Linux on a Macbook

To get an example of what will be working, toss in the Macbook version of eLive.

Short answer is most everything can be gotten to work now I believe. The wireless will be a bit trickier to set up, you will likely need to load the firmware manually, and you will need to deal with EFI instead of the standard BIOS, so a different bootloader. But if you are used to Gentoo I think you will likely find your way around.

Seablade

This is going to sound a bit harsh here, don't take it personally please

You use Gentoo and haven't learned that if you can compile software for one distribution you can compile it for any distribution?

There isn't a such thing as software only availiable for Ubuntu if it is open source.

This is a really good question to tell the truth. I think it has to come down to two things, one personal preference. Some people will be pickier about certain things.

But the second thing is that there are build issues and variances. For a while the Macbooks were known to have thermal grease installed properly, to much was used to the point it worked against each other, resulting in overheating problems. Likewise I am sure there has been problems with antenna placement on occasion.

Also, Linux tends to be slightly worse on the power saving, preferring performance slightly in that regards, so often you will find things running a bit hotter in Linux. Keep that in mind.

That being said, I personally haven't noticed any problems with my Macbook Pro myself in either of those two areas. I do recommend going ahead and picking up the extended warranty though as I have had enough issues pop up here and there I do think it is worth it for the laptops.

Seablade

Not familiar with what init system Redhat uses, and how it is different, so I will leave that alone.

However I can assure you, as long as something is open source and written for Linux, you CAN bring it over to any distribution. How much work it is varies, because some distributions may have the infrastructure in place to compile it for example, while others may not.

In as far as Fonts, believe me it is possible. It may not be the easiest thing in the world, but it is possible.

This is just a function of using a trackpad, and how you hold/move your hands while typing. To be honest it hasn't bothered me much.

Seablade

I am also using gentoo for great information about softwares.

ubunutut runs smoother i reckon.. what do you guys think?

Is that what you call Ubuntu in Hungary?

cheers ...

isnt Mac already a "pretty linux "


you can always get a adapter for your MB

No. Mac is based on BSD, not Linux, and is very VERY tied down in how it does things. Linux is MUCH more open and because of this I can actually get much better workflows in it.

???

No clue what this is supposed to mean...

Seablade

After reading this thread I felt compelled to chime in and dispell some misinformation and give some sage advice. First off I've been running different flavors of Linux since the mid '90s and as my primary OS since '04 so I consider myself an experienced Linux user.

To the OP, Gentoo is not an OS to be tried by "novice" Linux users, I know first-hand it's been my primary OS since '04 and I've had issues with it from time to time and I know what I'm doing! It and most other major distros run on macs without issues, however you need to know exactly what is the architecture of your Mac as there have been at least three major changes over the years and not all are supported.

I recommend you start off first with a "Live" distro and become familiar with it. Try out different desktop environments and decide which you like best. I run a KDE system for example, I don't like Gnome (never have) but this is just my personal preference. You need to decide. I also keep a minimal XFCE-4 desktop handy so I can boot into it if I have an issue with KDE. I do this because I run Gentoo ~x86 and some things may be unstable and crash, so it's good to be able to boot into something else just in case.

Ubuntu has beautiful fonts right out of the box as does PCLOS. Gentoo can be made to have fonts that look just as nice (and better than Wnidows IMHO) but it just takes a lot of work and experimentation to do so. Nothing come easy in Gentoo, you have to manually edit files after updates, and you're always presented with a number of choices to make whenever upgrading or installing anything. It can be overwhelming if you don't know what you're doing and it's easy to make a mistake and hose your system.

The Gentoo forums are some of the best around when it comes to finding answers, however no one is going to hold your hand there. If you post a question it's expected that you have some knowledge and that you've already tried searching for the answer first. I you post a newbie question that's been asked a thousand times already, or is stickied to the top of a forum you'll get ignored or worse flamed. Keep that in mind before choosing a distro.

If you do decide to run Gentoo or any other distro for that matter stick with the stable release for your arch. Only experienced users should be running cutting edge unstable software. A novice running a testing or unstable distro is asking for major issues they won't be able to resolve.

Now when it come to software selection, Ubuntu has an extensive repository as it leverages Debian which has perhaps the most inclusive library of OSS apps in the world. However, many Debian apps may need to be recompiled to run on Ubuntu as they may not be binary compatible. Anything in the Gentoo tree for your arch will be compatible because it's compiled for your particular system.

In conclusion, try out several Distros, and desktop environments. Use them for awhile and get familiar with them. Only after fully grasping life in the OSS world of computing should you attempt a distro as complex as Gentoo.

I hope this helps,

Ciao

You're linking to a very old post on the Gentoo forums. Much has come forward towards beautifying fonts in Gentoo!

Try looking at this thread which is much newer. I'm sure you'll find your fonts looking awesome afterwards.

I hope this helps
Ciao

Of course you are replying to a pretty dang old thread as well

Seablade

True Seablade, the thread is 10/11 months old, but the link he gave in the Gentoo forums is from Oct.'06.

At least the one I gave has recent more pertinent info. So anyone reading this thread with a question about Gentoo fonts (unlikely as this may be) will know how to beautify them easily.

I hope this helps!

BTW keep up the good work Seablade! (At least there are a few of us reading this forum!)

Ciao