I'd like to see something close to a solution where a fresh install of a common distro just works on the hardware... debian, ubuntu or similar preferred. It takes enough work to do so... what almost surprises me, is that there hasn't been an effort to make Ubuntu work out of the box, fresh after install on a macbook. There are a lot of macbooks that won't be seeing updates, but are more than servicable linux desktops.... I'd likely change mine over (mid-2014 rMBP) to Ubuntu if the post-install challenges weren't quite so daunting... that and Ubuntu seems to have removed the natural scrolling option.
I did a Debian Jessie install on a macbook pro last night. The only friction was setting up wifi, but I eventually figured that out with an ethernet connection and the wiki pages [1][2] and (particularly for my mid-2010 MBP/Broadcom BCM43224 adapter) [3].
I was slightly surprised at the setup needed, but once I understood why Debian don't want the default install to source non-free packages, it makes sense that you have to jump through that extra hoop.
Is there still the problesm connecting/disconnecting ethernet after booting? My understanding is that apple broke thunderbolt in their interface in writing their drivers to handle connect/disconnect (iirc).
Does the scaling work okay? (I'm on a retina mbp)... IIRC the camera was another issue for recent macbooks.
Sorry, just noticed you're on a 2010... :-) ...I had an early 2011 before my current one, it was stolen a couple years ago. Used a chromebook for a while, even with RDP, but couldn't get it to VPN to work, so went back to an MBP.
I found that I could activate natural scrolling through the GUI, but only for the trackpad. For the external mouse, there's no natural scrolling checkbox, and I'll need to change some config file.
Wifi doesn't work out of the box, but it's just a matter of putting the packages on a USB stick, and installing them.
I'm not sure rMBP users are the target audience for Ubuntu. Many people buy those machines in part due to the Apple ecosystem, not just for the nice hardware, so they wouldn't switch regardless of how easy the installer is.
Even so, a lot of us who use server-side Linux would happily convert our last generation rMBP to client-side Linux when we upgraded to a new machine if getting Linux completely working on a client machine changed from something to brag about ("I don't know what you're talking about; it's easy", as a way of saying, "easy for me, because I'm highly skilled") to something that was so reliable that it said nothing good at all about its user.
I really don't like being so dependant on Apple, a company that has decided to optimize its product designs for thinness, fashion, and ways for people to whom folders are "rocket science" to buy stuff and amuse themselves, for our client-side *nix workstations, but desktop Linux isn't as attractive a competitor as I keep wishing it were.
I agree with your overall point. I, too, wish that installing Debian on a Macbook were as easy as installing OSX on a Macbook, or as easy as installing Debian on a Thinkpad.
I'm not sure, though, that easy installation would make desktop Linux much more attractive for most users.
I can't speak for most users... but for current *nix users, it would be a very attractive alternative. I'd just assume use linux or windows over osx, except I prefer bash, and in windows it's a little wonky.
The GUI experience in osx is the most off for me. I'm used to hitting the super/win key, typing in an appname, then enter to open... similar between linux and windows... OSX doesn't do that... though my most-used apps are docked.
Not to mention my muscle memory is really pc centric, and going back and forth sucks. Even when I switch keys around, ctrl/cmd are backwards in terminal.. then to top it off, my work issued mbp is locked down so I can't use most of the apps that could switch it around per-app.
