Review: Ubuntu on Apple MacBook
In my local LUG mailing list, lately, one of my friends asked, without willing to produce any flame or insult, why on earth do so many people buy a macbook to install Ubuntu on it. His questions where, basically: is the cost particularly convenient compared to others laptops? Does it have a superior hardware? Is the hardware compatible with Linux? Let's bring some light into this darkness of doubts.
Written by Luca De Marini
Price / Quality
In issue #2 of Full Circle Magazine we read the review by Alan Hood of the System 76 Darter Laptop. I think that the Macbook can be compared directly to this product from System 76, since it is a very similar laptop in dimensions and even in look. So, just to begin, both products can be bought with a minimal and cheap configuration or with a powerful and expensive one. In the following table we'll compare the entry level configuration of both systems.
As you can see from the table, the Macbook is greatly superior in a lot of drastically important components such as the CPU, Hard Disc, Ram. The CPU alone would make the MacBook win this comparison chart but it also has double the HD and Ram and these are really important factors when choosing a laptop (You will not be able to upgrade the CPU in the future). The screen is another great point of the MacBook. Even if it is of the same size and resolution, the screen of a Mac is a superior experience any way you look at it. Only some models of Sony Vaio can compete with the quality of a MacBook screen, and we know that Apple computers are intended principally for professional graphic designers.
The MacBook has an integrated webcam too and this is a great point if you consider that we're talking about very portable laptops, often used for video conferences.
On the other hand, the Darter has two important advantages: a PCI Express card slot to install, for example, an internet connectivity card, and much more video memory. The card reader is not a big goal, since there are a lot of USB card readers around. And in this view of things you could agree with me that even the PCI Express slot, at the end, is not all that advantage: you can find almost any PCIMCIA card hardware in USB version too. The MacBook does not have an S-Video out and this could be a bad handicap if you would like to connect it to a television. Of course there are adapters available online. Another great advantage of the Darter is the optical drive: the entry level version of the Macbook only has a CD burner and DVD reader while the Darter has a DVD burner and that's not a little difference.
As a conclusion we can say that the Darter costs too much for what it is in the entry level comparison chart. At almost the same price, a MacBook is so much faster, but it has no DVD Burner and that is really the only bad news.
Key:
- Green: this component is superior to the one of the other computer
- Red: this component is seriously inferior compared to the one of the other computer
- Black: this component is inferior to the one of the other computer but that's not a big issue.
- Blue: the two components are the same, there's no real difference.
| System 76 Darter Laptop Entry Level model | Apple MacBook Entry Level model |
| Processor Speed: Celeron M 410 1.46 GHz 1 MB 533 FSB Ram: 512 MB DDR2 667 MHz HD: 40 GB 5400 RPM Optical Drive: CD-RW / DVD-RW (Dual Layer) Display: 13.3” Widescreen WXGA (1280X800) Graphics: Intel GMA 950 224 MB Integrated Graphics Sound: Intel High Definition Audio Networking: 10/100(LAN) Wireless: Intel 802.11 abg & Bluetooth Card Reader: 4 in 1 Card Reader Expansion: PCI Express Card Slot (34/54) Ports: VGA, 3x USB 2.0, Mic In, Headphone Out, FireWire 1394B, S-Video Webcam: None Price: $995.00 | Processor Speed: 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Ram: 1GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM – 2x512 HD: 80GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm Optical Drive: Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) Display: 13.3-inch (viewable) glossy Widescreen 1280 x 800 pixels Graphics: Intel GMA 950 graphics processor with 64MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared Sound: Integrated Networking: 10/100(LAN) Wireless: AirPort Extreme Card & Bluetooth Card Reader: None Expansion: None Ports: VGA, 2x USB 2.0, Mic In, Headphone Out, FireWire 1394B Webcam: Integrated Price: $1,118.00, Students: $999.00 with a free Ipod Nano |
If you want to be able to burn DVDs you have to buy the Medium Level Macbook at a Full price of $1,299.00 or $1,199.00 for Students plus all the goodies such as free Ipod, free printer and so on. And remember that this Medium Level version of the MacBook is really a monster in performance and component quality.
Now let's compare the two best versions of both computers, customized to be the most bleeding edge as possible.
So at this point things change a little. The Darter has a slightly faster CPU but has less RAM and half the hard drive space. For the rest of the components, everything is the same as in the Entry Level comparison chart except that the MacBook of course catches up the Darter with the DVD dual layer Burner. But the price of the MacBook compared to the quality and power of the included components is what makes the real difference. You can see from this chart above that there's at least a $347.00 difference of price here! The MacBook is cheaper and more powerful in every component except the CPU (and some accessories) but the game isn't over yet.
Look and Design
As we can see from the photographs, the Darter has a similar look to the Apple MacBook. Both are elegant, with a white color and tiny dimensions. If we like this kind of particulars, the Darter has visible speaker which may be a nice choice or a bad one, depending on your tastes.
We read in the Darter Review (in Full Circle Magazine Issue #2) that the gray lettering on the keys is maybe too light to be correctly used. This problem is not so evident in the MacBook series as the lettering is gray, but dark enough to let you distinguish each letter better. As for the stylish aspect of the MacBook, I guess there are some cool advantages such as the luminescent Apple logo and the pulsing white light when the computer is in standby and this brings us to the next chapter of this review.
Hardware Compatibility
The Darter has a lot of hardware issues with Ubuntu. For some components you'll need to do some hard work to have Ubuntu run correctly and some other components just won't work. The worst aspect of the Darter is the suspend feature not working in Ubuntu. As I already said, we're talking about very portable laptops here and the suspend feature is really a must-have in my opinion. How can you correctly use a laptop of this kind if you cannot just close the monitor and move with it going automatically in sleep mode?
Well, the Macbook has no hardware issue with Ubuntu, but there is some slight configuration needed. When you install Ubuntu Feisty on a MacBook you notice that the resolution is very low, there's no wireless, suspend does not work and a few fireballs will fall from the sky directly to your house. But there is an easy guide in the Ubuntu WebSite: http://help.ubuntu.com/community/MacBook
Within the hour you'll have every single piece of hardware working perfectly, including a wonderful suspend feature (with no bug, perfectly working, just close the monitor lid and Ubuntu will start sleeping, open it up again and it will immediately wake up, just like with Apple OSX), great screen resolution, full open source wi-fi support, bluetooth and everything else you'd ever need. One of the most incredible facts about the hardware of a MacBook is that every single feature will work without the need of proprietary drivers only open source software! The MacBook is probably a laptop with some of the greatest Ubuntu compatibility around. You just have to configure it a little!
The MacBook is also quiet, and it never heated up once while using it. So even the cooling system works nicely with Ubuntu, even with Beryl / Compiz activated. And I always have Compiz Fusion activated
Another advantage of a MacBook: it can boot Apple OSX! OSX is, in my opinion, the best proprietary Operating System around and it is needed by Architects like me to run some necessary CAD software (such as Archicad) not available for Linux and too slow on Windows. So if you are a professional you may want to have OSX in dual boot with Ubuntu.
| 76 Darter Laptop Best Version Model | Apple MacBook Best Version Model |
| Processor Speed: Core 2 Duo T7600 2.33 GHz 4MB 667FSB Ram: 1.5 GB DDR2 667 MHz HD: 100 GB 5400 RPM Optical Drive: CD-RW / DVD-RW (Dual Layer) Display: 13.3” Widescreen WXGA (1280X800) Graphics: Intel GMA 950 224 MB Integrated Graphics Sound: Intel High Definition Audio Networking: 10/100(LAN) Wireless: Intel 802.11 abg & Bluetooth Card Reader: 4 in 1 Card Reader Expansion: PCI Express Card Slot (34/54) Ports: VGA, 3x USB 2.0, Mic In, Headphone Out, FireWire 1394B, S-Video Webcam: None Price: $1,902.00 | Processor Speed: 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Ram: 2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM – 2x1GB HD: 200GB Serial ATA @ 4200 rpm Optical Drive: SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) Display: 13.3-inch (viewable) glossy Widescreen 1280 x 800 pixels Graphics: Intel GMA 950 graphics processor with 64MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared Sound: Integrated Networking: 10/100(LAN) Wireless: AirPort Extreme Card & Bluetooth Card Reader: None Expansion: None Ports: VGA, 2x USB 2.0, Mic In, Headphone Out, FireWire 1394B Webcam: Integrated Price: Full $1,649.00, Students: $1,514.00 with a free Ipod Nano included. |
Dual Booting is very simple using BootCamp (see my Ubuntu Feisty on a Mini Mac Guide / Review in FullCricle Magazine Issue #2) but you may find some issue if you try advanced configurations, so I'll write a guide about it, stay tuned. While booting Ubuntu with Windows may not make a lot of sense (especially now that we can partially virtualize 3D hardware acceleration thanks to VMGL) it does make a lot of sense booting it with OSX (we can't even correctly virtualize OSX yet). The hard drive is really huge in almost any MacBook version, so, dualbooting is simple and convenient!
Support
We have to remember that Apple supports MacBooks only with OSX installed and does not support the installation of Ubuntu directly. So you cannot phone or email Apple if you have issues with Ubuntu in your MacBook! This doesn't look to me as a big deal though and you shouldn't be worried about it at all. In Ubuntu Forums there's an entire category dedicated to Intel Mac Users, filled with wise people ready and willing to help you with any question! This is a really big community support advantage.
Conclusions and Rating
The MacBook is probably the best system around at the moment if you want to run Ubuntu on a laptop. It is quiet and never overheats, it is powerful and eyecandy effects such as Beryl or Compiz Fusion will work perfectly with no slow down at all in any situation. The compatibility with suspend is something that deserves a special mention and it is this that makes the MacBook jump kilometers ahead its competitors and remember that each peace of hardware will work with full open source driver support!
The price compared to the power and quality of the hardware is the lowest around and it also has Mac OSX integrated which gives you another great choice opportunity. It can run Ubuntu, Windows (any version) and Mac OSX, the widest choice of Operating Systems available on the market (of course you can install any other Operating Systems you like such as Open Solaris, BSD, ect., since it is an Intel based computer). you'll hardly miss the PCMCIA slot, believe me, why would you ever need it after all?
And did I mention that even the built-in webcam works flawlessly with Ubuntu? You can use it for example with Ekiga or with Gnome Cheese (Similar to OSX Photo Booth). I've been really pleased with this laptop and never found a problem with it. Don't be scared about the dimensions of the screen: even if it is only a 13.5'', the high resolution and perfect combination of light, contrast, colors, reflection prevention makes it a perfect work station and remember that you can easily connect it to an external monitor, if you want. A large number of people choose a MacBook as the perfect hardware for Ubuntu, think about it, the price is really worth the gain.
Summary: The MacBook is probably the best choice for quality / price with a laptop of these dimensions. Its hardware works perfectly with Ubuntu using only Open Source drivers, even suspend works. It has an integrated webcam and can run OSX, plus it is a very robust and stylish computer and its hardware is bleeding edge. Although the middle entry version may be the best choice for most users.
