I want to create a linux arch partition, and I need a method of booting into OSX incase if I break everything. Will this help me?
MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.1), Just incase I break something
It should. After you create it you can always try to boot from it just as a test.
Why do you want to install Linux on the bare machine anyway? Why not just run VirtualBox? It is a lot easier.
And why run Linux anyway? OS X is UNIX and can do pretty much the same stuff.
I think it will be helpful for me to gain a deeper understanding of the computer. It's not like I won't keep OSX, I'm planning to dual boot it. If I somehow manage to break OSX and Arch, will I be able to reinstall OSX through this USB?
Sure. But I still recommend a virtual machine. It makes things a lot easier and gives you a lot of flexibility.
If you want a deeper understanding, OS X might not be the right choice. Apple doesn't tell anyone what it is doing and even those of us who follow it closely get surprised at what Apple has done. Linux, however, isn't much better. Linux is really only the kernel. Each Linux-based distro is unique. Some of them are just as obtuse as OS X and others are just as bloated as Windows. You might want to consider something like PC-BSD instead. Having a VM will make that kind of experimentation much, much easier.
My father did nothing but destroy his Mac while running Linux. The OS will happily let you destroy it without nil a warning. If you don't know what you are doing, best not to mess around with it. And he was a computer programmer. Never saw anyone kill a Mac like he did... and he did it frequently.
I want to create a linux arch partition, and I need a method of booting into OSX incase if I break everything. Will this help me?
