Wanting to move from OSX to Linux

[Nacah]

Hey all!

I have been interested in moving to a linux os for a while now and want to pull the trigger now. I have a mid 2009 MacBook Pro with 2.26 GHz intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3 memory, 320 GB of storage, and a NVIDIA GeForce 9400M 256 MB Graphics card. I used to have an iPhone, which works great with Macs, but I recently have switched to an android operated Huawei smartphone and I am tired of dealing with the communication problems between androids and macs. And I don't know how much longer I have this mac, so I want to be prepared to get a new computer and have everything set up at that point.

So I want to switch to Linux and learn to use it with my phone and was wondering what everyone thought would be the best path to transfer all my files from my mac over to the Linux os. I have done a ubuntu usb live boot, which I liked to see what ubuntu would be like, but now i'm considering a dual boot with the focus being to fully convert to Linux after I get more comfortable with it. Also, if people have suggestions on the type of linux they like besides ubuntu, i'm open to any as I have not been able to explore many of the linux options yet.

I have an external HD that I backed up all the files from my mac, but I'm wondering if i can just use that to put my files on in a way they will transfer after I completely replace my osx with linux. It's a seagate 500 GB HD, which was written for a mac I believe.

Anything helps and if I missed some info that is needed feel free to ask. Thanks in advance!

 

[atanere]

Hi @Nacah, and welcome to the site! I've never used a Mac, so I can't help much except to assist with Google searching and to offer moral support. It can be done, and it sounds like your computer is quite capable. But Macs are very different from PC's in a number of ways.... in file systems, as you've already noted: Both your internal and external hard drives may need some tweaking to accomplish your goals. I hope someone on here with more personal experience will jump in to help guide you along. In the meantime, here are a few links that may help to get your started:

A little old (2014) but still useful, I think.
https://www.howtogeek.com/187410/how-to-install-and-dual-boot-linux-on-a-mac/

A little more current (Feb. 2017).
https://www.lifewire.com/dual-boot-linux-and-mac-os-4125733

A YouTube video, also a little old (Apr. 2016)... video may hang at 0:09 mark, but you can click past it to continue play. Ubuntu 16.04.3 is the latest "LTS" version (Long Term Support)... I always recommend LTS instead of the very latest-greatest version as those drop support after only 9 months.

Cheers

 

[wizardfromoz]

@atanere - Stan, you have outdone yourself . That is one great Youtube video. I am going to bookmark that for Mac users (imitation is the finest form of flattery). The guy speaks clearly, and does not mouse too fast for an old slowpoke like me.

Hello @Nacah and welcome.

You mentioned

Also, if people have suggestions on the type of linux they like besides ubuntu, i'm open to any as I have not been able to explore many of the linux options yet.

... and I could tell you 100, but it would confuse. Make http://distrowatch.com/ your friend, keep a small supply of usb sticks handy, and try some out.

If you like to keep with the Snow Leopard style, but with Linux, you could do worse than read here https://www.linux.org/threads/cannot-uninstall-virtualbox-ext-pack-version-5-1.14707/#post-48050 ...not so much for the Virtual Box side of things, but rather for the user having years of experience with Mac OSX and choosing to install Pearl Linux.

If you decide to try it, go straight here for the download https://sourceforge.net/projects/pearl-mate-6-0/ rather than through the Pearl site, or you might end up with the Alpha, which is a little buggy as you might expect?

Cheers

Wizard

 

[mrcrossroads]

@Nacah

What about Dropbox? When I reload a machine I have very little to back up by way of documents, pics etc. because I keep them in Dropbox. When you install and log in to Dropbox on you Linux machine it will download your files automatically.