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Linux on a Macbook? I've often thought about playing with Linux just for the heck of it but never have gotten around to it. Is there a Linux that is 100% safe to run on an every day computer? I'd like to have one do dedicate to it so if I wreck it somehow it won't matter but I don't have a spare.

LDB415 wrote:Linux on a Macbook? I've often thought about playing with Linux just for the heck of it but never have gotten around to it. Is there a Linux that is 100% safe to run on an every day computer? I'd like to have one do dedicate to it so if I wreck it somehow it won't matter but I don't have a spare.

Macbooks boot a Linux kernel befor the MaqcOS starts, you can look at it as a boot loader to get Apple going

You could run Linux on your Mac as a virtual machine. Some information about that can be founde at this link http://virtualbox-mac.en.softonic.com/mac.

koine2002 wrote:I have a box that I run Ubuntu on. I'm going to be wiping it and converting it to Ubuntu Server to run my website and email from it.

As a fun note, if you have an Android phone, you're running Linux.

Also, while more flashy, I run Unix, the inspiration for Linux, in the form of OSX on my MacBook Air. I do a lot from the command line. It's a whole lot easier to move files around using the command line. Also, iOS devices are Unix as well.

Right, the Linux kernel on Android phones are actually very sophisticated and the architecture is similar to the iPhone and Mac worls. They all take a Linux kernel to address the hardware and talk to the subsequent booted OS via a bridging module. Microsoft is kind of limbing behind and still does the ring model all in one kinda thing.

I'm running windows 7 and 10 and can also boot into Linux Mint.

I plan to play some with Ubuntu and OpenSuse after I finish torturing my computer. I've been moving the partitions around between my three drives to see if I can still keep the boot menu working. It is amazing what you will do to entertain yourself when you are stuck at home a few days and don't like TV. Good old MBR and BCD! One more time guys.

Most of the folks on this board are pretty smart guys and gals, so it would not surprise me if quite a few dabble in the black arts of alternate operating systems.

bmwrdr wrote:

LDB415 wrote:Linux on a Macbook? I've often thought about playing with Linux just for the heck of it but never have gotten around to it. Is there a Linux that is 100% safe to run on an every day computer? I'd like to have one do dedicate to it so if I wreck it somehow it won't matter but I don't have a spare.

Macbooks boot a Linux kernel befor the MaqcOS starts, you can look at it as a boot loader to get Apple going

You could run Linux on your Mac as a virtual machine. Some information about that can be founde at this link http://virtualbox-mac.en.softonic.com/mac.

Thanks for the link. If I ever finish the edit job I'm doing I may get brave and try it out.

LDB415 wrote:

bmwrdr wrote:

LDB415 wrote:Linux on a Macbook? I've often thought about playing with Linux just for the heck of it but never have gotten around to it. Is there a Linux that is 100% safe to run on an every day computer? I'd like to have one do dedicate to it so if I wreck it somehow it won't matter but I don't have a spare.

Macbooks boot a Linux kernel befor the MaqcOS starts, you can look at it as a boot loader to get Apple going

You could run Linux on your Mac as a virtual machine. Some information about that can be founde at this link http://virtualbox-mac.en.softonic.com/mac.

Thanks for the link. If I ever finish the edit job I'm doing I may get brave and try it out.

There is no bravery required. If you run Linux as a virtual machine on any platform it is just like a piece of software running on a host OS. In case something goes wrong, which happened to all of us more than once, you just start over without even rebooting yor PC. It is a virtual machine and once you get to know how it works you'll see also the security aspect, benefits and robustness of this particular technology. That same concept is the advantage of MacOS, Linux and even Android over Windows in its mainstream version. Check it out and you'll see what I am talking about.

bmwrdr wrote:

LDB415 wrote:Linux on a Macbook? I've often thought about playing with Linux just for the heck of it but never have gotten around to it. Is there a Linux that is 100% safe to run on an every day computer? I'd like to have one do dedicate to it so if I wreck it somehow it won't matter but I don't have a spare.

Macbooks boot a Linux kernel befor the MaqcOS starts, you can look at it as a boot loader to get Apple going

You could run Linux on your Mac as a virtual machine. Some information about that can be founde at this link http://virtualbox-mac.en.softonic.com/mac.

technically its a bsd based system as macos uses XNU which is quite different then linux but that doesnt matter to the average user.

As said here you can use virtual box or even dualboot the mac easily with software apple provides.
I recommend something easy like ubuntu to get the hang of things

also of note you can drop into a native command line on the mac for basic *nix functions if needed and do development in perl/python/shell script etc.


its much easier to try *nix today than it was 15yrs ago

I bought a Raspberry Pi 2 a couple weeks ago. Does that count?

Dave2 wrote:I bought a Raspberry Pi 2 a couple weeks ago. Does that count?

Only if you're playing with Raspbian! Although I do have Ubuntu running on one of my Pi2's now and then. Primarily,my Pi2's serve as hosts for IPVoice applications using amateur radio: Maggie has a DVMega transceiver (a dual band 2 meters or 70 cm radio on it) running D-Star, and Dora is mated to an IRLP (Internet Radio Linking Project) simplex node that's about to go on the air (IRLP Node 3997 in case anyone was wondering!).

73 Wayne N5WD

n5wd wrote:

Dave2 wrote:I bought a Raspberry Pi 2 a couple weeks ago. Does that count?

Only if you're playing with Raspbian! Although I do have Ubuntu running on one of my Pi2's now and then. Primarily,my Pi2's serve as hosts for IPVoice applications using amateur radio: Maggie has a DVMega transceiver (a dual band 2 meters or 70 cm radio on it) running D-Star, and Dora is mated to an IRLP (Internet Radio Linking Project) simplex node that's about to go on the air (IRLP Node 3997 in case anyone was wondering!).

73 Wayne N5WD

Not yet. I'm planning on making a graphing calculator out of it. Raspian comes with Mathematica 10
You can get a touchscreen that has Raspian drivers for < $40... I just need to find/make a keypad and figure out the case & batteries.

n5wd wrote:

Dave2 wrote:I bought a Raspberry Pi 2 a couple weeks ago. Does that count?

Only if you're playing with Raspbian! Although I do have Ubuntu running on one of my Pi2's now and then. Primarily,my Pi2's serve as hosts for IPVoice applications using amateur radio: Maggie has a DVMega transceiver (a dual band 2 meters or 70 cm radio on it) running D-Star, and Dora is mated to an IRLP (Internet Radio Linking Project) simplex node that's about to go on the air (IRLP Node 3997 in case anyone was wondering!).

73 Wayne N5WD

I've been thinking of getting one to make into an ipvoice box to filter out some of these spam phone calls

rentz wrote:.....
I've been thinking of getting one to make into an ipvoice box to filter out some of these spam phone calls

You could use Google Voice to filter spam calls. It works verywell for me and international rates are veryt low.
The Google voice number will cost you a one time fee, you can port your existing number to google voice and route inbound calls to multible phones, e. g. home phone and cell phone. If you use Gmail and Chrome it evrn allows you to answer calls on a PC or tablet.
I use it for inbouns and outbound calls to mask my real cell phone number, it provides web based access to voicemails, SMS messages, call logs and the routing features. Be aware that Google is trying to market Google Fi right now but there are/ were some issues.
More details can be found at https://voice.google.com