inkscape Jun 1 - Zimbra
