Asahi Linux Progress Linux 7.0

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Project status & hardware support

  • Asahi Linux 7.x continues to progress on Apple Silicon, with M1/M2 considered quite usable and M3 support approaching an “alpha-like” state (PCIe, keyboard/trackpad, RTC, NVMe now working).
  • M4 support does not exist yet; users asking about M4 are pointed to a feature matrix that currently lists no support.
  • External display support is still limited (e.g., some reports of HDMI-only on certain M2 models; no news on mainlining external display support).
  • Some users report Asahi as a daily driver on M1/M2, others cite high sleep power drain and repeated post-update boot breakages, especially for headless or always-on use.

Technical achievements & quirks

  • Notable win: reverse‑engineered audio chip programming to enable additional headphone sampling rates (44.1/88.2/176.4/192 kHz) beyond what macOS uses; upstreamed to mainline and backported.
  • Debate over whether these extra rates are practically important, given modern resampling quality and minimal CPU cost.
  • Installer is mostly Python, which some see as reasonable for an installer script.

Apple’s incentives, openness, and control

  • Large subthread on why Apple doesn’t help: theories include service revenue focus, ecosystem lock‑in, fear of support burden, desire to control the entire stack, IP/NDAs, and avoiding obligations or negative press around partial openness.
  • Counter‑arguments: Apple could gain hardware sales to Linux users who won’t buy into the ecosystem anyway, and could contribute minimal “documentation-level” support without offering Genius Bar help.
  • Some suggest Apple tacitly benefits from Asahi (e.g., as proof Macs aren’t fully closed to regulators).

Linux vs macOS experience

  • Opinions split: some say macOS “just works” with best-in-class hardware, power management, and ecosystem integration; others find Linux more polished for their workflows, especially on well-supported hardware (e.g., Framework, ThinkPads, older Intel Macs).
  • Recurrent themes: Linux hardware compatibility is highly device-dependent; macOS window management and customizability frustrate some; Linux audio/graphics stacks are seen as either “finally fine” or still fragile, depending on experience.

Upstreaming, longevity, and risk

  • Discussion around Asahi not being fully “mainlined”: some worry a niche reverse‑engineering effort may stall before reaching near‑complete polish.
  • Others stress Asahi is aggressively upstreaming to the kernel and userland (Mesa, etc.), with Fedora Asahi Remix aiming to converge toward a vanilla distro.
  • Concerns remain that Apple could technically lock the platform in future, making major distros hesitant to invest heavily.

LLMs and contribution policy

  • Question about using LLMs to accelerate work: Asahi’s published policy explicitly forbids LLM‑assisted submissions, to avoid “slop” and low‑quality PR floods.
  • Some agree LLMs are poorly suited to this kind of intricate reverse engineering; others note that, even if useful, token cost and review overhead are non‑trivial.

Community tone and past HN “ban”

  • A visible part of the thread revisits a past anti‑HN banner on the project site reacting to trolling and perceived harassment.
  • Debate centers on whether this was an understandable reaction to online abuse or an overreaction, with broader arguments about internet culture, victim‑blaming, and how much public projects should engage with hostile communities.
  • For a few users, this history negatively colors their trust in or willingness to adopt the project, regardless of technical merit.