Remember, this process will wipe out your current macOS/OS X, and there is little chance to recover it back.Īlso, dual-booting on a Mac isn’t recommended as it can lead to problems with hardware integration for your Linux distribution.įollow the steps below for a seamless installation.ġ.
To install Linux on a Mac, you’ll need a formatted USB flash drive with storage up to 8GB. However, if you’re looking for a more permanent solution, you can overwrite your current operating system with the Linux distro of your choice. There are options to run Linux temporarily on a Mac, for example, by using Virtual Box. We’ll be using Ubuntu for this guide however, the process is no different for other Linux distributions. We recommend starting with Ubuntu since it is the most used and offers plenty of community support if you get stuck somewhere. Try to get familiar with the distribution you want to install, so you don’t have any issues later. However, advanced users can make the most out of this, as Fedora is the first out of all Linux distributions to receive gnome-shell updates. It is not recommended for beginners because of the complex work environment. Fedora Linux: This distro is based on various packages such as DNF, RPM, and GNOME.Overall, it’s perfect for someone that has experience with using Linux. Although Debian is a little complicated to set up and use, it offers more features than Ubuntu and Mint. Debian: This is perfect for people working in the networking sector.Linux Mint: Released in 2006, Linux Mint is more Windows-like in terms of appearance and comes in with a range of options (Cinnamon, Mate, etc.) for users to choose from.It is great for newcomers and offers a visual environment that is similar to macOS.
With that said, let’s begin! Selecting your Linux Distributionīefore you begin, you should decide which Linux distribution you’d want to work on. Bear in mind this will completely overwrite the original OS. The tutorial will help you run a Linux-based operating system on your Mac.
This guide is meant to help you learn how to install Linux on a Mac PC. With advantages like these, no doubt you’d want to switch to Linux as your go-to operating system. This is because Linux provides a plethora of advanced features related to security, networking, privacy, ease of access, and adaptability that aren’t readily available in its competitors. If you’re someone working in the field of Networking or anything related to Information Technology, the chances are that your workspace system uses a Linux distribution. pkg bundle files) that use Perl scripts to perform some of the installation tasks.In modern times, Linux-based distributions have become one of the most widely used operating systems, competing with the likes of Windows and macOS.
Homebrew has not yet fully learned that lesson, but they will, as soon as some user uses Homebrew to update the built-in copy of, say, Perl or Python, and it has some unforeseen compatibility problem that breaks built-in pieces of Mac OS X, such as installer packages (Mac OS X. Fink and MacPorts have learned that lesson already and install their own copies of things in their own directory hierarchies (/sw for Fink, /opt for MacPorts). If you're more familiar with BSD "ports", go with MacPorts.Īs others have said, you're best off leaving Mac OS X's default Unix tools alone. If you're more familiar with apt-get, go with Fink. I would say it comes down to which model you're already more familiar with. I'm not sure any of the details above is enough to recommend one over the other.
Because Mac OS X / Darwin is *BSD based, many of Apple's Unix-layer software engineers come from the *BSD traditions, so they modeled MacPorts after the *BSD "ports" model.įink was the original open source package manager for Mac OS X, but it does not have the close organizational ties to Apple, and it chose to follow the Debian Linux apt-get tradition. The website is hosted on Apple's servers, as part of Apple's "" project. Although there is no official Unix / FOSS package manager for Mac OS X, it should be noted that MacPorts was created and is still primarily maintained by Apple's Mac OS X / Darwin engineers.