Developer Seeks Funding to Bring Native Linux to M1 Macs

Developer Hector Martin, known as marcan, has launched a Patreon membership to raise funding for Linux on M1 Macs.

Martin hopes to raise enough support to work full time on the Linux port for Apple Silicon. He is the developer behind the port of Linux for PlayStation 4 and has worked to bring unofficial open software support to other platforms as well.

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Hi! I'm Hector Martin "marcan", and I like putting Linux on things - most recently on the PS4.


Apple just released a new range of ARM-based Apple Silicon Macs that blow every other ARM machine in the same class out of the water. Wouldn't it be nice if they could run Linux too?
As it turns out, they can, but someone needs to do the work. Since these devices are brand new and bespoke silicon, porting Linux to run on them is a huge undertaking. Well beyond a hobby project, it is a full-time job.

This is where I need your help. By becoming a patron, you will be allowing me to focus on this project as my primary job, and spend much more time on it that I ever could as a side project.

The goal is to bring Linux support on Apple Silicon macs to the point where it is not merely a tech demo, but is actually an OS you would want to use on a daily driver device. To do this, there is a huge amount of work to be done. Running Linux on things is easy, but making it work well is hard. Drivers need to be written for all devices. The driver for the completely custom Apple GPU is the most complicated component, which is necessary to have a good desktop experience. Power management needs to work well too, for your battery life to be reasonable.

Since this is such a massive project, there is no point in starting small - if I can only dedicate a little bit of time to this, then nothing will ever be done in time to catch up with Apple's hardware release cycle. Therefore, this Patreon is starting up paused. Nobody will be charged until the monthly pledge amount reaches $4000. At that level, I can guarantee a time investment that will make this all worthwhile.
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The Patreon has reached its initial goal of $4000. A secondary goal would have Martin stop all other freelance projects to focus entirely on Linux for M1 Macs.

You can get more details about the project at the link below! Please download the iClarified app or follow iClarified on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and RSS for updates.

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Apple's new M1 Macs can be ordered here:
● 13-inch MacBook Air with M1 Chip - $999
● 13-inch MacBook Pro with M1 Chip - $1249 ($50 off)
● Mac mini with M1 Chip - $699