this post was submitted on 23 Dec 2025
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So, I have an old mac mini, one of the flat ones. You know, it's shaped more flat than the new ones.

I want to put Linux Mint on there.

Or maybe Ubuntu

and then, I am going to buy a really cheap monitor on eBay.

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[–] doodoo_wizard@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 hours ago

You can use any distribution but will most likely have to load the Broadcom wireless modules manually.

If you’re able to use a wired network connection then this is no problem and might not even be something you’re worried about.

When you do decide to get wireless running, make sure to figure out a way that’s copacetic with your chosen distributions package management so everything “just works” on a system update. If you don’t take the time to integrate third party modules into package management then system updates can unpredictably break the functionality those modules provide. You may not remember what you did, how to reproduce its effects or even that you did it in the first place, leading to some pretty unenjoyable situations.

Consider keeping macos on there and dual booting: you will need it for any firmware updates, it’s a good fall back when something breaks and when you want to sell or give away the machine you’ll use macos to get it back to good to other people. Many Intel macs can have their macos installation loaded onto a usb device and depending on how you do the bootloader and efi situation still easily start it up.