Many times on LinuxForums I've come across folks who wanted to run Linux on an Apple computer. Most of the time the first question I ask of them is "If you have an Apple computer, why not just run OS X?" Until this past week, I could not have answered this question.

For several years I've run OS X on my Macbook Pro and been quite happy with it. The OS did what I wanted it to do and didn't get in my way. I've been able to do work and play on it just fine. For those of you unaware, I write Java software for a living. I also sometimes coach a high school computer science competition. I spend a lot of time writing Java code and investigating new and exciting features in the language. One such feature is JavaDB. It's completely new in Java 1.6, and can only be used with that version.

For the first time, Mac OS X was getting in my way. This was disappointing to say the least. Throughout my life when computers have told me I couldn't do something I have tended to go to great lengths to prove them wrong. I decided to dedicate a couple of days to getting Linux installed on my Macbook Pro. Here is what happened.

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