Installing Linux on a MacBook

[rustbucketz]

I am thinking of buying a Mac for the Graphics,Video and such can I run a parallel or a dual boot with a linux distro any linux distro doesn't have to be ubuntu.

[llamakc]

Originally Posted by rustbucketz I am thinking of buying a Mac for the Graphics,Video and such can I run a parallel or a dual boot with a linux distro any linux distro doesn't have to be ubuntu.

Congratulations. What do you need help with again?

[rustbucketz]

I was wondering what would be the best distro of linux to dual boot boot with a MacBook. I am going to get one I think, but I want to know what would be the best setup.

[llamakc]

Originally Posted by rustbucketz I was wondering what would be the best distro of linux to dual boot boot with a MacBook. I am going to get one I think, but I want to know what would be the best setup.

Ubuntu.

[sirrahn]

Hi,

Yeah you can install linux on a macbook, thought support for some idiosyncrasies are still being developed.

I've istalled a dual boot but don't know much about parallels.

As to which distribution - thats a big question. You'll just have to surf the forums to see how easily different distributions will install.

Ubuntu is likely to be a good option - there are some guides as to how to do it in the forums - and it may be an even better option by the next release in April I think, because it will have more automatic support for hardware.

I tried Debian and there is a very good guide at the webite: http://wiki.debian.org/MacBook This will show you what is not quite supported yet and how easy it is to overcome. Debian isn't always as setup for inexperienced users from the start.

Gentoo apparently has alot of support for installing on macbooks, but I've heard it is a distribution that requires quite a bit of knowledge.

Personally, having tried Debian a couple of months ago, which did successfully install but lacked support in some important areas, I am sitting back and waiting to see if the next Ubuntu release solves all the issues for me

good luck

sirrahn

[3rdalbum]

Fedora seems to have the most mature support for the Macintels.

[bettlebrox]

Debian or Ubuntu. Nice HOWTO here:

Triple boot macbook pro 17″ success: osx / winxp / ubuntu
http://ndrw.net/blg/2007/01/08/tripl...linux/#more-83

[wgscott]

Sorry if I am saying something you already know, but did you know OS X is based on FreeBSD, and you can install pretty much anything software wise that you might want to on linux? So you don't really need ubuntu.

However, if you want ubuntu, now that Macs are Intel, you have the option of running a program called Parallels that permits you to install Ubuntu (or any i386 OS) and run it nested within OS X. I've done this with the demo version several months ago and it works really well. So you don't even have to mess with dual boot. (I don't use it, however, but it is nice to play with).

[Samjo8]

Apparently 'elive' is quite good on a macbook, looks quite good aswell.
http://www.elivecd.org/Download/MacBook