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 +1 for fedora. i was a distro-hopper for a long time and a lot have their strengths, but fedora is just solid, compatible and a joy to use.
@_elena
Pick Mint and you'll have an easy time.
Pick Arch as an early distro and you can't complaint when it fails. Also the forums are quite antagonistic to questions from new people.
@_elena I runt Mint from t2linux.org on Macbook Air 2018 and Macbook Pro 2020 or 2019 (don’t remember - last Pro with Intel CPU anyways). Works flawlessly. Only issue would be you have to manually delete old kernels before they fill your boot drive - but it’s a 3 minute task with 3 or 4 terminal commands. And I guess will be resolved with december Mint update. Also sleep/wake not (always) work so I just don’t use it. Everything else is fast/clean/reaponsive/„just works” no problem experience.
@_elena I have a Macbook air with mint on it.
It's great, but...
Two issues I have found...
1)WiFi is a problem until you get it installed and can install the correct drivers.
I use a USB WiFi dongle that is supported during the install.
2)If you close the lid whilst it is running it borks the system, and you need to use an odd multi key combo to recover.
I disable sleep on lid close to avoid this.
Hope that's of some help.
@greenpete good to know, thank you!
@_elena I’ve personally started with Ubuntu at first but then of course (because of peer pressure) I moved to Arch Linux and I’ve been using that for years since then… it’s light since it comes with a minimal amount of packages
Installing Arch Linux is rather easy if you use the archinstall script: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Archinstall (but of course you’d need to get some things working first like connecting to Wi-Fi for example [or you can skip the internet connection setup using Ethernet])
@_elena I can only say, as a non-nerd: I changed to Linux Mint before Xmas, and so far I cope, more than that: I´m happy! But please, it shouldn´t be even an inch more complicated to keep me happy.
@_elena Linux Mint just works on my 2013 MacBook Pro. I had to load a driver to get the WiFi to work but it was right there on the USB installer distribution. Veronica Explains has a video on how to install it.
@rationaldoge whaaaaaaat ?!?! @veronica has a video about it? Amazing!!! I will check it out ASAP (HUGE fan of her work)
@_elena I've been running Zorin OS on my Asus laptop for a while now, and am a big fan (not that any Linux distro is flawless, there were a couple of driver hurdles) - the Zorin forums are also well trafficked and full of answers if you get stuck.
@LucPestille thank you Luc! I watched a video tutorial about installing Zorin OS on a Macbook Air 2013 and it seemed really easy
You started a distribution war 😱.
My advice is to first try distributions with a "live USB" memory stick :
- it is a good test for hardware compatibility ;
- you can evaluate if the interface and its management are ok for you.
The best distribution is the one you master.
@_elena Mint is very usable - one of the younger folks at our maker meetup installed that on a laptop as his first distro. Arch may be more than what you need (and is very bleeding edge). Decisions decisions! 🤓
@andypiper I'm now debating whether to do Mint or Fedora 😅
@_elena @andypiper Isjt it just a matter of personal preference? Like either you like minty fresh breath or you like silly hats? Right???
(This is a joke, and definitely not useful advice about Linux distributions, about which I know very little. 🤪)
Fedora is great! I changed from Ubuntu to Fedora on my main laptop a few years ago, and I find things a bit easier to get around. Generally though I wouldn't say it makes a huge difference to the average user which one you choose.
Linux Mint is more Windows-like, while Ubuntu and Fedora use @gnome which is more original. I find it a real joy to use especially on laptops thanks to trackpad gestures, and it just has great design overall. I'm sure Mint is also great though!
@_elena @andypiper
@_elena Both are great, you cannot go wrong. That being said, I usually recommend Mint as it is a bit easier to use. You just don't need to hop on the terminal as often.
@_elena I guess it depends on what you want to do. To *learn* Linux, Arch might be a good way, but just to *use* Linux, I recommend a more out-of-the-box distribution. I'm using Ubuntu for years on my main laptop and I (usually) don't have to tinker around.
@kleisli thanks! I have Ubuntu on my Raspberry Pi 4 and really like it. But I've always heard so many great things about Mint, so I was tempted by it... plus I may one day give that laptop to my child...
@libewa @_elena @kleisli That's a good description of Mint. I'm a long time Linux user, with the emphasis on user rather than fiddler. I started with Ubuntu - I think the version number was still in single digits at the time, then changed to Xubuntu because it ran better on my elderly hardware. I put Mint XFCE on a Thinkpad which suddenly decided it didn't want to run or re-install Windows and found it to be nice to use. My Dell desktop had become a mess of snaps, flatpaks, and appimages so that went Mint XFCE as well making software updates so much simpler. Xubuntu screwed up an upgrade on my other Thinkpad and it was easier to just install Mint XFCE on that too. You can tell that I like the XFCE desktop can't you? 😄 So I'd say if you just want to use Linux Mint is a good choice, if you're looking for a new hobby there are more "involving" distros. One caveat is I've never tried Linux on a Mac so all my experience is on PCs - apart from an old Raspberry Pi running DietPi.
@snaprails thank you! I already have too many techie hobbies and need something that just works... so Mint is looking like the strongest contender right now
@_elena For what it's worth, the difficulty of installing and using Arch is somewhat exaggerated. It does require more effort than many other distros, but it's not rocket science either. And IMO after you've gone through that process once, you are generally way better prepared to troubleshoot your system, because now you know how the individual parts actually go together.