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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: August 8th, 2023

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  • Others here with old Macs seem to have had a much smoother run than me!

    You can absolutely run Linux like a champ on that machine, but for reasons I’m not advanced enough to know/understand I’ve struggled with even booting the live USB for multiple distros on my Mid-2012 15" Retina. Maybe it’s the version of the hybrid Intel/Nvidia graphics on the model, I can’t really say.

    I’m currently writing this from Linux Mint on said Mac, and all is well; but I’ve experienced the following:

    • OpenSuse installer couldn’t even be seen at startup manager
    • MX Linux would freeze during boot to the installer
    • Elementary OS wouldn’t boot following install
    • Pop! OS installed the wrong Nvidia driver for the computer, and with the open source drivers stopped booting after running a few updates
    • Nitrux would freeze during boot to the installer
    • Ubuntu stopped booting a few days in after an update
    • Debian might have worked but wouldn’t detect my trackpad, wifi or USB ethernet adaptor so I couldn’t properly get it installed
    • Manjaro worked for a while but eventually failed after an update
    • ArcoLinux wouldn’t wake from sleep running the live USB

    I totally recommend Linux Mint overall. I’ve decided I like Cinnamon best, “it just works” far more than anything else I’ve tried. I consider it the closest to macOS in terms of being thought about from every angle and set up and ready to go as a beginner or as a more advanced user.