Any reason to use Ubuntu over macOS Sonoma on an old Mac Mini (Late 2012)? reddit / selfhosted ---------------------------------------------------------------------- AssassinSK2 · 2023-10-15 16:06 Hi guys. So basically I'm currently running macOS Sonoma on my Mac Mini Late 2012 i5 with 16GB RAM and SSD. It's working perfectly fine and really fast (considering its age) for an 11 year old machine. However some have recommended that I install Ubuntu on it instead of macOS. Is there any advantages of it? I'm mainly using Docker and everything seems to be okay.. And since docker runs Linux VM in the background I don't really understand why It'd be better to switch to Ubuntu? I'm quite new to hosting side of things so I'm just wondering. thanks! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Good_NewsEveryone · 2023-10-15 16:27 I mean, if its running ok now then its not critical, but if you start running more stuff on Docker it would be less overhead to run it natively on linux than using a VM inside MacOS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- lmamakos · 2023-10-15 16:28 If Docker is one of the primaryuse-cases you're depending on, running Ubuntu means not having to pay a VM penalty for the virtualization overhead. You'd just be running containers on the native Ubuntu OS which is already pretty light-weight. I have an old MacBook Pro and old iMac that I switched over to Ubuntu- based Pop!OS mostly because those hardware platforms were no longer supported by macOS. As the primary use for those system was SSH, terminal windows and Firefox, it was fine. I screwed around a bit to make the keyboard shortcuts work more like macOS since they were both "desktop" machines. For a while, I was running Ubuntu on an older 2011 Mac Mini and that worked great! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- magshell-alpha · 2023-10-15 19:42 You don't use content caching on macOS? That's the one thing I wish existed as a service on Linux. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- AssassinSK2 · 2023-10-15 21:11 Just found out what it is tbh 😅. I only use like 3 Apple devices and one of them is a Hackintosh on Ventura. Not sure if I could benefit from this tbh. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- AssassinSK2 · 2023-10-15 21:12 Ah I understand now. For now it's running quite Ok and I use the mac for other stuff too. So until it gets a bit slow I think I'll keep this for now then but I can see how it totally makes sense to use Ubuntu if all I do is Docker ---------------------------------------------------------------------- esquilax · 2023-10-15 21:26 You aren't getting security updates on a Mac that old. Linux will. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- No-Concern-8832 · 2023-10-15 21:40 The Linux equivalent would be local apt repository ---------------------------------------------------------------------- AssassinSK2 · 2023-10-15 21:43 I mean I used [OCLP](https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy- Patcher/) to update it to the latest macOS (Sonoma/14) So I assume it also got all the security updates with it ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Angry-Cyclops · 2023-10-16 02:27 Debian (or Debian based distro) : [Apt Cacher NG](https://packages.debian.org/bookworm/apt-cacher-ng) Arch (or Arch Based distro) : Built-in with pacman, [relevant wiki pag e](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Pacman/Tips_and_tricks#Network_sha red_pacman_cache) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DIYSRE · 2023-10-16 22:49 This entirely depends on your personal use cases, preferences and situation. If you're creating iOS apps then you'll see a benefit from running Mac OS X. If you're using any of the Mac features then you'll see benefit from running Mac OS X. If you're not invested in the eco system at all then you may see benefits to running a Linux distro on the hardware, however the benefits will be entirely subjective. Objectively there should be no difference in performance, and there shouldn't be a huge change in workflow (AFAIK you can still SSH into Mac OS X) Subjectively, you may find running a Linux machine to be more pleasant to manage or you may have a personal ethical reason for the switch. Ultimately, there's no solid reason for recommending the switch. Also, Docker is not running virtual machines. They're kind-of like chrooted jails with some added extras.