This afternoon I installed Asahi Linux on my 2020 Apple Mac Mini (M1 CPU). I upgraded to a 2023 Apple Mac Mini (M2 CPU) recently – also maxed out memory and disk size – and, since I had no other need and no family member expressed interest, decided to give it a shot.
Asahi Linux is based on Fedora and is a full distro, unlike some of the earlier versions.
Installation
It’s pretty damn simple:
- Login.
- Open terminal window.
- Execute the command
curl https://alx.sh | sh - Follow the prompts.
The install process is very refined, with informative messages, explanations, suggestions, etc. At the end of the install, there are some very specific steps to ensure the Mac boots into Fedora and the description is very clear and concise on what to do. Even those with a minimal technical background should be able to complete the install. After all the MacOS-specific steps are complete, the machine boots into Linux and you complete the Fedora install steps (which are also very simple).
Configuration
Very few decisions you need to make:
- The disk space to allocate to MacOS. I said
minwhich results in Linux getting everything else. - Your Fedora choices are desktops with either KDE or Gnome, or a Linux server (there were four choices, I only remember 3). I chose KDE.
Initial Impression
So far, so good, I’m writing this post on Firefox and am having no problems. I immediately do a full update with no problems, set up WiFi, changed some settings, all fairly normal stuff.
This is actually my second attempt to install: the first attempt failed because Thunderbolt isn’t supported and I was connected through a docking station. I then got back into MacOS, deleting the Linux partition, resized the Mac partitions, and tried again. No problems when the monitor is connected via HDMI.
Closing Comment
Compared with the various Linux distros and FreeBSD installations I’ve suffered through over the years, this was a non-event. Though I know that installations have drastically improved since the last time I hand-installed something, it was still comforting knowing how easy the overall process was.
As I primarily use Macs for both work and personal use, I’ll need to force myself to use this for more just web browsing and blog posting, perhaps building Java from the ground up or something equally hard on the CPU. But at least for now, very impressive.
