Taking the dive into Linux, any advice before I jump?

tkoham · August 19, 2018, 8:19pm

you realize refind is just a continuation of the exact same codebase, right?

this is just as dumb as telling people to use owncloud instead of nextcloud despite the horrible issues with the community edition, and the fact all the core devs are working on nextcloud now, except worse, because the source project is totally abandoned.

Kyptnc7 · August 19, 2018, 9:08pm

Well, I’m going to try anything I can.

Also a quick question is when you install rEFInd/reFIT you’re putting it in the terminal, and then you install your distro. Wont the install of the Linux distro get rid of what I did in the terminal?

and thank you @FaunCB for the roccat browser info… I will be trying it when I get home from work tonight.

FaunCB · August 19, 2018, 9:12pm

I use it on my powerbooks its pretty great. Basically combine safari and old opera.

Goblin · August 19, 2018, 9:31pm

do not use Arch no matter how great people claim it is.
do not sign up to linux forums for help immediately, google the answer first. Someone has had the problem before, and it saves you the hassle of interacting with the “community” at large until you have no other option.
simple tasks can take forever, know when to go do other things before becoming frustrated.
the Arch wiki is a fantastic catalogue of information. The Arch forums are a fantastic catalogue of mental issues.
you WILL eventually become comfortable with Linux.
don’t be concerned with distrohopping, there is nothing you’re going to do better with on Arch than Ubuntu. It’s about what makes it easy to use your computer.
terminal programs, while seemingly absolutely counter intuitive at first, will grow on you if you use them. Or don’t, because they’re not better than GUI ones.
be wary of becoming too involved with forums, Reddit, etc. People will make you quit Linux faster than any bug or problem. There are people who will help you, and people that will make you wonder what planet they came from.
you did not fail if you go back to what you were using before. It’s about using your computer. If you find you do that better on something else, use that. You can try again any time.
new/semi-new hardware will probably suck, because there are a lot of people trying to make things work on Linux and sometimes it takes a while.
non-Linux exclusive forums like this one are probably the best place to ask questions. Please do ask.
you will be proud when you finally figure out what best suits you. You can often save those config files on github for later use.
do not use Arch.

tkoham · August 19, 2018, 9:38pm

false. the way various distributions are built lend them to different use cases.

amd hardware* (unless we’re talking about specialty peripherals, in which case, yeah)

agree with the rest of the sentiment though.

Kyptnc7 · August 19, 2018, 10:40pm

Alright, so just to get this straight, I install rEFInd, then I boot into my USB and install Linux (Elementary OS) Then restart the system and I should be good and boot up into the installed distro correct?

tkoham · August 19, 2018, 10:55pm

yes, provided you bless the refind hfs partition, and you install the bootloader on the partition (and follow the grub config details)

Kyptnc7 · August 19, 2018, 11:11pm

Great, so when I do the blessing I will use (sudo bless --setBoot –folder /Volumes/EFI/efi/refind –file /Volumes/EFI/efi/refind/refind_YOUR-ARCH.efi) but instead of arch.efi I would use elementary.efi?

Edit: I got the command from the reddit post you shared with me.

tkoham · August 19, 2018, 11:31pm

no, YOUR_ARCH.efi indicates the architecture of your efi, there’s nothing to rename there.

Create a folder on that partition you made earlier on the internal HDD, called efi, and make a folder inside that called refind. The directory structure of the mounted volume should look like

/Volumes/EFI/efi/refind

then copy everything from the refind folder from the .zip you extracted into the folder on the partition, then delete the .efi files that don’t match your mac’s architecture. (if it’s a core 2 or later, keep amd64, if its a regular core duo, keep ia32. Always delete aa64.)

Kyptnc7 · August 20, 2018, 1:37pm

So I tried the roccat last night, and I couldn’t get it to open a browser window. I’m running 10.6. The specs I found for Roccat is 10.5 or later, it also wouldn’t update. Know of any other browser that would work for 10.6?

tkoham · August 20, 2018, 2:53pm

Firefox 45.9.0 esr should work fine

http://archive.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/45.9.0esr/mac/en-US/

FaunCB · August 20, 2018, 7:35pm

Hmmm thats actually rather odd that it wouldn’t work. Works on all my machines just fine… Did it download completely? Sometimes it can fail.

Kyptnc7 · August 21, 2018, 1:31am

I downloaded it from work on a windows computer to my usb, then from the usb I opened the .dmg. I dragged and dropped into the apps folder. Could I have missed something?

Kyptnc7 · August 27, 2018, 1:41pm

Here is a an update. I still haven’t been able to get this working. I am going to keep trying cause I don’t have any money for a new computer. So I’ve gotten the refind/refit to work (I’ve tried both and they work great) My question is sense I can load a bootloader on the Mac, why can’t I do the same thing with Terminal/Bios to bypass the block that apple put in so you can’t install anything that is not an OSX? Also please remember I’m a computer idiot/totally noobie! I just want to get this working so I can learn more and maybe Level up my knowledge in this computer world. So my computer is a Early 2009 iMac, there has got to be a way around all the apple BS.

Eagle_88 · August 27, 2018, 8:59pm

Have you ever considered eating an apple. Sorry I tried to make a joke. But I had sushi which was spectacular with I think was a Fuji apple. The apple slice made for a great finish and tasted like a marshmallow desert. It was amazing! And 2 big bottles of Sapporo to finish it off.

Mikael · August 27, 2018, 9:32pm

I don’t have too much to say other than what’s already been said, but:

Ubuntu is really the best bet, drivers wise. If you are installing on a laptop, try Ubuntu first every time.
If you hit an issue (I don’t think you will unless you already know enough to be breaking stuff anyway), watch out for out-of-date info that might show up on your favorite web engine. I’m not really sure how to detect old info for any program tho, I guess it is just something you develop by trying.
When in doubt, manpages and archwiki save lives. Don’t be afraid to read.

And to finalize, just don’t be nervous. It is really just a completely functional operating system. Super comfy, even if you don’t go into the command line too often (but do, it is really fun and gives you confidence).

Not going to wish you luck, you don’t need it. Just go and have fun c: