Mastodawn

Anyone au fait with #linux on older Intel #Apple hardware?

I see some for sale locally (surplus store) and I think they would make excellent family "just need to do some odds and ends browsing" sort of machines. Maybe as the "family computer" in the dining room.

Obviously, even if it shipped macOS, it's going to be hilariously out of date. But will they run Linux OK? Nothing fancy, just Mint or something.

They are 27" A1419 iMacs, with 7th gen i5 and 8gb of memory, if that helps.

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TheIPW 1d ago

@tehstu I've just finished a Linux install on my sister's MacBook, those A1419 iMacs are perfect candidates for a similar revival. The 7th gen i5 and 8GB RAM will fly on a lightweight distro like Mint or XFCE compared to bloated modern macOS. You should watch out for the Broadcom Wi-Fi drivers which often need a manual nudge after the first boot. It makes a brilliant privacy-respecting family browser once you've cleared the EFI hurdles. Drop me a mention if you get stuck on the driver firmware.

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Howitzer105mm

@unknownuniverse @tehstu I installed Fedora 43 on a Mac Pro "Trashcan". The Broadcom drivers are in the non-free repository. That said, they are listed by the OS as "unmaintained". In their current state they also require booting the kernel with a flag that rolls back a security change. I didn't get these warnings from Linux Mint. I assume it's only a matter of time before LM spouts the same message.
I happened to have a wired enet close so I use that instead.

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Stu 1d ago

@Howitzer105mm @unknownuniverse That's definitely good to know, cheers. I try to wire everything I can.