Dear Fedi friends, THANK YOU for all your advice regarding Linux distros for my Macbook Air 2013.I should have specified I'm NOT new to Linux, as I have Debian on my VPS and Ubuntu on a Raspberry Pi 4 (which I sometimes use as a desktop computer).I'm now torn between Mint, Fedora and Debian... so I may pick Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE)...I will make sure to document every step of the process and write about it on my blog.Thanks again for all the advice!

@_elena don't need to be too afraid of arch it exist some GUI installer like rebornos or garuda.I will personally not go to Ubuntu like, they moved more and more software in their snap store. Eventually Debian which is now extremely easy to install.

@_elena Don't know much about Arch either, but Manjaro makes it quite beginner friendly.

@_elena REALLY good resource is Explaining Computers youtube channel, Chris used to teach computers and is REALLY good at explaining stuff and is a great teacher & AFAIK person in my conversations w him. He has series for beginners including youtube.com/watch?v=n8vmXvoVjZ

@_elena @Edent Just a heads up, make sure to use your macbook air or another mac to make a macos installer USB before you install any linux distro in case you ever want to go backApple, being apple, doesn't let just anyone just download an ISO, the only officially supported routes to create recovery media require using a mac with a functional install of macos

@_elena arch has a learning curve, manjaro, cachyos endeavoros are more suitable for beginners...they are arch based and have less bloat than ubunutu based systems

@_elena @Edent Several of the Linux distros like MX, & probably Fedora or Ubuntu will handle drivers for Mac if you install with ethernet connection during install process. Some installs you have to be sure and use correct checkboxes, some you need to copy drivers from Mac OS before upgrade or get them elsewhere. Usually it is just drivers for Wifi, bluetooth, and sometimes audio because they are proprietary w Mac & some distros strict about default being no proprietary software just FOSS

@_elena it's pretty easy to swap. My advice: start from mint/fedora/Ubuntu, stay on it some days and if you feel brave, you can go to Arch. Personally, I'm pretty happy with fedora kde

@_elena Q4OS with Trinity desktop environment won the 3 way tie for first place in my 6 months testing on old 2010 Asus UL30vt laptop. But have not tested with a Mac yet. Other 2 in the tie: MX XFCE & Manjaro XFCE (Manjaro is based on Arch but has "training wheels" so easier in some ways to get started with, I don't recommend ether Arch or Manjaro for beginners unless using on test machine). Lot of things I like about Q4OS but not sure if install on Mac is as easy as MX q4os.org/

@_elena Mint XFCE (Cinnamon is the desktop environment usually done with Mint, but again not great choice for older hardware XFCE is better on older hardware in my testing) linuxmint.com/download.php

@_elena MX XFCE (the XFCE part refers to Desktop enviornment TLDR the graphical interface aspect you work with, XFCE is lighter than KDE better choice for RAM limited machines like old Macbook Air) works really well on Intel Macs based on both my research and testing, have it on 2017 Macbook Air. mxlinux.org/

@_elena endeavourOS

@_elena Arch isn't quite suitable for beginner though it's an excellent distro.Mint and Fedora are both great, while their ecosystem is a tad different (Mint may feel like 'more Windows-like').CachyOS is worth trying as well if you already have some experience with Linux. It's Arch-based and performance-optimised.

@_elena Mint sarebbe più 'userfriendly'. Magari vale la pena di osservare CachyOS. Per la privacy pero sempre Tails 🤓

@_elena I'm enjoying Manjaro quite a bit, it's based on Arch, so pretty much all Arch documentation and packages also apply for Manjaro, but it's supposed to be more user friendly. I can't say why that is, as I've never tried Arch myself. I guess Manjaro is to Arch what Mint is to Ubuntu, but I'm not sure. To be honest I'm finding Manjaro far better and more stable than Ubuntu. Though to be fair, I last tried Ubuntu almost 10 years ago, so I can't compare how much that has changed.

@_elena omargy is probably the distro you want. omarchy.org/

@_elena doing ubuntu under kde plasma for more than a years, works fine. beware of gpu drivers and some kde issues

@_elena In the end it's a philosophical question:Do you you want a system that you have to conform to and that hides from you what you don't seem to need at the time or do you want to gain an understanding of your system, so you can learn how to properly do things your way?First one is the Big Tech/Linux Mint-approach, the second one is the Arch way.Also: If it comes down to Mint or Fedora, have some self-respect and do yourself a favor, get Fedora.

@_elena Arch is a great way to learn Linux, and this is true for precisely the same reason that struggling is more educational than succeeding. (So many weird bugs that end up teaching you about how UNIX-like systems work)You learn a lot in Arch that perhaps you don't need to learn about, but the online resources are incredibly robust. After having moved away from Arch, I still go back and reference the Arch Wiki to learn about software.If you're not used to Linux or the command line, I definitely would not recommend Arch. I will say that Arch -- being a "DIY" distro -- allows you to pick more or less difficult options for how to configure your system. Setting everything up is much easier if you, for instance, just install KDE or some other DE, instead of trying to do fancy things with a WM and Display Server. (That's cuz KDE takes care of you and mostly just installs everything you need for wifi, etc).There's also always the (sorta secret) install script, which (tries) to install everything for you. Or you could use Endeavor OS, which is a non-DIY Linux distro that "just works" but is Arch-based. It's a great way to get into the "Arch logic" of how things work, without needing to actually know anything yet.---As much as the enthusiasts like to talk, I think you should pick Arch only if you think it's right for you. There's no shame in using a more approachable system like Mint (I'm actually using Elementary OS right now and LOVING it! It's super beginner friendly, but behaves much like a Mac, instead of a Windows system).Anyways, best of luck. If you'd like to ask me any questions about Arch, I'd be happy to answer regarding what I know. I've spent quite a few hours debugging and trawling around the forums and wiki, so I think I know some stuff.

@_elena I runt Mint from t2linux.org on Macbook Air 2018 and Macbook Pro 2020 or 2019 (don’t remember - last Pro with Intel CPU anyways). Works flawlessly. Only issue would be you have to manually delete old kernels before they fill your boot drive - but it’s a 3 minute task with 3 or 4 terminal commands. And I guess will be resolved with december Mint update. Also sleep/wake not (always) work so I just don’t use it. Everything else is fast/clean/reaponsive/„just works” no problem experience.

@_elena #NetBSD, the #noAI solution

@LucPestille thank you Luc! I watched a video tutorial about installing Zorin OS on a Macbook Air 2013 and it seemed really easy

@_elena I've been running Zorin OS on my Asus laptop for a while now, and am a big fan (not that any Linux distro is flawless, there were a couple of driver hurdles) - the Zorin forums are also well trafficked and full of answers if you get stuck.

@Edent got it! I'm not going to create a dual boot, but just wipe the drive and have Linux on it...