which for macbook

conchubhar1

linux (any variety) btw

i know they will all run - but which distro would you recomend to run via bootcamp on my macbook as to get the best out of it

which is the coolest, fastest etc


im not looking to switch per se - but if i was which distro would make me ''wow''?

thanks

ethernet

Fedora 10 impressed me on a MBP (version 4.1). Volume and contrast buttons worked! Fedora 11 has since been released.

I guess pretty much any distro will give the wow with tweaking. Just maybe don't use the Rat Poison window manager for the 'wow' factor! :pac:

velocirafter

Fedora 11 has alot of bugs at the moment so I would hold off on that for a while

conchubhar1

okey dokey

any other recomendations?

asdasd

what do you wwant to do. Just look at different UI? Use the unix layer more?

conchubhar1

the whole lot

the macbook is great as is osx

but it is capable of running and at least tetsing out a few other os's and as linux is free - why not?

ethernet

You also might want to try Ubuntu or Mandriva. There are so many choices to be honest! Mac hardware can be a pain to get working properly. The more recent releases tend to negate the need to be manually editing various files just to get basic operation of system peripherals. Best thing might be to try a live CD first and install if you like it and if your hardware is working properly.

turgon

I installed Ubuntu 9.04 about 2 months ago. Its very easy to install and get started with; its generally considered the newbie distro I believe. But its not exactly "dumbed down," Ive started dipping into the terminal lately, so it can be a starting point if your interested in learning about Linux!

You can run it from a Live CD without installing anything.

Theres also Linux Mint, which Ive only used once. The advantages is that it contains "non-propriety" software such as Mp3 codecs by default, but if you've a good Internet condition Ubuntu will install these in a breeze.


I dont know what Mac OS X is like, but Ive actually made the permanent switch to Ubuntu from Windows XP at this stage. Its just all the little things in Ubuntu that make it great. For example today I found that when in the Gnome file manager if you hover your mouse over a music file it will play it for you without launching any other programs. Just little things like that.

ethernet

Worth remembering that there are a few perks when installing on Macs with regard to partitioning and the installation of the MBR. Keep it to four partitions and install the MBR to the distro's root partition, i.e. not the MBR of the disk.

conchubhar1

mbr?

thanks all

----
i tried ubuntu on my old pc - quite old - but it at that stage had no sound card or internet so....
i originaly had win 98, then installed ubuntu but then had to use it as the family pc so i had to install xp - no wishing i had stuck to win98

sidepoints

turgon

conchubhar1 wrote: »

mbr?

Master boot record, I assume.

When I installed Ubuntu I had no problem with bootloaders, GRUB installed itself straight away. The only disadvantage is that GRUB is on the Ubuntu partition. Once my Ubuntu crashed - I just deleted the partition thinking of abandoning Ubuntu altogether. However when I went to boot there was no full bootloader so I had to re-install Ubuntu. Good thing in the end I think.

ethernet

Ubuntu likes to keep the boot loader installation details tucked away. You can review them in the summary screen before starting the installation.

It's easiest to use Bootcamp to resize the HFS partition and create one or more partitions (/, swap and, if you so wish, /home) but just a root and swap will do for casual use.

After using Bootcamp, install rEFIt to give you a choice of OS upon boot. Again, install GRUB to the distro's root partition.

conchubhar1

ill be giveing this a goo in a wee while

or sooner if i can find the ubuntu cd for my macbook - if it still works


could i install to newest ubuntu via that build?

ethernet

Newest as in 9.04 or the latest alpha? You can do an in-place upgrade from an earlier version. It doesn't always work perfectly though. Would prefer a clean install myself.