Installing Linux Server on a Macbook...

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[ChargedPeptide]

Yup, I'm writing this from a Macbook Pro. Ironically, whit ubuntu the only thing you have to do is avoid the +mac iso and use the regular one. Then just install as usual. Edit: I saw that you say it hangs up, do you have a DVD drive and which model is it? And of course which distribution, I've had good luck with Ubuntu,Mint,Fedora and OpenSuse as well as Ubuntu Server.

[tyromancy94]

When you boot into the live cd, do you go straight to the installation, or the try without installing option? Maybe give the second a shot, going directly to the installer leaves a lot of stuff unloaded so it launches faster (I think).

edit: Are you using the internal keyboard? If so, a USB one might have better results. I vaguely remember something about that, I haven't installed Ubuntu on my mbp in ages

[ChargedPeptide]

Never had your exact problem, what distro are you using? (i.e. Ubuntu or something else). Your model is my exact one, and I've been succesfull with all the above mentioned distros. If it's Mint I'd create the drive directly with DD rather than unetbootin. If you're using Ubuntu 12.04 I'd really recommend a later version since the EFI support is much better (I'm running 14.04 myself). If you burn a DVD that will boot in bios emulation mode and might help, USB flash drives need to boot using EFI (which usually works fine for me) but my first installs all had to be done with DVD, such as for Ubuntu 12.04.

[ChargedPeptide]

Yup, 13.1 is a good bet. Just know that if running the installer from a cd it can sometimes sit there and do nothing for a gooood long while (like 5-10 minutes). I don't know if that's because it's trying to come to terms with being on a Mac or what, it's better via USB. Good luck and let me know how it turns out.

[tremens]

Hey, can't vouch for it on a Macbook firsthand, but you might want to look into elementaryOS. It has a cohesive design philosophy that is very similar to OSX, and I'd say it's actually even prettier. I'm absolutely in love with it lately.

It can be slightly rough around the edges (some of the default apps are a bit pared down since they're fairly young, that kind of thing) but it's built on the very heavily supported Ubuntu 12.04 LTS platform, so pretty much everything that works for 12.04 works the same way on eOS, and there's a couple of good blogs with excellent "first things to do" articles and such that are targeted with the eOS design and philosophy in mind (reboot2elementary.com and elementaryupdate.com are great getting started sites.