Discussion
(Almost) ready to turn my beloved MacBook Air 2013 - which is gathering dust on a shelf - into a #Linux laptop.
Only problem: multiple people might have swayed me to pick Arch Linux as the distro. #ArchLinux!!! I know NOTHING but from all the Linux memes I've seen over the years, I've always been intimidated by it.
Debating whether to go with it or #Mint or #Ubuntu. Thoughts?
Edit / update: it's now a toss-up between Mint and Fedora. I may try Arch on my Raspi4
@_elena omargy is probably the distro you want. https://omarchy.org/
@_elena I installed mint on my macbook air 2013, works very well
@_elena Strongly recommend Fedora, it’s been very stable for me for years. Not on a Mac though so if that plays into it I wouldn’t know.
Intimidated by Archlinux? Do you remember how intimidated you were by selfhosting?
@_elena doing ubuntu under kde plasma for more than a years, works fine. beware of gpu drivers and some kde issues
@_elena I've installed #Mint on three of our Mac Airs at home successfully and they now work like a dream. There is a known issue with the WiFi driver so when installing Mint have a ethernet cable connected or a WiFi dongle. Once installed you can install the driver for the WiFi card easy enough. I'm not a CLI champion but I've been able to get Mint installed with little fuss.
Enjoy!
@ddiluted1 thank you! I just ordered a Wifi dongle (after watching a video tutorial by @veronica ). Fingers crossed it will all go smoothly...
@_elena @veronica most important thing is just to give it a go! All Linux distributions have pros and cons and the joy is exploring them. (I'm guilty of distro hopping on an old laptop I have just to see what they're like)
If you're interested in what each distro looks and feels like https://distrosea.com/ is worth checking out before you commit to installing something.
I had problems with WiFi on my 2013 MBA.
But cachyOS (arch based) works well and the WiFi works netter than on the other distros.
@_elena
In the end it's a philosophical question:
Do you you want a system that you have to conform to and that hides from you what you don't seem to need at the time or do you want to gain an understanding of your system, so you can learn how to properly do things your way?
First one is the Big Tech/Linux Mint-approach, the second one is the Arch way.
Also: If it comes down to Mint or Fedora, have some self-respect and do yourself a favor, get Fedora.
@_elena Re edit: Make that Debian or Fedora. 
@_elena Arch if you want to learn how operating systems are built, but less useful as a work flow platform. Debian is likely best pick if you want rock solid and fully functional and don't want to get fed up with your choice in a few year's time and want the same tools on laptop, desktop and server.
@copsewood great points! I'm used to Debian because it powers my YunoHost instances... I had not considered it as a candidate, but I might now...
@_elena Mint is easy to start!! Move on Mint!! Arch is for people who wants to know every single of code what is of own Os.. You should to be a skilled person.. ok with tutorial online you can install it easily right now, we can also try to have a help with Chat-gpt or Claude. Hahaha.
@_elena Mint
I put it on my mac air 2015, no problems, picked up the printer and more importantly the wifi card!!
@_elena i have an old intel MacBook with a battery that needs changing. Going to be following your adventures.
One aspect that I find is easily glossed over is the look and feel of the various distros. Some people don’t care, tastes vary, but for people (like me) who are (overly) sensitive to design, it’s something that I would factor in as a priority. Couldn’t use a system that makes my eyes bleed 😅
@sknob I'm in the same boat as you. I LOVE good design (which is why I've been drawn to Mint) and my Macbook Air's battery gives a "service needed" warning. I will definitely write about my adventures and document every step :)
@_elena I'm enjoying Manjaro quite a bit, it's based on Arch, so pretty much all Arch documentation and packages also apply for Manjaro, but it's supposed to be more user friendly. I can't say why that is, as I've never tried Arch myself. I guess Manjaro is to Arch what Mint is to Ubuntu, but I'm not sure.
To be honest I'm finding Manjaro far better and more stable than Ubuntu. Though to be fair, I last tried Ubuntu almost 10 years ago, so I can't compare how much that has changed.