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Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS on MacBookPro14,1

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Re: Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS on MacBookPro14,1

#61

Post by ekianjo »

heelix wrote: post #35
Narann wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question: Having Linux on a Mac a decade ago had sense has Mac hardwares were special enough to provide value, but now you have XPS-like hardware, why would people buy a Mac to install a Linux on it? Dual boot? What does Mac hardware have that others don't?

The screen and the track pad are the best out there. From a coding perspective, the Mac is one of the few 16:10 ratio screens still out there, which means you get a bit more vertical height than 99% of the other 16:9 ratio resolutions. While 16:9 makes for better movie watching, coding/surfing/etc is far better on the taller screen. As a bonus, it is a really quality screen too. I'm less enamored with the rest. My da…

> The screen and the track pad are the best out there.

Aren't most Mac laptops screens glossy though? I don't really care how good the screen is if it acts like a huge mirror all the time.

As for the trackpad, if you are proficient with the keyboard (or use a tiling wm) it does not really matter anymore.

Re: Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS on MacBookPro14,1

#62

Post by _jal »

ohwel2l wrote: post #49

Somewhat unrelated but do we still need Docker Desktop for Mac to run Docker containers on macOS? Why is that, is it because Linux is needed? Couldn't Docker run containers natively using just macOS?

Docker uses namespaces, cgroups and other facilities that are Linux-specific. (Other OSes implement similar things, but of course they're different implementations.)

A short description, a bit old, but still useful:

https://jvns.ca/blog/2016/10/10/what-even-is-a-container/

Re: Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS on MacBookPro14,1

#63

Post by readwind »

inanutshellus wrote: post #47
aguyfromnb wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You directly implied that people are buying Apple products for the logo. Apple makes kick-ass machines, but I see Macbook Pros everywhere . How many people in the real world need a $2000+ computer? If these people aren't buying it for the logo, what are they buying it for? Apple has positioned themselves as a lifestyle brand. How can you deny that?

One counterpoint - Trust in quality. I'm looking at buying a laptop right now and I can either buy an apple MBP ... OR a MONSTER laptop with much better specs for the same-or-less price. I'm hand-wringing over it. With past laptops I've only been disappointed by the non-Apple laptops I've had. Bad ram, bad battery, bad battery again, bad battery AGAIN, slow-for-hardware-misfiring issues... or the Apple that has been…

You'll get more "SCSI" when you buy macs, if you're a poser, at least, or a signaller, is probably more polite. 'You' is general of course, but, I think this is how it works. You'll be rolling in the SCSI with a mac, or if you plan to hang out with lots of bald men with the Steve Jobs kind of spiel, or something. I'd guess this is how it works. If any of those things are your thing, you should go for the mac, man.

But all that is a shitty landscape, opinions are mine. I meant no offense. But you see how things work out there.

Re: Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS on MacBookPro14,1

#64

Post by skrtskrt »

amaccuish wrote: post #46
Dunedan wrote: post #6

I used MacBooks with Linux starting in 2006 till the end of last year. That's when I finally gave up. I really love the hardware Apple produces, but we're at a point where I believe it's not feasible anymore to use Linux on MacBooks. For the MacBook Pros 2016 and up I put significant effort into trying to get mainline Linux running as smoothly as possible by documenting and coordinating the efforts to have drivers fo…

Yes, I have a 2015 MacBook Air that runs great apart from the bluetooth using headphones is not usable, super choppy. But it took ages to get here and I've still got weird scripts I don't really understand to allow me to close the lid and open reliably. As an aside, I'm finding battery and performance much better on Ubuntu 20.04 and kernel 5.4+

I just booted my 2015 MBA with Mint (Cinnamon) last week and everything worked automatically. It had to install one proprietary driver for WiFi, which the Mint installer prompted me to approve then installed.

I assumed it was because this machine didnt fall into the “newer Macs that have issues with Linux” bucket

Re: Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS on MacBookPro14,1

#65

Post by heelix »

gorgoiler wrote: post #41
heelix wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I run VMWare fusion on my Mac for virtualization. Being able to bump the Linux desktop to what the full retina screen can handle is glorious (though I had to fiddle with sizes on the terminal to find something that my eyes could work with). Got a Windows VM for the occasional MSI things that head my way. Nice access to the hardware - disk, cpu, memory - with a lot of snapshot management. I've got both Oracle's Virtua…

What’s superior with VMWare? I’m a virtual box user (via vagrant) but would switch for a compelling feature set. Performance, IPv6?

The snapshot options are much better in fusion, for that solo workflow, then stock virtualbox. I suspect vagrant covers those gaps.

Long running (and pausing) VMs behave better on fusion. I see better stability when pushed hard. Better use of the hardware. Been a long time since I ran benchmarks, but the same VM was about 4-10 seconds faster on a 2 minute process. Not enough to matter for most. The native disk access helps with things that are IO sensitive.

The UI drivers are better... so if you open up and run a Linux desktop, it feels much more native, if that is a thing.

I don't think I've even opened virtualbox in the last couple years... so my comparisons may be dated. YMMV

Re: Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS on MacBookPro14,1

#66

Post by read_if_gay_ »

ekianjo wrote: post #61
heelix wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The screen and the track pad are the best out there. From a coding perspective, the Mac is one of the few 16:10 ratio screens still out there, which means you get a bit more vertical height than 99% of the other 16:9 ratio resolutions. While 16:9 makes for better movie watching, coding/surfing/etc is far better on the taller screen. As a bonus, it is a really quality screen too. I'm less enamored with the rest. My da…

> The screen and the track pad are the best out there. Aren't most Mac laptops screens glossy though? I don't really care how good the screen is if it acts like a huge mirror all the time. As for the trackpad, if you are proficient with the keyboard (or use a tiling wm) it does not really matter anymore.

The screens aren’t matte, but they have a pretty decent anti-glare coating.

There’s also no way around using the trackpad sometimes. Using i3 and Vim keybindings wherever possible, I still need my trackpad enough that its relatively poor quality is annoying.

Re: Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS on MacBookPro14,1

#67

Post by bugsdabunny »

amaccuish wrote: post #46
Dunedan wrote: post #6

I used MacBooks with Linux starting in 2006 till the end of last year. That's when I finally gave up. I really love the hardware Apple produces, but we're at a point where I believe it's not feasible anymore to use Linux on MacBooks. For the MacBook Pros 2016 and up I put significant effort into trying to get mainline Linux running as smoothly as possible by documenting and coordinating the efforts to have drivers fo…

Yes, I have a 2015 MacBook Air that runs great apart from the bluetooth using headphones is not usable, super choppy. But it took ages to get here and I've still got weird scripts I don't really understand to allow me to close the lid and open reliably. As an aside, I'm finding battery and performance much better on Ubuntu 20.04 and kernel 5.4+

I'm have issues with sleep and closing the lid as well, do you have a link to those scripts? I could never get it working so I gave up a while ago and leave it on all the time

Re: Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS on MacBookPro14,1

#68

Post by reaperducer »

Dunedan wrote: post #6

I used MacBooks with Linux starting in 2006 till the end of last year. That's when I finally gave up. I really love the hardware Apple produces, but we're at a point where I believe it's not feasible anymore to use Linux on MacBooks. For the MacBook Pros 2016 and up I put significant effort into trying to get mainline Linux running as smoothly as possible by documenting and coordinating the efforts to have drivers fo…

I envy your knowledge and ambition. What you've done is beyond my capabilities.

But I think the crux of the problem is that people are trying to run commodity software on custom hardware. That just won't work long-term.

Linux is commodity software, that runs great on white box commodity hardware. macOS is custom software that runs great on custom hardware. Each has its place and purpose.

It's like driving a car on train tracks. Yes, it will get you somewhere, but it's not the right match of tools and environment. And it's inevitably going to be a bumpy ride.

Re: Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS on MacBookPro14,1

#69

Post by 1over137 »

read_if_gay_ wrote: post #66
ekianjo wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The screen and the track pad are the best out there. Aren't most Mac laptops screens glossy though? I don't really care how good the screen is if it acts like a huge mirror all the time. As for the trackpad, if you are proficient with the keyboard (or use a tiling wm) it does not really matter anymore.

The screens aren’t matte, but they have a pretty decent anti-glare coating. There’s also no way around using the trackpad sometimes. Using i3 and Vim keybindings wherever possible, I still need my trackpad enough that its relatively poor quality is annoying.

>The screens aren’t matte, but they have a pretty decent anti-glare coating.

I guess it must be subjective, because I find they are horribly glossy. I'm still using an old matte Macbook for this reason.

Re: Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS on MacBookPro14,1

#70

Post by AnthonyMouse »

pansa2 wrote: post #13
Dunedan wrote: post #6

I used MacBooks with Linux starting in 2006 till the end of last year. That's when I finally gave up. I really love the hardware Apple produces, but we're at a point where I believe it's not feasible anymore to use Linux on MacBooks. For the MacBook Pros 2016 and up I put significant effort into trying to get mainline Linux running as smoothly as possible by documenting and coordinating the efforts to have drivers fo…

Do the latest Macs still support running Windows via Boot Camp? What would you recommend if I need to run both Linux and Windows alongside MacOS? Virtualisation? Or would I be better off using more than one machine?

> What would you recommend if I need to run both Linux and Windows alongside MacOS? Virtualisation? Or would I be better off using more than one machine?

This really depends on whether you prefer Apple hardware or not. If you want Macbook hardware, use virtualization. If you want any kind of desktop or a laptop where everything isn't soldered and epoxied together, get whatever PC you want and then put the cheapest available Mac Mini in a corner and access it with remote desktop or similar as necessary. Another good solution is to buy a used Macbook which is old enough to have a rundown battery but not so old it won't run a recent macos, and then you get a better price and the battery doesn't matter because you're not actually using it as a laptop.

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