Insane

Story: Why some Apple customers run Linux on Macbooks instead of OS XTotal Replies: 22
Author Content
cmost

Jan 17, 2015
10:45 AM EDT
Why anyone would pay three times the price for three year old hardware specs and then wipe away Apple's novel OS-X to use Linux? Are people really that dumb (or that desperate to seem cool?)
the_doctor

Jan 17, 2015
11:07 AM EDT
Pointless.
linuxscreenshot

Jan 17, 2015
2:34 PM EDT
Some people prefer Apple hardware and Linux. not pointless to them..
penguinist

Jan 17, 2015
3:03 PM EDT
I could see a use case for setting up a dual-boot system.
the_doctor

Jan 17, 2015
7:23 PM EDT
@ linuxscreenshot:

An interesting interpretation.
linuxscreenshot

Jan 17, 2015
7:52 PM EDT
Ubuntus (-GNOME), Mint, and Deepin run fast and look great on my MacBook Pro (11,2) 15" Retina. Resume from suspend, not working well :(
seatex

Jan 18, 2015
2:28 PM EDT
Well, you could do like I did, and build your own Mac-style Linux rig.

skelband

Jan 20, 2015
4:57 PM EDT
Where I work we were an Apple shop for many years. We had a policy of buying Apple kit when it was good quality and many here prefer the GUI experience. For me, I got my Macbook Pro, formatted it and stuck Ubuntu (Jaunty I seem to remember) on it. Worked well for me for a number of years. After a series of poor builds of Macbooks (faulty video, in particular) we went to Lenovo.
DiBosco

Jan 21, 2015
11:24 AM EDT
I have a Macbook Pro 17" that I run Linux on. The nearest equivalent Windows machine with equivalent spec (1920 x 1080 screen, 17", sensible weight, nvidia card, glossy screen, good speakers and good battery life) was more expensive and the hardware wasn't a patch on it. And as for getting a machine of that spec with no OS on, forget about it. Just because you can't imagine a reason for doing it doesn't mean there isn't a good one.

I am not looking forward to the day it goes belly-up as Apple have discontinued it and no-one does an equivalent piece of hardware that is as good.

I detest Apple, utterly detest them and have covered up the Apple logo with Tux, but it was this or buy a more expensive, inferior laptop with Micro$oft garbage on it. Whatyougonnado?
notbob

Jan 21, 2015
12:24 PM EDT
Why is this the only thread that is not wrapping its lines, properly?
mrider

Jan 21, 2015
12:47 PM EDT
Because seatex's picture is bigger than the div that holds text. Since a picture can't wrap, the inside of the div is bigger than the visible area. Essentially, the border and right side menu items are over the top of the text.
seatex

Jan 21, 2015
1:33 PM EDT
> Because seatex's picture is bigger than the div that holds text. Since a picture can't wrap, the inside of the div is bigger than the visible area. Essentially, the border and right side menu items are over the top of the text.

I shrunk the pic manually, as a fix.
linuxscreenshot

Jan 21, 2015
1:40 PM EDT
This would be an interesting place for Linux users to post/vote for their favorite hardware. I'd like to fine an alternate to a MacBook, but need a good alternative.

i.e. Lenovo +1
NoDough

Jan 21, 2015
1:57 PM EDT
https://system76.com/laptops/kudu
linuxscreenshot

Jan 22, 2015
9:36 AM EDT
I've heard system76 hardware is flimsy - not really a MacBook alternative..
CFWhitman

Jan 22, 2015
10:08 AM EDT
One of the reasons you'll see Apple hardware up there is because people perceive it as being more reliable. There is actually some truth to this, but not to the extent people think. That is, in studies where they actually keep track of hardware failures, Apple is always one of the more reliable brands, but there are usually a few brands ahead of them. However, reliability surveys, where perception rules, generally have Apple at the top. That might be partly to do with software problems figuring in when it comes to surveys.

I don't know of a reliability study that is really recent enough to necessarily apply to brands today, but some of the top brands in reliability studies from a few years back were ASUS, Toshiba, Sony, and Acer. (I can hear the reaction now -- 'Whaat? Acer?' Yes, cheap doesn't necessarily mean they can't be reliable, though the specs won't generally blow you away.) Of course Apple was up there too.

System76 I know uses Clevo as their ODM. My past experience with Clevo hardware hasn't been good, so it makes me hesitant to use System76.
skelband

Jan 22, 2015
6:41 PM EDT
Lenovo laptops are very solid. My Thinkpad W530 is excellent. On thing is running Nvidia Optimus which is still not well supported.

We used to get Apple because their kit was good quality and reliable, and despite what people kept saying, the price was not bad for what you were getting. For some reason their kit remained at the same high price but rapidly became unreliable and we had a load of machines with build quality issues.
linuxscreenshot

Jan 22, 2015
8:42 PM EDT
Quoting:Lenovo laptops are very solid. My Thinkpad W530 is excellent.


I'd love a hassle-free laptop. Can anyone else please let me know what hardware works perfectly for them?
jdixon

Jan 22, 2015
9:01 PM EDT
> https://system76.com/laptops/kudu

Of the Linux specialty shops, I'm more partial to ZaReason. I still can't justify their additional cost over a refurbished Lenovo or Dell though.

> Can anyone else please let me know what hardware works perfectly for them?

The Dell Mini-9, which unfortunately isn't made any more. :(

JaseP

Jan 22, 2015
9:42 PM EDT
As far as working hardware goes,... I am almost exclusively on Dell computers. Cheap, easy to get, plentiful. The problem with the latest models (made for Win8/8.1) is that the UEFI secure boot stuff gets in the way. Rather than try to get UEFI secure boot working with the latest versions of Linux I use, I have preferred to simply turn off secure boot and turn on legacy boot support. On my one machine running Kubuntu 12.04 (not UEFI secure boot compatible), I run into the occasional grub 2 error, which I believe is the legacy boot support not turning over the hardware info to the boot loader fast enough. Usually, an [alt]+[ctrl]+[del] fixes it...
flufferbeer

Jan 22, 2015
11:21 PM EDT
@the aboves and @CFWhitman,

Seems to me that you can hardly go wrong with systems from Dell, Lenovo, and Acer. For some reason, I haven't seen as many Toshibas and Sonys in use as in previous years, compared to the first three manufacturers as well as of course Apple's ubiquitous Macbooks. Even rarer to see are HP computers, for reasons that others can certainly better explain than moi.

2c
CFWhitman

Jan 23, 2015
11:00 AM EDT
In the one reliability study that included HP, it came in last of the companies included in the study. To be fair, in my experience HP business laptops have been reasonably reliable, but only one of the two HP consumer laptops that I have owned had a good record (motherboard finally went after six years of very heavy use). The other consumer HP laptop I had was fixed under a recall warranty after a year and a half (or a little less), and then like clockwork developed the same problem another year and a half (or a little less) later, even though the problem had supposedly been solved by a firmware update.

One thing I don't like about recent HP business laptops (I say recent when I mean for the last 7 years or so), however, is the so-called "smart" power supply. Often after a few years of use the power supply will still work, but will suddenly stop being "smart." When that happens the laptop will still charge, but if you try to use it while plugged in, it will run extremely slowly regardless of operating system. This problem can be easily solved by replacing the power supply. You seem to be better off replacing it with a generic one as long as you can find one that works with HP laptops that use a "smart" power supply. You can't buy one on the used market because you are likely to get one that still outputs power, but is no longer "smart." Then just try and explain to the person that sold it the nature of the problem. It tests out fine, but it's actually useless.

You may wonder why I am so familiar with issues with HP business laptops. It's because we buy them where I work, and I have ended up receiving several after they were written off by the company (which doesn't happen until they are five or more years old).
CFWhitman

Jan 23, 2015
11:48 AM EDT
In the studies that I saw, Dell and Lenovo, with very similar numbers, both came out just behind Apple in reliability, while the ones I mentioned before came out just ahead of Apple (just try and tell a Mac user that Acer came out ahead of them in a reliability study). Again, these are a bit out of date. Incidentally, back when IBM made Thinkpads, they often came out number one in reliability studies.

@JaseP: In my experience you usually don't have to change laptops to legacy mode to install a modern Linux distribution. Usually there is a way to disable Secure Boot, but leave UEFI enabled. Then you can install Linux in UEFI mode, which is supposed to give you slightly better performance than legacy boot mode (I don't know for sure how true this is). Of course, you will need to set up a UEFI partition and other partitions using a partitioner that understands a GPT table (or let the installer do it for you).

@linuxscreenshot: I had great success with my MSI laptop until last week when the power port quit working. It's about six years or so old, so I guess that shouldn't come as a big surprise. It worked so well, though, that it really bugs me that I'm going to have to buy or scrounge (I have various written off machines) another "go to" laptop. In fact, it still works well since the battery isn't dead yet (I shut it down when I realized the fifty some percent battery power I had left was all I had to work with). It's funny, but it still worked so well, that I wasn't even considering replacing it even after nearly six years. It still felt powerful to me. I don't think I would feel the same way if it had been running Windows :-) I may try to fix the power port, but my previous experience in that area indicates that power port fixes don't last long.

So I actually may be in the market for a new laptop as well. I was wondering if it was time for a change and I should get some kind of ultrabook instead of the 17 inch desktop replacement monster that drains a nine cell battery in two to three hours. I'd like to support a Linux laptop seller, but the price/power/reliability ratio doesn't usually seem favorable, so I don't know. I may make do by piecing together the high rez screen and graphics processor from a laptop with a dead motherboard with the rest of another one of the same model, but lower specs, that I got from work (both written off, and both more than six years old).

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