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Installing Linux/Ubuntu on 2008 Macbook?

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  • 17-09-2015 9:21am
    #1
    MagicMarker
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 32,865 ✭✭✭✭


    Have a Macbook sitting unused for the last year, I'll be using linux for college this year and have the VM installed on my Windows laptop. But I'm thinking this might be a good way make use of the old macbook, is it possible?

    The mac is old and shabby, and it sounds like a jet engine once it's booted up. Would ubuntu improve performance?

    I've not done this before so not sure on best practice, do you completely wipe OSX or run them side by side?


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    #2
    Hotblack Desiato
    Registered Users Posts: 35,057 ✭✭✭✭Hotblack Desiato


    My daily driver is still a 2007 Macbook Core2Duo upgraded to 3GB RAM, running openSUSE13.1/KDE, been running linux on it since day 1

    You may as well keep OS X for the very odd thing like syncing a (Mac format) iPod you couldn't do otherwise. Shrink the OS X partition down with Disk Utility. I think I had to boot off the system CD to do this i.e. you can't do it from within the running OS

    Use Refind to get the choice of OS X or linux(es) on boot. It's plain sailing otherwise. There are lighter weight distros available, and lighter desktop environments included in openSUSE, but even on an 8 year old machine I've no need for them.

    If the Macbook has a 32 bit EFI you might have problems booting a 64-bit distro even though it'd be capable of running it. 64-bit distros usually only support 64-bit capable EFI/UEFI for booting these days, so you might have to install a 32-bit distro like I currently have.

    © 1982 Sinclair Research Ltd



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