Asahi Linux

Asahi Linux[1] is unbelievably great on Apple Silicon. It's honestly the best Linux install experience I've ever had. 1. https://asahilinux.org/

The script is running on macOS and is what the Asahi project recommends when updating or installing m1n1/Linux: https://asahilinux.org/ It's called out in the OpenBSD/arm64 installation notes, at least: https://cdn.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/snapshots/arm64/INSTALL.arm64 Search for "Install on Apple Silicon".

The Starfighter also seems quite interesting: https://starlabs.systems/pages/starfighter (Although I love the Framework concept) As for Linux support for your M1, did you check out Asahi Linux? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zHoZK4FoIo Its development is progressing rapidly, so be sure to check out the latest development status at their site: https://asahilinux.org/

> Just take a look on how many hackers owns a MacBook as their main driver despite the existence of many good Linux laptops Apple silicon is becoming one of the best options for Linux https://asahilinux.org

You are in luck: https://asahilinux.org/ And GPU drivers are getting pretty good. The builders of this are pretty amazing.

You might be interested in following https://asahilinux.org/ then

There is. Apple does not restrict you from booting into other operations, they actually have even slightly improved the ability to do so over time on the ARM Macs. The catch is to get another OS which supports your hardware. With Linux, it actually looks good, the Asahi Linux project (https://asahilinux.org/) is making great strides, you can install it on ARM Macs, the biggest drawback currently is, that while there is GUI support, it isn't accellerated yet. But it seems, that even the CPU rendered UIs are faster than the GPU on a Raspberry Pi. GPU support for Asahi Linux is making good progress too, so I expect something not too far into the future.

Asahi Linux is making great strides in supporting M1 Macs, and they're upstreaming everything so your preferred distro could even support them. https://asahilinux.org/

It's still under heavy development (see https://asahilinux.org for more details). Developer Alyssa Rosenzweig has been doing great work on getting Linux graphics to work on the M1; just a few days ago she announced that she got GNOME to work on the M1, though without graphics acceleration (https://twitter.com/alyssarzg/status/1429579145827127296). It's still going to be a while until Linux on the M1 reaches daily-driver status.

I strongly recommend not buying a Macbook and instead hacking a mini: https://github.com/vk2diy/hackbook-m4-mini ... cheaper and restores control of peripheral selection and replacement. That is to say "such a system will last ~forever instead of ~3 years [when the first major component dies and replacement costs ~70% of a new Apple product]". Particularly with Asahi Linux progressing so quickly. https://asahilinux.org/ Without Asahi Linux I would not buy a Mac in 2026. I too looked at Framework and like the idea, unfortunately in my case the supply chain was too slow to be tolerable, before even considering the price-performance ratio. I strongly support the idea that the EU should force vendors to make consumer device repairs cost-effective and available or open source and expose their component interfaces in exchange for the right to sell in Europe. After all, the EU brought us USB-C, so we know regulatory pressure works. Thanks, EU!

> I use Firefox. Windows 7 was out 2 years before the iPad 2 and the latest Firefox supports it. Microsoft doesn't even support Windows 7 anymore. I wouldn't recommend anyone use an OS that isn't getting security updates. > But my counter question would rather be: why don't Apple let people write alternative OSes for its hardware then? You can install an up-to-date Linux distribution on computers from the 90s. The iPad is a popular product, I'm sure there would be enough people interested in building a Linux-based OS for it. I'm not sure if Apple is lifting a finger to help, but https://asahilinux.org is a thing. I'm less than convinced Linux people want to bother, in large numbers, to install Linux on devices that were insanely RAM-constrained until only very recently, when Apple started putting M1 and M2 chips in its iPads. For all I know, there are additional patent minefields around implementing Linux drivers for iPads' hardware. The only other thing that I can think of that would incentivize them to actively block alternate-OS development is security. If someone else can install a backdoor host OS and then stick iOS on top of it before selling the phone to you, that's a way to compromise a Real Computer that usually isn't possible with an iOS device. > The problem is that perfectly good hardware is just getting disposed of instead. An heresy, from an environmental standpoint. Apple will _happily_ buy old iPads for a pittance (or $0.00) and reuse the gold and…

>> I use Firefox. Windows 7 was out 2 years before the iPad 2 and the latest Firefox supports it. > Microsoft doesn't even support Windows 7 anymore. I wouldn't recommend anyone use an OS that isn't getting security updates. I mentioned Windows because you mentioned it, but I would not neither. You can install an up-to-date Linux distro on any computer that ran Windows 7 or 8 though. > I'm not sure if Apple is lifting a finger to help, but https://asahilinux.org is a thing. I was only speaking about iOS devices. Apple Desktop/Laptops have a better story on this. > Apple will _happily_ buy old iPads for a pittance (or $0.00) and reuse the gold and aluminum and whatnot in it Apple's handling of e-waste is not exactly great [1]. Anyway, recycling is way more costly than just being able to use hardware that exists. [1] https://www.vice.com/en/article/yp73jw/apple-recycling-iphones-macbook… > Apple released its Environmental Responsibility Report Wednesday, an annual grandstanding effort that the company uses to position itself as a progressive, environmentally friendly company. Behind the scenes, though, the company undermines attempts to prolong the lifespan of its products. [...] > Apple rejects current industry best practices by forcing the recyclers it works with to shred iPhones and MacBooks so they cannot be repaired or reused—instead, they are turned into tiny shards of metal and glass. > As an aside, one of the ways in which Apple actually helps its developers…

I think this is less about control, and more about avoiding the 15-30% fee charged for selling through the App Store As a user, I have always been able to run what I want on Apple devices. Most recently I found my kids were seeing bad recommendations on the YouTube app on Apple TV. I did not like the recommendations, or the adverts. I was able to clone Yattee[1] from Github and build it to the Apple TV from my laptop on the couch Not as easy as side-loading, but also not difficult. Now when you want to _sell_ something like this, you can't. I'm fine with that. Freedom to run code is different from the freedom to package it up and sell it on a platform you don't own Google makes side-loading hard[2] on Android for exactly the same reasons. They give preferential treatment[3] to big apps to prevent them from starting competing stores I have the level of control that I like over my devices. I can't install my own OS on an iPhone, but there's great developments on Mac[4]. Given the hardware is now basically identical, this seems OK [1] https://github.com/yattee/yattee [2] https://www.androidauthority.com/fortnite-android-sideloading-google-2… [3] https://www.androidpolice.com/2021/08/30/google-allegedly-offered-netf… [4] https://asahilinux.org

Containers are a constant headache on MacOS. The likes of Lima have greatly improved the situation, but there are still several issues (network reliability and performance are significant issues). > Do you have a habit of modifying your wifi drivers and recompiling the source? Not even once. But thank god for the people who do put in the effort to code support for shitty walled gardens[1]. This age old strawman argument diverts attention away from many of the other virtues of Linux. My personal coding and gaming machine runs Linux. My work laptop is MacOS. Almost every day (as no exaggeration) there is something new that doesn't work on MacOS, that yet another hostage of the Apple ecosystem has fixed for Apple. > improved chasing dependencies vs just brew install This is a very strange comment considering that brew was inspired by Linux package managers. Brew is incredible compared to what is available on MacOS (which, to be clear, is nothing), but it doesn't hold a candle to what's happening in the Linux world - especially with the likes of ostree, guix, and nix. MacOS is an operating system designed for creators and influencers. It can be modified to the bare minimum of development competency. Even Windows pulls ahead of it with WSL, and that's saying something. I can't comprehend why developers voluntarily subject themselves to it. [1]: https://asahilinux.org/

Asahi is a very cool project, and worthwhile if someone goes into it well aware of the major tradeoffs they're making, including reduced hardware functionality and support, which is improving, and significantly degraded security, which will likely always be the case. macOS is the only OS which fully supports M1 hardware and its security features. Please see Asahi Linux's documentation: https://asahilinux.org/docs/platform/feature-support/m1/#m1-devices

Linux on apple silicon is a thing though: https://asahilinux.org/

Is it feasible to run Linux on the Apple hardware? Seems like that could meet your requirements, except possibly "align with my values." I saw https://asahilinux.org/ but don't know how usable it is, or whether the long battery life and hardware support is preserved.

Have you heard the good gospel of Asahi? https://asahilinux.org/

Great timing too to ditch MacOS. Just instilled Fedora Asahi Remix 43 on may MacBook Pro M2, and both KDE and Gnome work great. So happy to be liberated form the increasingly sloppy Apple OS. https://asahilinux.org/fedora/

Red Hat employees can use Fedora on their MacBook. Fedora Asahi Remix [0]. Unfortunately in the business world you often have to use tools that others outside of your company uses. I would never choose to use Oracle Database but since the client uses it then I must setup a development / QA environment for it. I don't know of any Microsoft Access Database solution that runs on non-Windows OSes. Any time I interact with one I need a Windows VM. Would love a command line client like sqlite3 so I don't have to use such a bad GUI. [0] https://asahilinux.org/fedora/

Sorry but no. The comment I replied to was specifically referring to running Asahi Linux. This is not "Apple hardware in general" but specifically "Apple Silicon Macs".[0] Your comments about iPads/iPhones may well be true but not relevant to my point. See also the comment from user Kina upthread. [0] https://asahilinux.org/

Modern MacBooks DO run Linux Check out https://asahilinux.org/

Taken from: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45643100 which I posted elsewhere 10hrs ago. I'm also of that perspective. It's sort of worth noting though that when Microsoft is presented with an option for blocking out Linux installation: they take it.[0] When Apple are presented with an option for allowing Linux, they take it.[1] The major difference here is OEMs, and that Apple has no OEMs. We're essentially giving Microsoft the moral high ground even though they do nothing to earn it. [0]: https://www.mickaelwalter.fr/linux-on-surface-rt/#:~:text=Also%2C%20fo… [1]: https://asahilinux.org/about/#:~:text=Apple%20allows%20booting%20unsig…

https://asahilinux.org/ "Linux on Apple Silicon: Asahi Linux aims to bring you a polished Linux® experience on Apple Silicon Macs." Why the "®" after Linux? I think this is the first time I've seen this.

Yes, with major tradeoffs. Asahi Linux is an amazing project, but they have not yet figured out how to get anywhere close to a Mac's power efficiency when it is running MacOS. For example, you will lose a lot of battery life[0][1] with the lid closed, whereas on MacOS you lose pretty much nothing. Also, note that thunderbolt not yet supported[2]. [0] https://web.archive.org/web/20241219125418/https://social.treehouse.sy… [1] https://github.com/AsahiLinux/linux/issues/262 [2] https://asahilinux.org/docs/platform/feature-support/overview/

You can run Linux on Apple devices using the work of these folks: https://asahilinux.org/

The M3/M4 chips are not yet supported by Asahi Linux (which serves as the basis for all Linux versions on Apple Silicon), so you are limited to M1 and M2 (and the respective Pro/Max) SoCs. An overview of the supported devices can be found at https://asahilinux.org/fedora/#device-support Both the Macbook Pro M1 as well as the Macbook Air M1 are still pretty great devices. I would recommend to go for a 16 GB version since RAM (and SSD) cannot be upgraded. If you need external video (monitor/projector etc.), you need to go with the Pro model, since the Air doesn't have an HDMI port and video over USB-C is not yet supported.

I really like the idea of the fediverse, so I donate to lemmy[0] and the spritely institute[1]. I also donate to asahi linux[2]. [0]https://join-lemmy.org/ [1]https://spritely.institute/ [2]https://asahilinux.org/

Here's a similar situation with the macbook pro's speakers, from the Asahi Linux team (scroll down to "Audio Advances"): https://asahilinux.org/2022/11/november-2022-report/ Similarly they can't be used very effectively without special, complex software that involves physical simulation of the speaker hardware. Doing things this way allows them to reach an amazing level of compactness + volume, but at the cost of complexity If Apple intended to support platform openness, they'd likely have made such software available to hackers. But they never enthusiastically encouraged that, so people like the Asahi team are left to reverse-engineer and reinvent everything they need that lives in software

Keep an eye on [Asahi Linux](https://asahilinux.org/), then. A cursory glance shows Me support not being complete yet, but I assume it will be in time (and the missing stuff may or may not be a show stopper for you).