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Linux Should I ?
- Thread starter Washac
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You might as well, if you're not using it for anything else. At least you'll have a modern OS running on it; you can keep updating Linux until the device physically can't run it anymore (unlike the the planned obsolescence of MacOS or Windows).
You already have Unix running on your Mac, so what is it that you want to do with the box that it cannot do? I think answering that will help you make your decision.
I don't know anything about the 2009 Mac Pro myself but according to Apple, depending on the model, it burns between 115 and 146 watts at idle and a max between 263 - 309 watts (without a screen or peripherals). If you just ran it for one hour a day at the minimum 115w level, that would be about 3.5 kwh of electricity per month.
IMHO, it doesn't make sense to keep using that machine at all unless you have a good reason.
IMHO, it doesn't make sense to keep using that machine at all unless you have a good reason.
I don't trust Linux from security standpoint, at all. At least on the desktop.
(A server running in a well protected and monitored environment with a bare minimum OS install is a different animal).
But as long as you don't do banking or access sensitive information on it, why not.
I ran Linux on a 2009 (firmware updated to (5,1)) Mac Pro for years. I had it up to 24 GB memory and replaced the original 4-core Nehalem CPU with a 6-core, somewhat faster W3680. I finally sold it for maybe $50 because I could get more performance out of an inexpensive Ryzen (Zen 2) build that would run cooler and quieter. The Mac Pro did good work for well over 10 years, though, and for many of those years paid the mortgage as a software development machine.
So it's perfectly doable if you want to put the effort into it, and don't mind paying a bit extra in terms of electricity as compared to a newer box.
So it's perfectly doable if you want to put the effort into it, and don't mind paying a bit extra in terms of electricity as compared to a newer box.
Last year, I installed Linux Mint on an 2011 iMac, and it worked pretty well. I am currently using Debian since I want a distro with Wayland on it.
I would say do it. Besides giving you machine a new life, it’s worth it for the virtue of trying it & having fun.
I would say do it. Besides giving you machine a new life, it’s worth it for the virtue of trying it & having fun.
I don't get the reasoning behind this. At least in Linux I can easily see what's going on inside of my system and its networking. You shouldn't have to worry about doing banking on it??
I have a i7 2012 mini as well and it's currently running Linux very well I must say. A lot lighter on the system compared to any modern version of macOS, no waiting around for most software to load. I imagine OP's MP wouldn't be slow either.
Linux is a mess of hundreds of millions lines of code submitted by tens of thousands of coders, many of them anonymous. Nobody sufficiently qualified really checks most of that code for vulnerabilities or especially deliberate inserted malicious code. Linus himself has a rather dismissive attitude towards security.
Here’s what Graphene OS developer has to say about Linux security (read more towards the middle of page)
If I was in charge of a government espionage agency, I’d plant a group of highly qualified hackers behind an .edu address at some well regarded college, have them submit high quality code to the Linux foundation or various other open source components like drivers for a few years until they develop a good trust based relationship with maintainers, then inject a carefully hidden malicious code. And if I can think of this - definitely the right people in the US, Russia, China or North Korea aren’t any dumber than me. Surely this could happen on Windows and MacOS too, but the free-for-all nature of Linux code contribution makes this a whole lot easier. As the fairly recent UMN scandal very nicely illustrated, the entire ecosystem largely runs on trust. And the spy agencies have been caught abusing this.
The anatomy of suspected top-tier hidden NSA backdoor
Bvp47 of yore said to have used BPF to conceal comms in network traffic
Now, you may say “well spy agencies aren’t after my data, I’m not a big enough target for them”. But North Korea, Russia, Iran and other sanctioned regimes are employing large groups of hackers to steal money anywhere they can - including private accounts - because these funds can’t be traced back to them and thus make it easier to subvert the sanctions.
North Korean hackers use newly discovered Linux malware to raid ATMs
Once, FASTCash ran only on Unix. Then came Windows. Now it can target Linux, too.
arstechnica.com
And of course it’s not only the spies, it’s could also be criminals or even some malicious person with patience and good enough coding skills. Linux makes it much easier to inject your own code than either Windows or Mac.