[kwlug-disc] Mac OS and Linux

[Oksana Goertzen]

On Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 1:32 AM, Chris Irwin <chris at chrisirwin.ca> wrote:

> On Tue, 2009-06-30 at 14:29 -0400, Oksana Goertzen wrote:
>
> > I'm assuming you're running Linux as well as Mac OS.
>
> Yes, primarily Linux though.
>
> > Does everything just work? -- what about that multi-touch mouse pad?
> > Any caveats?
>
> I've got a macbook3,1. The biggest issue that you will find is that
> Apple changes the hardware on an annual basis. So the trackpad works
> good for me (multi-finger to scroll, click, etc) but is a completely
> different trackpad than that in the current units. Wireless is now
> Broadcom-based, whereas previously units were Atheros. Most of the
> non-pro macbooks have had Intel graphics, which has worked great with
> Linux. However now even the normal white plastic macbook has nvidia
> graphics.


Are the Broadcom wireless cards working under Linux?  Does anyone
know?

Yeah, the one I'm looking at has a Nvidia 9400M.  I don't see much
info on the technology behind the mouse.

Are you using antivirus with the Mac OS?  I did find this software to
ClamAV under Mac OS.  http://www.clamxav.com/index.php



>
> For Ubuntu anyway, there is a launchpad group that has helped wrangle
> some documentation together. The Ubuntu forums also has an 'apple users'
> section, and there are several rather knowledgeable users. (As a
> disclaimer, I'm a non-active member of these groups)
>
>  https://edge.launchpad.net/~mactel-support-community<https://edge.launchpad.net/%7Emactel-support-community>
>  https://edge.launchpad.net/~mactel-support<https://edge.launchpad.net/%7Emactel-support>
>

Very cool!  Thank-you.



>
> Also, as John noted you can run Linux natively -- and with a graphical
> EFI-based bootloader with a picture of tux! But even if you don't use
> it, you will want to keep Mac OS around to update the machine. There
> have been EFI/Firmware updates that have resolved issues that also
> affected Linux in the past (roughly like a BIOS update as these machines
> don't have a BIOS). These updates are distributed via Apple's update
> utility.
>

No bios?  How does that work?  Thanks - I will keep around the Mac OS.
I do want to try it out - I haven't used it since my early days at
University.

Thanks!  Oksana
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