Unix For Mac

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Want to try Linux but looking for something familiar? If you are a Mac user who fits this description, then this article is just for you!

ELEMENTARY OS

Linux For Mac

Using UNIX from a Macintosh OS X Computer You may not realize it, but your Mac already runs a variant of UNIX. You can easily access a terminal window to use your computer's built-in UNIX functionality with the 'Terminal' program (Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app). A popular shell on other versions of Unix (not available by default on Mac OS X) is the Korn shell (ksh). To change the shell that Terminal uses, see Section 4.1. For a beginner, differences between shells are slight. If you plan to work with Unix a lot, though, you should learn more about your shell and its.

Elementary OS is often praised as the most beautiful desktop around. It is automatically set up to look and act like a Mac, and has a strong focus on keeping it simple. However, it does not come with the Gnome Software Center, but rather it’s own. Unfortunately, this Software Center is rather limited compared to its’ Gnome counterpart. However, it offers an even more similar experience to Apple’s Appstore, thus keeping it simple and easy for new users migrating from a Mac.

While not as customizable as many other Linux distros, it has a much more beautiful setup by default. As with most Linux distros, they can be made to look however the user sees fit. However, Elementary OS is one of the few that aims to satisfy it’s users as far as looks go, without any changes. Due to this, you can have a gorgeous desktop without doing anything!

SOLUS

Solus will easily roll you from one year onto another without ever having to reinstall your Operating System. This is due to the fact that it features a rolling release cycle. This means that not only can you update your programs natively, you can also update your system whenever a new component comes out. This means that you can keep your entire system up-to-date indefinitely! Mac’s actually do this also, as shown by their software updates. These software updates allow the user to upgrade their Mac from, for example, 9.3.5 to 10.0. Now with Solus, you can continue this tradition with Linux!

Solus features three Desktop Environments, namely Mate, Budgie, and Gnome. The first Desktop Environment is explained in the above section concerning Ubuntu. However, Budgie and Gnome are not. Gnome is the same desktop that the default flavor of Ubuntu uses, but Solus does not customize the setup as much, leaving it at the default Gnome setup. As for Budgie, that is Solus’ flagship in the DE category. It is a DE similar to Gnome, except for the fact that it’s settings are in the style of a bar on the side of the screen rather than a traditional settings application. This bar features a setup similar to that of a Mac due to it’s Notifications column and it’s General settings one. Overall, this aids in completing the look and feel of a Mac.

Unfortunately, most rolling distros tend to have more glitches than non-rolling ones. This is because the user is always receiving the newest programs and applications available, and consequently these newer versions of the software have often not been tested as long as the older versions have. Due to this, most rolling distros are not recommended to those new to Linux. However, Solus is an exception. It is known for remaining incredibly stable even though it has a rolling nature to it.

Sadly, Solus does not have quite as much software available as other Linux distros. It includes the most popular programs, but if you are looking for a less known one, you may be out of luck. Thankfully, if you feel you just need a certain application or program, you can contact the developers of Solus and they will at least look into adding the program you mentioned to them into the available software for you to install.

DEEPIN

Deepin is rapidly growing in popularity in the Linux world due to it’s attractive interface. It has stunning visual effects and features a settings bar on the side of the desktop. This settings bar replaces the traditional application for customizing your settings, just like the side bar in Solus. As for the taskbar, it can be made to look and act either like a Mac or a Windows machine with one click. Simply right cllick on the taskbar and select Properties and then pick either Fashion Mode for a Mac look or Efficient Mode for a Windows look.

While many distros use tools already out there and available, Deepin does not utilize mny of them. Instead, its’ developers create their own applications to go along with their distro. A few examples of this are Deepin Movie, Deepin Screenshot, and Deepin File Manager. This way, your experience is guaranteed to have a uniformed feel to it.

Conclusion:

While Elementary OS has plenty of software available, both Solus and Deepin are somewhat more limited in that field. Thus, if you are feeling adventurous, it would be advisable to install Deepin or Solus through the Antergos Community Edition. Inside the installer, the “Solus” option will be titled “Budgie” and the Deepin option will remain the same, with the title “Deepin”. If you go with this method, not only will you will have plenty of software to choose from, but your Operating System will be using a rolling release approach. This means that you can just continuously update your system, rather than re-installing it every few years when a new version of it comes out. However, it also means that since everything is being continuously updated, you will be using the newest versions of software available. This is generally a good thing, except when it comes to stability. Since the software is newer, it has not had as much time to be thoroughly tested, and therefore a glitch or two in your system has a higher chance of taking place than it would if you were not using a rolling release approach. This is true for any distro that features a rolling release cycle, with the exception of Solus. As for that distro, the developers have taken great pains to keep it stable and fully reliable, although there are less programs available for it.

In the end, it is your choice. There are positives and negatives to either approach. However, since all of these distros are 100% free (just like any Linux distro is) you can always change your mind later and install a different distro of your choice. It’s entirely up to you! Enjoy!

You may not realize it, but your Mac already runs a variant of UNIX. You can easily access a terminal window to use your computer's built-in UNIX functionality with the 'Terminal' program (Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app). You may want to make a shortcut to this program in your Dock, since you'll be using it a lot from now on. Similarly, you can use your Mac directly to log into a UNIX server, and even to transfer files to/from a UNIX server.

Enabling X11-Forwarding (Popping up windows from the UNIX server)

Your Mac comes with another program that enables you to display graphics from programs running on a remote UNIX/Linux server, called 'XQuartz' (Applications/Utilities/XQuartz.app). On older OS X systems this program was called 'X11' and was located in essentially the same location. If neither of these programs are currently installed on your Mac, you can download XQuartz from the Mac App Store (free).

To enable forwarding, just run XQuartz/X11 before starting Terminal. If a xterm window pops up from XQuartz/X11, you may close that window before starting Terminal, since Terminal is more feature-rich than XTerm (my opinion). Once XQuartz/X11 is running, when you log into remote UNIX servers (as shown in the next section) you should be able to display remote graphics.

Logging into an UNIX server

The standard protocol for logging into a modern UNIX server is through using a Secure SHell (SSH) client. OS X has built-in SSH functionality, through the 'ssh' command in the Terminal.

To use ssh from the Terminal:

  • Open Terminal.
  • At the command line, type
    ssh username@hostname -CY
    or
    ssh username@hostname -CX
    (the Y vs X difference is minimal, and will not affect your user experience, just remember to use one of them). Here, username is your user name on the UNIX server, and hostname is the name of the UNIX server. For example, I could log into the UNIX server titan.smu.edu with the command
    ssh reynolds@titan.smu.edu -CY

For additional information on using ssh, type

man ssh

(short for manual) in the Terminal window.

Transferring files to and from a UNIX server (terminal)

You may copy files to and from a UNIX/Linux server in the Terminal window as well, using the 'scp' command. The syntax is either

Unix commands on mac
scp file_to_copy_from username@hostname:file_to_copy_to

or

scp username@hostname:file_to_copy_from file_to_copy_to

depending on whether you want to copy the file to or from the UNIX server. For example, suppose I have a file named 'file1' in my home directory on titan, and I want to copy it to the current directory on my Mac (the one the terminal is in, type 'pwd' to see which directory you are in if unsure):

scp reynolds@titan.smu.edu:file1 .

or

Unix For Mac Os X

scp reynolds@titan.smu.edu:file1 file1

would give the desired result. Suppose now that I have the file 'file2' in the current directory on my Mac that I want to copy to my home directory on titan:

Mac
scp file2 reynolds@titan.smu.edu:

or

scp file2 reynolds@titan.smu.edu:file2

would do the trick. For more information on the 'scp' command, type man scp in the terminal.

Transferring files to and from a UNIX server (graphical)

Fetch

Unix For Mac

One of the most popular graphical file transfer options in OS X is the program Fetch. This is not a free program.

To use Fetch, fill in the UNIX hostname (e.g. titan.smu.edu), your username on that host (e.g. reynolds), and your password on that host, then click 'Connect'. You will then see a display of your remote directory on the UNIX server. Transfer files by dragging them to and from the Finder.

FileZilla

A free alternative to Fetch that may be used from OS X, Windows and Linux is is FileZilla. To install FileZilla in OS X:

  • Download the FileZilla client for Mac OS X from here.
  • Open the FileZilla installation file to unpack the application.
  • You may run Filezilla.app from the Desktop, or you can instead move it to your Applications folder.

To use FileZilla, fill in the fields for the host (e.g. titan.smu.edu), your username on that host (e.g. reynolds), your password, and the port (use 22 for SFTP), and hit [return]. You should notice two file browser windows open up, the browser on the left is on your computer, the browser on the right is from the UNIX host (e.g. titan). Transfer files by dragging them from one computer to the other with your mouse.

D.R. Reynolds, 28 August 2014