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Asahi Linux with Sway on the MacBook Air M2
(daniel.lawrence.lu)
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this post was submitted on 25 Dec 2025
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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Also the article says that in the context of paying for the apple physical laptop experience, which is really top notch (so everything other than the mobo and is immediate bits).
Eg my use-case - I only ever need my laptop for extremely light work, so experience in handling it is way more important than the computing hardware.
Actually I would still want a MacBook with like an Intel Pentium in it - but I can't buy a good frame with a shitty CPU, I need to buy a better overall laptop.
I still don't own anything Apple, but with Linux I just might, that's why I keep tabs on this project.
I really hope the project doesn't die, they had some people leave recently and there was some drama over that. Apple hardware is really nice, and with Linux it would be strictly superior to macos which is just bloated garbage at this point. I'm also hoping we'll see somebody else make a similar architecture to M series using ARM or RISCV targeting Linux. Maybe we'll see some Chinese vendors go RISCV route in the future.
Yeah, I never though the project would cover apple silicon tbh, it's amazing what they are doing.
I too really hope RISC-V becomes a thing, slowly getting them foss PCs would be such a nice thing for humanity.
(With EU curiously looking into it's own independence maybe we could invest into our own RISC-V production ...)
Exactly, and there is already some work happening in that regard. This project is focusing on making a high performance RISCV architecture https://github.com/OpenXiangShan/XiangShan
If an old CPU would work for, I highly recommend and older Intel based Mac. They run amazingly well with Linux and, as you say, the “experience” is excellent.
The MacBooks with T2 chips are a bit less ideal as they require a special kernel. And the 2020 MacBook Air has crappy thermals and runs up the fan. There is a version of EndeavourOS that installs everything ou-of-the box through. The WiFi in these old Macs is out of tree but many of them require the Broadcom wl driver which Arch Linux distros ship by default. Depending on model, the out-of-tree FaceTimeHD camera module may be required but it ships in Arch distros as a DKMS packages. So, again, everything just works.
They really are a joy to use. I bought a 2013 MacBook Air a few years ago for less than $100. I bought it to go on backpacking trip because it was light and I did not worry about breaking it or having it stolen. I love it so much I still use it several times a week and it still amazes me what it can do.
Yes, I'm looking at an Intel Air bcs of exactly what you point out, but then my brainhole always goes like 'you don't even need a laptop, you use it a couple of times a year, it's just about a new gadget'.