7 ms·

Could someone the typical benefits of replacing MacOS with Asahi Linux — what are use cases people are desiring here? Is it mostly for server performance?

voidfunc 5y ago
Well for one you no longer need to use macOS… which is a bonus in some folks mind.
- Underphil 5y ago
  Yeah, this really. I've no idea why someone wouldn't consider choice of OS to be a net positive for everyone. Only thing stopping me getting one of these (through work) is the OS.
  - lomereiter 5y ago
    Why give your money to a manufacturer who explicitly wants you to run MacOS on their hardware, and not to its Linux-friendlier competitors?
    - dimgl 5y ago
      Because the hardware is actually good?
    - Underphil 5y ago
      Because I like the hardware but despise the software. I haven't found another laptop that comes close, although I don't have the money to try many. Not only that, but in the F500 companies I've worked for it's not uncommon for employees to get the latest shiny new thing when their existing machine still has lots of life left. Repurposing it with Linux means I can use it.
    - dmitrygr 5y ago
      Because there is no comparable hardware to be had for any amount of money anywhere.
ravi-delia 5y ago
It means you get the performance and battery life of the M1 without getting stuck with the OS Apple picked out. I doubt there's reason for most, but for me at least Linux is non-negotiable.
- olliej 5y ago
  “Picked out” is an odd way to say “the platform that they make” A bunch of the power saving is also from the OS shutting things down quickly and moving everything to low power states, linux has not always been the best at that. Which does make sense given that the primary usage is still things like data centers where the primary purpose is having everything go as fast as possible essentially all the time.
  - marcan_42 5y ago
    Linux is the world's most popular OS running on mobile devices with small batteries. I'd say x86 platforms have not always been the best at that :-)
    - olliej 5y ago
      I think there’s a meaningful difference between being able to run on low power devices, and being able to control power usage of high performance ones, but I also take your point. However we can also point to Darwin as it runs on lightning cables, presumably apples high performance usb-c/thunderbolt/marketing-name-of-the-day, etc on super teeny tiny arm processors :)
  - ravi-delia 5y ago
    I see what you're saying, and really I do generally think Apple gets too much hate for their walled garden. It frees them to specialize for their niche, and if you don't like it you don't have to use their products! I sure don't. There's no doubt in my mind that Asahi won't be as power efficient as MacOS on an M1. But so, so much of that efficiency comes from the hardware. If Apple could make an x86 chip that power efficient just on software alone, they presumably would have. Plus, though I'm obviously no expert, I vaguely recall reading that offloading to the smaller cores is supported on Asahi, which is a good portion of the efficiency.
vwoolf 5y ago
A person who wants to use Linux can use Linux.
digisign 5y ago
Use cases with less spying and law enforcement tentacles.

voidfunc 5y ago

Well for one you no longer need to use macOS… which is a bonus in some folks mind.

Underphil 5y ago
Yeah, this really. I've no idea why someone wouldn't consider choice of OS to be a net positive for everyone. Only thing stopping me getting one of these (through work) is the OS.
- lomereiter 5y ago
  Why give your money to a manufacturer who explicitly wants you to run MacOS on their hardware, and not to its Linux-friendlier competitors?
  - dimgl 5y ago
    Because the hardware is actually good?
  - Underphil 5y ago
    Because I like the hardware but despise the software. I haven't found another laptop that comes close, although I don't have the money to try many. Not only that, but in the F500 companies I've worked for it's not uncommon for employees to get the latest shiny new thing when their existing machine still has lots of life left. Repurposing it with Linux means I can use it.
  - dmitrygr 5y ago
    Because there is no comparable hardware to be had for any amount of money anywhere.

ravi-delia 5y ago

It means you get the performance and battery life of the M1 without getting stuck with the OS Apple picked out. I doubt there's reason for most, but for me at least Linux is non-negotiable.

olliej 5y ago
“Picked out” is an odd way to say “the platform that they make” A bunch of the power saving is also from the OS shutting things down quickly and moving everything to low power states, linux has not always been the best at that. Which does make sense given that the primary usage is still things like data centers where the primary purpose is having everything go as fast as possible essentially all the time.
- marcan_42 5y ago
  Linux is the world's most popular OS running on mobile devices with small batteries. I'd say x86 platforms have not always been the best at that :-)
  - olliej 5y ago
    I think there’s a meaningful difference between being able to run on low power devices, and being able to control power usage of high performance ones, but I also take your point. However we can also point to Darwin as it runs on lightning cables, presumably apples high performance usb-c/thunderbolt/marketing-name-of-the-day, etc on super teeny tiny arm processors :)
- ravi-delia 5y ago
  I see what you're saying, and really I do generally think Apple gets too much hate for their walled garden. It frees them to specialize for their niche, and if you don't like it you don't have to use their products! I sure don't. There's no doubt in my mind that Asahi won't be as power efficient as MacOS on an M1. But so, so much of that efficiency comes from the hardware. If Apple could make an x86 chip that power efficient just on software alone, they presumably would have. Plus, though I'm obviously no expert, I vaguely recall reading that offloading to the smaller cores is supported on Asahi, which is a good portion of the efficiency.

vwoolf 5y ago

A person who wants to use Linux can use Linux.

digisign 5y ago

Use cases with less spying and law enforcement tentacles.