Xtra PC, a USB with Linux OpSys. Does this Bootable Drive simply bypass my MacBook Pro C-Drive, therby
eliminating the MacBook Pro from the Apple Universe of devices?
MacBook Pro 15″, OS X 10.11
This device is only meant to boot from the USB stick they provide. The Linux OS they are using isn't supposed to touch anything on your internal macOS drive.
Keep in mind that the performance will only be as good as the speed of the USB port on the computer and the USB stick they provide. Some older Macs may run slow since they only have USB 2 which is slow when booting an operating system. Plus X-traPC FAQ mentions it may not boot on Macs before 2011.
Keep in mind you can install one of the Ubuntu flavors (Kubuntu or Ubuntu-Mate) or Linux Mint onto a standard USB drive quite easily and it will only cost you the price of the USB drive. The standard Ubuntu is not recommended as it requires a more powerful computer & resources. These Linux distributions I linked should be easy to install and should just work on a Mac. You can easily see how these work as they have a Live CD/USB version where you can see how they boot and how they look when running from a USB stick. USB sticks are quite slow so expect a USB hard drive to perform a bit better once the OS is installed on an external hard drive. These Linux distributions should work on most 2007-2015 Macs as long as they have at least 2GB of memory (4GB is best).
Just make sure to have a good backup of your Mac before attempting to install Linux even to an external drive just in case something goes wrong. You should also make sure you have a method of booting into Internet Recovery Mode or from a bootable macOS USB installer just in case you make a mistake and need to reinstall macOS or restore from a backup.
This device is only meant to boot from the USB stick they provide. The Linux OS they are using isn't supposed to touch anything on your internal macOS drive.
Keep in mind that the performance will only be as good as the speed of the USB port on the computer and the USB stick they provide. Some older Macs may run slow since they only have USB 2 which is slow when booting an operating system. Plus X-traPC FAQ mentions it may not boot on Macs before 2011.
Keep in mind you can install one of the Ubuntu flavors (Kubuntu or Ubuntu-Mate) or Linux Mint onto a standard USB drive quite easily and it will only cost you the price of the USB drive. The standard Ubuntu is not recommended as it requires a more powerful computer & resources. These Linux distributions I linked should be easy to install and should just work on a Mac. You can easily see how these work as they have a Live CD/USB version where you can see how they boot and how they look when running from a USB stick. USB sticks are quite slow so expect a USB hard drive to perform a bit better once the OS is installed on an external hard drive. These Linux distributions should work on most 2007-2015 Macs as long as they have at least 2GB of memory (4GB is best).
Just make sure to have a good backup of your Mac before attempting to install Linux even to an external drive just in case something goes wrong. You should also make sure you have a method of booting into Internet Recovery Mode or from a bootable macOS USB installer just in case you make a mistake and need to reinstall macOS or restore from a backup.
Excellent response to my inquiry. I was a
Windows user for 15years, UNIX before that when employed with Bell System.
My experience with Mac, iOS & AppleTV
environment, for 11years now, is most
satisfying. But I'm familiar with Linux popularity through tech articles these
past many years. Adding Linux Bootable
Drive to my MB-Pro & iMac could extend
their lives until I can afford to buy New
Macs.
Easiest choice would be new Mac(s); but
Linux OS Bootable Drive sounds worth a
try in the short run 'til my Mac OS(s) are
aged beyond Mac environment compatibility. Thanks for your 'food for
thought' reply!
Xtra PC USB with Linux OpSys, would boot to this USB eliminate MacBook Pro from Apple Universe of devices?
