41–50 of 75 posts
If not, then maybe try a different distro, like Ubuntu.
If you want something that just works, Ubuntu on either a Dell XPS or Thinkpad is your best bet.
If you want something with nice hardware, I would suggest a Dell XPS. The Dell XPS designs are not perfect, but Ubuntu just works on it aside from maybe the fingerprint reader which I never bothered with.
I mostly run my apps in Docker anyway, and VZkit is almost bare metal performance with paravirt networking.
That said, I run Linux for my servers at home, and that's been working great!
1) Run an inferior OS on Apple hardware.
2) Run Linux on inferior hardware.
3) Asahi Linux on Apple hardware.
What you choose depends on the trade-offs you want to make.
Sounds like some people in this thread have had success with option 3. I have tried but I have failed. I'm hoping that Asahi continues to improve. I have several laptops, I do a mix of 1 and 2.
personally, i tried macOS 2 years ago and got frustrated by all the restrictions and differences from linux. i remember wanting to uninstall the default "chess" program, searching around and learning that i literally couldn't without turning off the default security mode, just because there was an off chance that the chess program contained essential code.
Buy a used Thinkpad. Their compatibility is superb, as many major Linux vendors develop on them. Better to buy older higher-end models than spend the money on newer models. Buy the highest-end model you can afford. Don't use an ideologically-motivated distro that omits drivers and firmware because they are not Free enough. Use something fairly mainstream, like Ubuntu or Mint. Update its firmware before you install. S…
Not just Thinkpads work fine (Latitudes are also awesome), what you describe is wisdom from the 2000s. You can just use fwupd to have regular firmware updates, no need to keep Windows just for that. Wireless also works very nice, especially Intel. What can be tricky are fingerprint readers, but some have binary drivers.
That being said, if you really want to be persuaded, give Linux a little more time, and accept some friendly advice. First of all, make sure you’re running hardware that’s not going to give you trouble. If you have the resources to buy a new Apple laptop, you can afford a refurb from eBay with compatible hardware. Don’t overthink the specs, Linux runs better on 10 year old hardware than windows did when it was brand new on the same machine. Steer well clear of NVidia. Their hardware is nothing but trouble.
Second, XMonad is a weird choice if you’re just starting out. It’s Fun with a capital F, but trouble free it’s not. It (a) still doesn’t support Wayland, which means you’re bound to the increasingly creaky and unsupported XOrg and (b) last I used it, XMonad was configured by recompiling a Haskell program. If you’re not a committed Haskell user, this adds a ton of friction. Just use sway if you want a tiling WM.
Buy the Mac. If you’re using Arch and Linux feels like “trouble” instead of a breath of fresh air, it may not be for you. That being said, if you really want to be persuaded, give Linux a little more time, and accept some friendly advice. First of all, make sure you’re running hardware that’s not going to give you trouble. If you have the resources to buy a new Apple laptop, you can afford a refurb from eBay with com…