Here's how it all started: as an alternative to my current Windows-based bread&butter software, there's a software solution, that supports it's client-software to run on macOS, Windows or even Ubuntu-Linux.
Currently I have a bunch of mid2012 15" MacBookPro as Win10Pro clients running at my office.
So I gave Ubuntu (and also other Linux-Distros) a try on a spare 2013 13" i7 MBA6,2 8/500GB (the second fastest of the non-retina MBA-line, which I got for 130 bucks).
The project was heavily inspirated and supported by a fellow forum member @Klausern on the MacUser.de Forum, who tested a lot of Linux-Distros on his 13" MBA6,2 and shared his experiences on that forum.
Previously to the Linux tryouts my 13" MBA was a testing-device for OCLP/macOS
with a single container holding volumes for native-Mojave(32bit), OCLP/Ventura, OCLP/Sequoia and shared personal data.
OCLP/Ventura proved to be stable enough to be the base operating-system on that machine and offered a stable Backup/Restore-Routine using CCC for scheduled Backups in combination with MigrationsAssistant for Restore.
In the past I was always reluctant to install/add Linux to any macOS or Windows environment, because I feared Linux cause mayhem to the booting-partition.
On the 13"MBA I started with DiskUtility and reduced the 1st APFS-Container to a size of 300GB (housing volumes for Mojave, OCLP/Ventura and OCLP/Sequoia.)
As an important/critical measure to avoid redundancy or running out of space on Dual/MultiBoot-Systems my routine includes adding that additional volume for my personal data ("MyData"), that hold's all personal files, which are not (i)Cloud- or otherwise synchronized or that do depend on data stored in a user/library/subfolder.
Then I added four 50GB containers to install different Linux-versions/Ubuntu-flavors.
As I was expecting: the installation of the first Linux-Distro (which one doesn't matter) already caused trouble in the BootPartition or whatever you call it ...
I can't exactly recall the details but ( with a Munchhausen-trick) in the end I could install "rEFInd" boot-manager through the Linux-Live-Boot-USB-Stick and got everything in shape.
With rEFInd in place the booting cascade is now:
(1) AppleBootScreen >> (2) OCLP-BootScreen >> (3) rEFInd
(1)Apple- BootScreen: boot Mojave (I encountered problems with the mail.app, whenever Mojave was launched through the OCLP-BootPicker)
(2) OCLP-BootScreen: boot rEFInd or boot any OCLP/macOS-SystemVolume
(3) rEFInd-BootScreen: boot any Linux-Partition or any OCLP/maco-SystemVolume (or even Mojave)
So after this muddle of partitioning and booting had been sorted out,
the real fun with Multiboot macOS/OCLP-macOS/Linux was about to begin.
next Topics:
- Linux-Distros and hardware-support for the 13"MBA (battery-life, tricky FacetimeHD-Cam etc.)
- macOS vs. Linux: how to find&run substitutes for my current macOS-workflow
A short spoiler:
I nearly spent a week mainly on the MBA/Ubuntu 24.04 LTE covering more than 90 percent of my daily tasks/routines,
but also having a Windows-Server/Network/ and my local MacBooks available through VPN, FileSharing and ScreenSharing/RDP.
and making the MBA/Ubuntu a great companion.
After having added the FlatPack/FlatHub-Store in addition to Ubuntu/Debian 's Snap-based Apps
there's a plethora of apps at hands to deal with all kind of tasks I've never ever previously thought about.
On the other hand, there are some mission-critical routines / apps I'm missing:
an easy-to-work-with substitute for DEVONthink, appropriate support for my ScanSnap-Scanners, a backup-solution with scheduled backup-plans like CCC.
Maybe I just haven't dug deep enough into Linux yet.
Currently I have a bunch of mid2012 15" MacBookPro as Win10Pro clients running at my office.
So I gave Ubuntu (and also other Linux-Distros) a try on a spare 2013 13" i7 MBA6,2 8/500GB (the second fastest of the non-retina MBA-line, which I got for 130 bucks).
The project was heavily inspirated and supported by a fellow forum member @Klausern on the MacUser.de Forum, who tested a lot of Linux-Distros on his 13" MBA6,2 and shared his experiences on that forum.
Previously to the Linux tryouts my 13" MBA was a testing-device for OCLP/macOS
with a single container holding volumes for native-Mojave(32bit), OCLP/Ventura, OCLP/Sequoia and shared personal data.
OCLP/Ventura proved to be stable enough to be the base operating-system on that machine and offered a stable Backup/Restore-Routine using CCC for scheduled Backups in combination with MigrationsAssistant for Restore.
In the past I was always reluctant to install/add Linux to any macOS or Windows environment, because I feared Linux cause mayhem to the booting-partition.
On the 13"MBA I started with DiskUtility and reduced the 1st APFS-Container to a size of 300GB (housing volumes for Mojave, OCLP/Ventura and OCLP/Sequoia.)
As an important/critical measure to avoid redundancy or running out of space on Dual/MultiBoot-Systems my routine includes adding that additional volume for my personal data ("MyData"), that hold's all personal files, which are not (i)Cloud- or otherwise synchronized or that do depend on data stored in a user/library/subfolder.
Then I added four 50GB containers to install different Linux-versions/Ubuntu-flavors.
As I was expecting: the installation of the first Linux-Distro (which one doesn't matter) already caused trouble in the BootPartition or whatever you call it ...
I can't exactly recall the details but ( with a Munchhausen-trick) in the end I could install "rEFInd" boot-manager through the Linux-Live-Boot-USB-Stick and got everything in shape.
With rEFInd in place the booting cascade is now:
(1) AppleBootScreen >> (2) OCLP-BootScreen >> (3) rEFInd
(1)Apple- BootScreen: boot Mojave (I encountered problems with the mail.app, whenever Mojave was launched through the OCLP-BootPicker)
(2) OCLP-BootScreen: boot rEFInd or boot any OCLP/macOS-SystemVolume
(3) rEFInd-BootScreen: boot any Linux-Partition or any OCLP/maco-SystemVolume (or even Mojave)
So after this muddle of partitioning and booting had been sorted out,
the real fun with Multiboot macOS/OCLP-macOS/Linux was about to begin.
next Topics:
- Linux-Distros and hardware-support for the 13"MBA (battery-life, tricky FacetimeHD-Cam etc.)
- macOS vs. Linux: how to find&run substitutes for my current macOS-workflow
A short spoiler:
I nearly spent a week mainly on the MBA/Ubuntu 24.04 LTE covering more than 90 percent of my daily tasks/routines,
but also having a Windows-Server/Network/ and my local MacBooks available through VPN, FileSharing and ScreenSharing/RDP.
and making the MBA/Ubuntu a great companion.
After having added the FlatPack/FlatHub-Store in addition to Ubuntu/Debian 's Snap-based Apps
there's a plethora of apps at hands to deal with all kind of tasks I've never ever previously thought about.
On the other hand, there are some mission-critical routines / apps I'm missing:
an easy-to-work-with substitute for DEVONthink, appropriate support for my ScanSnap-Scanners, a backup-solution with scheduled backup-plans like CCC.
Maybe I just haven't dug deep enough into Linux yet.
