How well Ubuntu (Feisty) works on a MacBook Pro

[Gabriel Dragffy]

Brian Fahrlander wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
> 
> Gabriel Dragffy wrote:
>> David Stubblebine wrote:
>>> I'm not sure why you want to use a $2,600 mac laptop to run linux.   
>>> Why not eBay your MacBook Pro if you aren't going to run Mac OS X,  
>>> and buy a comparable PC laptop for Ubuntu?
>>>
>>> --
>>> David Stubblebine
>>> Norwalk, OH
>>>
>>> "Power corrupts.  Absolute power is kind of neat"
>>> -- John Lehman, Secretary of the Navy, 1981-1987
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> What are you saying by that? - That linux is not worthy of a decent 
>> computer? Or that OS X is better than Linux?
>>
>> Either way I have used OS X for the last 5 months on it, I'm getting fed 
>> up with trawling across the internet finding updates for my 
>> applications. Also I love the GNU software, which is mostly ugly in OSX 
>> (e.g. GIMP). In my opinion nothing beats apt for convenience.
>>
>> Personally I didn't get a MBP 'cause of OS X, I got it because I thought 
>> the build quality was outstanding. It's my first apple product, and it 
>> is really good. It would seem that I don't have much choice in the 
>> matter, I'm gonna have to stick with OS X, which isn't so bad.
> 
>     Forgive the butting-in, but:
> 
>     1. Yeah, Apple makes some *great* hardware. It's been a part of them
> for a long, long time.
> 
>     2. There's a reason why it's so costly: Apple figures-in the cost of
>  newbies on the learning curve, and needing close help. Not that it's
> wrong- there's a *ton* of people who, for reasons of their own haven't
> dedicated their lives to computing the way most of us here have.  :>
> 
>     3. You can pick up a "pc" type laptop for something like $500 and
> get the benefits of upgradability, without paying Apple for tech support
> they can't give you.
> 
>     I've seen both sides of the argument; a part of me really wants to
> try out that smooth, non-multiplexed bus on the 68K series. It's good
> hardware, like I said. It's just that PC hardware is so plentiful; the
> Windows guys turn up their nose if it's "slow" on the current platform.
> And the way Windows works now, it's gotta be quad-powered, baby.
> 
>     Around here I have 5 machines, the youngest is 6 years old. I'm
> running PC133 memory in it; nothing has more than 1/2G of RAM. I'm on an
> AMD Athlon 1200, now considered a relic, if you have the "Made for
> Microsoft" label on the box.  I can't imagine needing more, until the
> memory is so obscure that it's expensive, like the 486s are.
> 
>     I work with some Windows guys; they have a shop.  I'm always blown
> away by "the smallest thing we can order" sounding like something that
> used to aggregate global mine speculation in real-time. Sure, there are
> things that _need_ as much power as you can get, but at the salvage
> shops you can have a very capable all-round machine for about $100. (I
> bought one, "stewie" for $30 last year.)
> 
>     I can't speak with certainty, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't making
> fun of you, not poo-pooing your choice of hardware. But a different arch
> has a cost; even on the AMD64, the codecs, for example require more
> fiddling...it's not a simple, direct task.  It's peculiar, that's all.
> 
>     If I'm wrong, I'm sorry...I just wanted to chime in on what seems to
> be a recurring theme: more horsepower for an OS that just doesn't need
> it. (Especially since there are no premium games in Linux)
> - --
>  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>  Brian Fahrländer                 Christian, Conservative, and Technomad
>  Evansville, IN                              http://Fahrlander.net/brian
>  ICQ: 5119262                         AOL/Yahoo/GoogleTalk: WheelDweller
>  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
> Version: GnuPG v1.4.2.2 (GNU/Linux)
> Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org
> 
> iD8DBQFGK0MV6PLtRzZbdhYRAl+IAJ9KK72gWxeqDMgfKdJHIc2kdV0nGACfZH0z
> rYcOsOm7LCI7yWb5uwpnLcU=
> =7nl8
> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
> 

Your email has some very good points and I agree with all that you say. 
I am a 'PC man', always have been. At home I have an ancient 1GHz Duron 
Desktop, a 1GHz HP Laptop and a newer MacbookPro. Otherwise we have in 
the house a Sony Vaio 1.4Ghz and some Dell desktop. My mum uses the Vaio 
and I set it up for her. She actually wanted a laptop so offered to buy 
me a new computer and she'd 'inherit' my VAIO. I jumped at this 
opportunity and went for a MBP - especially since apple has converted to 
using Intel arch. I didn't expect to be able to use linux on it straight 
away, as was the case with my VAIO, I had to wait about 1.5years for 
Linux to 'catch up' with it. I thought that perhaps Feisty would be 
'there' but I don't think so, in this case I'll wait until Feisty+1 and 
see what's happening.

You are undoubtedly correct in saying that I could have got a PC for a 
fraction of the price of a MBP that could run Linux perfectly... but I 
just couldn't resist the opportunity when sum1 else was paying...! This 
is probably the best and most up-to-date computer I'll ever own. After 
this I'll be using the computers  from the 'bargain basement' shops.

Oh one other thing:
My Sony VAIO developed three faults over the period of one year, all of 
which meant it had to be sent back for repairs. In this case Sony were 
absolutely superb. Depatched a box for the vaio from Belgium, arrived 
the next day. I packaged the computer in and the courier took it away to 
France. They repaired it and sent it back in about 10 days. No trouble. 
Now I haven't used the apple care thing, but I have heard they are tight 
bas**rds, and you have to even take your macbook to your 'local' apple 
centre. We'll see.
I probably should have opted for a new IBM computer, they're built very 
ruggedly and are a wee bit more compatible with linux.

Regards
Gabe