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 I’m using Ubuntu, and it’s very easy to admin.
@_elena Mint XFCE (Cinnamon is the desktop environment usually done with Mint, but again not great choice for older hardware XFCE is better on older hardware in my testing) https://linuxmint.com/download.php
@_elena MX XFCE (the XFCE part refers to Desktop enviornment TLDR the graphical interface aspect you work with, XFCE is lighter than KDE better choice for RAM limited machines like old Macbook Air) works really well on Intel Macs based on both my research and testing, have it on 2017 Macbook Air. https://mxlinux.org/
@_elena Fedora (Redhaaaaaat!) and CashyOS (I use arch btw) are my picks.
I also have an MB Air 2013 in my shelf. Maybe I should do the same. But tbh: I have no use for it. I have so many better Notebooks lying around…
There is no good answer. My anecdotal experience is that Ubuntu just works in MacBook laptops. I also happen to like the simplicity of the gnome desktop, and the fact that online accounts just work (for Nextcloud, google drive, calendars, even outlook/exchange), seamlessly integrated into the file browser and the time/calendar/notifications.
Be mindful of a possible 30-second delay upon booting into Linux. This can be solved, depends on the MacBook model.
@_elena
I put Mint on all my devices. But those were all Windows. An HP laptop. An old Dell desktop and a Dell 17 inch laptop.
I'm quite happy with Mint.
@_elena
NetBSD? One of the few who are against GenAI in their code.
@_elena
Arch isn't quite suitable for beginner though it's an excellent distro.
Mint and Fedora are both great, while their ecosystem is a tad different (Mint may feel like 'more Windows-like').
CachyOS is worth trying as well if you already have some experience with Linux. It's Arch-based and performance-optimised.
@_elena
Mint sarebbe più 'userfriendly'. Magari vale la pena di osservare CachyOS.
@_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.
@_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.
@_elena Q4OS with Trinity desktop environment won the 3 way tie for first place in my 6 months testing on old 2010 Asus UL30vt laptop. But have not tested with a Mac yet. Other 2 in the tie: MX XFCE & Manjaro XFCE (Manjaro is based on Arch but has "training wheels" so easier in some ways to get started with, I don't recommend ether Arch or Manjaro for beginners unless using on test machine). Lot of things I like about Q4OS but not sure if install on Mac is as easy as MX https://q4os.org/
Q4OS - desktop operating system