[NBLUG/talk] Concerning Linux compatibility with the new MacBook Pro

[Lincoln Peters]

On Friday 13 January 2006 20:58, Daniel Smith wrote:
> I'd hope to see Intel Linux distros running on the iMac
> and MacBook Pro machines within a week after they ship.  The
> Linux community will want to get this going faster than
> those wanting to boot Windows XP.  It's all about bragging
> rights :-)

The wildcard in all this is what the Mac community wants.  I know lots of Mac 
users who are more interested in running Windows XP on these Macs because 
they depend on certain applications that are only available for Windows (and 
Virtual PC is only widely used because it's the only solution for Mac users, 
if there was a VMWare for MacOS X it would be infinitely superior).  Whatever 
the critical application may be for a particular user, in some cases you 
might even say that not having these applications is like not having water to 
drink.

Of course, what I'd like to say in response is, "let them drink WINE!"
(As in <http://www.winehq.org/>, of course.)

But that's going to be even harder than setting up dual-booting WinXP/MacOS X, 
since it hasn't even reached v1.0 on Linux after...how many years has it been 
now?  And I'm sure that if Apple does ANYTHING to directly enable users to 
run Windows XP on their Macs, Steve Ballmer will ruthlessly search for a way 
to use it to "f**king bury" Apple.

Still, the more I think about it, the more I think that "let them drink WINE!" 
would be an excellent rallying cry for those open-source developers who have 
an interest in the new Macs.  But maybe it only sounds good to me because 
I've become a bit sleep-deprived since Tuesday.  In fact, I'm not sure why 
I'm still writing this e-mail when I should be going to bed!

>
>
> Engadget also has a bit on this:
> http://www.engadget.com/2006/01/13/will-xp-boot-on-intel-macs-after-all/

Interesting.  I guess the question now becomes how much of a chore it would be 
to install the "compatibility support module" described by the article.


-- 
Lincoln Peters
<sampln at sbcglobal.net>

Political T.V. commercials prove one thing: some candidates can tell
all their good points and qualifications in just 30 seconds.

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