Maybe I’m too entrenched in FOSS political vision, but why devote these tremendous efforts to improve products of a company like Apple. I don’t understand the motivation behind Asahi linux, except “just because it can be done” ie academic purpose
It’s not improving it cause apple can use it. It’s improving cause people can use it even after apple is not supporting it or don’t like apple’s OS.
To me it’s similar to buying illegal animal products and showcasing it for public awareness
“It’s not to support the poachers but to raise awareness”
It’s more like reducing global ewaste and keeping ecology better, when apple drop support, people better use still capable hardware than buy a new one from apple
x86 isn’t open either and a lot of people like the M1’s efficiency (I’m an Asahi Linux user)
A lot of people say it’s good although personally it hasn’t been a huge improvement for me, I’m guessing there’s certain hardware-software integration in macOS and software optimizations that contributes to the battery life that isn’t happening in Linux. It’s dying less quickly than my HP laptop though. I also tend to not close stuff so that may be a problem.
Absolutely nothing comes close to the thinness and lightness, combined with battery and performance of my M2 Air. And that’s not to mention that Apple’s touchpads are still so far ahead of everyone else that I’d like to laugh about it, but it’s too embarrassing for that. It’s not like I’m not aware of the linux/windows alternatives, it’s that there simply are no alternatives…I’d rather deal with Apple’s shit software instead of everyone else’s subpar hardware, because software is changeable.
Also, since the Asahi team actually knows what they’re doing, it turns out that their linux support on Apple Silicon is often better in a lot of ways than most windows-centric laptops. They take a long time to support certain hardware capabilities, but once they do you can be sure that it works flawlessly. Can’t say the same about any other laptop I owned before (although Framework, System 76 and Tuxedo laptops are probably good in that regard).
Also, while the keyboard on my Dell XPS broke a whopping 5 times in the last few years, the Macbook Air has yet to show any signs of wear. The reason I got a Macbook is because I need to get work done and need a reliable machine for that. And what can I say, my god has it ever been reliable.
In my field of work, I’m stuck with the Apple ecosystem anyway. So having the chance to run linux on my M1 for all my personnal project is awesome. Also, as much as I hate Apple, those computers are just absolute beast in term of processing power, battery and design.
And longevity. I have a 2011 MBP thats now running Debian and is still a tank. I’ve had two MacBooks since I got it but the damn thing refuses to die.
My daily laptop is an M2 Air which is ridiculously powerful for my needs, so when Apple drop OS support for it I’ll put Asahi on it and keep it trucking until the wheels fall off.
And that 2011 will still be going.
