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Asahi Linux Progress Linux 7.0

asahilinux.org

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Re: Asahi Linux Progress Linux 7.0

#21

Post by ansgri »

jwr wrote: post #4

When I think about it, I don't understand why Apple wouldn't want to help this effort and just provide all the documentation. All the classic reasons ("competitive advantage", "secrets", etc) do not hold water in this day and age.

One of the reasons I can see is it’s much easier to say “we don’t play this game” than get a lot of negative press for selective openness and breaking compatibility of non-public interfaces. Maybe it’s even more important internally, as it enables new kind of internal discussions distracting from priority work.

Re: Asahi Linux Progress Linux 7.0

#23

Post by deaddodo »

u_fucking_dork wrote: post #9
jwr wrote: post #4

When I think about it, I don't understand why Apple wouldn't want to help this effort and just provide all the documentation. All the classic reasons ("competitive advantage", "secrets", etc) do not hold water in this day and age.

The cynical take is that they make a shit ton of money from services and Linux running on a MacBook won’t help them do that.

The vast majority of people that buy Macs for the ecosystem aren't going to switch to Linux. That market will remain untouched. Outside of a few gamers who might want to put up with the x86-to-ARM translation layer and (for most A to AAA games) Proton to run some non-Mac games. And even they'll probably still dual-boot.

There's a portion of another market: people who want to run Linux and want a powerful laptop who buy x86 Laptops right now. Apple could expend very little relative effort while offering no official support by helping Asahi get that to a first class platform. They won't capture them in the ecosystem (and they never would have) but will still benefit from hardware sales to them.

Obviously, if they sold their hardware at a loss and subsidized that with ecosystem capture that would be a non-starter. But from everything we know, the hardware itself is very profitable.

Re: Asahi Linux Progress Linux 7.0

#24

Post by confiq »

basisword wrote: post #19
jwr wrote: post #4

When I think about it, I don't understand why Apple wouldn't want to help this effort and just provide all the documentation. All the classic reasons ("competitive advantage", "secrets", etc) do not hold water in this day and age.

I imagine the real reason is that if they change things they now have an obligation to promptly share technical docs and if they're slow people will whine and bitch online about them. Not worth it. They have zero to gain (and I say this as someone who would love to dual boot Linux on my M4).

so they don't care about users, they care about themself?

Re: Asahi Linux Progress Linux 7.0

#25

Post by confiq »

ajdude wrote: post #18

I'm glad they dropped the ban on HN readers[1]. That was my very first impression of Asahi Linux that I ever encountered and it's unfortunately what I think of every time I see it show up here. [1] https://github.com/AsahiLinux/AsahiLinux.github.io/commit/e0...

Because they got a lot of trolls and Apple fans. The decision was not made lightly.

Re: Asahi Linux Progress Linux 7.0

#26

Post by mmcnl »

jwr wrote: post #4

When I think about it, I don't understand why Apple wouldn't want to help this effort and just provide all the documentation. All the classic reasons ("competitive advantage", "secrets", etc) do not hold water in this day and age.

I was trying to come up with a response but you're right. It would be easy for Apple and Apple would get so much goodwill from the community in return.

Re: Asahi Linux Progress Linux 7.0

#27

Post by nicoburns »

thelastgallon wrote: post #7

Is there an equivalent of this for iphones so we can give them a second life?

Unfortunately iPhones have locked bootloaders that prohibit installing other operating systems. People have gotten Linux running on iPhones, but it requires jailbreaking and that has gotten much harder over time. And it's not really worth putting effort into developing an OS if nobody is going to be able to install it.

Re: Asahi Linux Progress Linux 7.0

#28

Post by gjsman-1000 »

jwr wrote: post #4

When I think about it, I don't understand why Apple wouldn't want to help this effort and just provide all the documentation. All the classic reasons ("competitive advantage", "secrets", etc) do not hold water in this day and age.

> I don't understand

We really need to retire this phrase, it’s become a humblebrag way of calling the other party delusional without even trying to understand.

The list here though is long: priorities, accuracy concerns, blurring the line on official support, IP restrictions with third parties (even Apple uses plenty of licensed cores), etc.

Re: Asahi Linux Progress Linux 7.0

#29

Post by alphager »

ajdude wrote: post #18

I'm glad they dropped the ban on HN readers[1]. That was my very first impression of Asahi Linux that I ever encountered and it's unfortunately what I think of every time I see it show up here. [1] https://github.com/AsahiLinux/AsahiLinux.github.io/commit/e0...

How is that a ban?
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