[gobolinux-users] Gobolinux on Mactel

[Isaac Dupree]

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Paul Dann wrote:
>   I wonder, has anyone tried to get Gobolinux working on a Mactel?

not yet, but I'll probably be trying in a week or two!

> I run a Gobolinux server at home and use a WinXP laptop for everyday
> stuff.  However, I'll be provided with a Macbook Pro for work, and I
> have to use it.  This is a good thing, as it's a nice bit of kit, but if
> I'm going to have to get set up with a new computer, I'd far rather take
> the opportunity to move to Gobolinux once and for all, rather than to
> Mac OS X.  There are walkthroughs around for Ubuntu and Gentoo and the
> like, but how tricky do you reckon it would be to get Gobolinux working?

The MacBook _Pro_, I believe does not have Free software for its
graphics acceleration (unlike the MacBook, since Intel is currently
friendlier to open-source with its graphics cards than the other big
names are) - so at least if you want acceleration you'll have to tread
in the realms of moral ambiguity :-).  My assessment was that the rest
of the hardware is fine, though the newest MacBook(Pro)s' wireless card
either needs a development version of madwifi (instructions seem easy,
and presumably an official release will happen sometime in the near
future) or proprietary ndiswrapper junk.

> 
>   It will have Parallels installed, so I'll have Gobolinux on there
> either way, but I'd also like to play with Compiz/Beryl since the
> hardware's there ;)

Well, it's mostly just PC hardware put together by a skilled company
(there is Free software for the Apple-specific stuff too); dealing with
the Mactel's EFI booting/disk format stuff should be about the same for
any Linux distribution (possibly it could be different from the usual
depending how you're using Parallels?).

Isaac
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