Linux desktop on Apple Silicon M1 in practice
15 hours ago
- #Linux
- #Apple Silicon
- #QEMU
- M1 MacBook Air is the fastest computer owned by a long-time GNOME/GNU/Linux user.
- Linux on Apple Silicon/M1 has two native ports: Corellium (obsolete) and Asahi Linux (improving but lacks graphics acceleration).
- QEMU can run Linux on M1 natively but lacks GPU optimization for macOS.
- Virgil 3D was hacked to enable OpenGL support on Linux via QEMU on macOS.
- Steps to install and run Fedora on M1 using modified QEMU are provided.
- Graphics acceleration options in QEMU: gl=off (stable but laggy), gl=core (unstable), gl=es (stable and fast).
- Upstreaming improvements to QEMU is in progress for future ease of use.
- Security concerns exist as graphics acceleration runs in the same process as the VM, posing risks.
- vhost-user-gpu offers isolation but requires modifications to run outside Linux.
- Virtualization provides practical Linux desktop experience on M1 with acceptable performance overhead.
- Resource allocation between macOS and Linux in virtualization can lead to complexities.
- Asahi Linux is a promising long-term solution for native Linux on Apple Silicon.