I have recently acquired a brand new MacBook (2.2 GHz, 1Gb RAM). The first thing I did with it was to resize the OSX partition using Boot Camp to make space for Linux. Now my MacBook dualboots Leopard and Ubuntu.
Before deciding on Ubuntu 7.10, I have tried Mandriva 2008, Fedora 8, OpenSuse 10.3, and DreamLinux 2.0. Not one of those distros made all the MacBook components work out-of-the-box. Since I am not a Linux expert, I rely hugely on the help freely given by members of Linux communities worldwide. I decided to use Ubuntu because it seems that it has the most detailed tutorial on how to dualboot OSX and Linux as well as the most number of threads discussing how to configure the various parts of my MacBook. My heartfelt thanks go out to the people responsible for this page, and this one, and of course this one too. These pages have helped me configure the audio, WiFi, video, and other components that didn’t work out-of-the-box.
Everything now seems to work as expected. Cheese, Kopete, and Skype can detect the built-in camera without any problem. Compiz Fusion, AWN, screenlets and other eyecandies work without any hitch. The eject button and other special keys work as well. The only thing that I still need to configure is the touchpad – right click by tapping two fingers and the two finger scroll do not work yet. But this is not a problem at all since I can right click and scroll using the mouse.
Running Linux on a MacBook feels like having the best of both worlds. And by two worlds I mean the world of Apple hardware and the world of Free and Open Source software. Below is a screenshot of my 3D desktop.
Wow father Stephen! no less 3d desktop! My craving to buy a Macbook got too triggered with this blog of yours! But im a little confused yet with all these ‘distros’ you are mentioning.
Ms. B, please go to this page to know more about Linux distros: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_distributions/
wow! father stephen, sad for my part.. i dont know much about computer.. i am using safari as my browser but i think it is not good..i dont know much about the mac and linux but unfortunately i have both. my asus eee pc is linux and my desktop is mac..
Charlotte, you are fortunate to have both a mac and an eee pc. You can install Firefox on your mac. It is way much better and faster than Safari.
wow! Ubuntu in Mac, that’s quite interesting. For me, I’m still finding a way to dual boot windows and Ubuntu in my PC. Hope to find time to do so in the near future.
father stephen, thanks! i need your assistance about where to get a copy of a tagalog version of rosary. ( are you a filipino?) i have a dying friend and would like to pray a rosary in tagalog version. thanks po!
Charlotte, if you are looking for the audio version of the Rosary in Tagalog, please visit this page: http://www.stephencuyos.com/?p=318. But if you want the text version, please proceed to this site: http://www.marysrosaries.com/Tagalog_prayers.html
Father Stephen, maraming maraming salamat po!!!
I envy you fr. stephen. you go the best (as in the VERY BEST) of both worlds. a macbook with os x in a dual boot with ubuntu gibbon, wow, the Heavens showered so much grace at you. God bless you more father!
Hi Fr. Cuying, best of both worlds indeed, Ubuntu and OS X in one machine! I actually still haven’t found out why doing SHIFT+arrow key causes my Ubuntu laptop (an old toshiba sattelite pro) to hang, but I’m enjoying the fast boot up time much too much for me to consider dual-booting with windoze
Hi Father Stephen,
Nice MAC you have there. I’m planning to have one for my personal use. How much was it?
@ Bambit – have you tried configuring System > Preferences > Keyboard > Layout Options?
@ Orville – mine costs 65K.
hello, where did you buy your macbook?