I recommend a Hackintosh with Linux support

Jul 31, 2015 18:45 GMT  ·  By

Lately, I found myself being asked by many of my readers, as well as some of my friends, if it's worth installing Linux on their Mac, so I decided to write this editorial and explain the situation from my point of view.

I don't own a MacBook, but some of my friends do, so I had the opportunity to install several Linux distributions, and even a Microsoft Windows operating system, on such an expensive computer, but I never understood why.

I mean, who spends so much money on a computer that already has a great, beautiful, powerful, stable, secure, BSD-based operating system, which after all is still UNIX, to later install Linux or Windows?

If you're a skilled hacker who wants to benefit from the great hardware included by Apple in a Mac computer, then I might understand the need to install a GNU/Linux distribution, as you will have full access to its core and you can optimize it for the respective hardware.

However, if you want to install Linux on a computer (laptop or desktop), my suggestion is to buy a cheap one that does not come with an operating system and it is powered by an Intel CPU with integrated graphics card, so you won't encounter any issues.

Of course, if you're a gamer and want to use Linux, then you will need a computer with a powerful graphics card, such as those from Nvidia or AMD, so you will have to invest more on your Linux computer.

Dual booting Linux and Mac

Some of you Mac owners might know that there's an utility installed on the Mac OS X operating system, called Boot Camp, which helps you install a Microsoft Windows operating system alongside OS X, allowing you to switch between the two OSes at boot.

Now, installing Linux alongside OS X is not that easy and requires you to get your hands a bit dirtier, which means that you will have to install a third-party bootloader, such as rEFInd, make a special partition for the Linux OS, create a bootable USB stick, and attempt to install Linux on your Mac.

Some in-depth tutorials about how to install and dual boot Linux and OS X on a Mac can be found on the Internet, as well as detailed instructions on how to remove Linux from your Mac. Why remove it? Read on to find out.

Linux on a Mac might be disappointing for many of you

Many of you will want to install Linux on a Mac out of curiosity, but the sad truth is that you'll end up asking all over the Internet how to remove it, because, in many cases, it won't recognize some of the hardware components of your Mac computer.

So, we're back from where we started, if you're not a skilled hacker or computer enthusiast who knows how to optimize a Linux kernel and other core components for specific Mac hardware, you should not bother installing a Linux distro in the first place.

Mac OS X is a great operating system, so if you bought a Mac, stay with it. If you really need to have a Linux OS alongside OS X and you know what you're doing, install it, otherwise get a different, cheaper computer for all your Linux needs.

I myself have a regular computer where I am dual booting Arch Linux and Mac OS X. Some of you out there might call it a Hackintosh, but I like to call it a Linuxtosh.