Neither is any of the other manufacturers and yet, there is a public outcry if a notebook runs only the latest version of Windows.
The real question is if Apple missed providing drivers or if it is deliberate.
The real question is if Apple missed providing drivers or if it is deliberate.
The keyboard and mouse are connected by SPI, etc.
These are not super-proprietary things,it's just that a bit more work than wanted in linux.
Linux also "lies" and claims to be Darwin, which causes the wrong ACPI thing to happen sometimes.
This is pretty common (ie linux used to claim to be windows sometimes, too), but in this case, it gets exactly the wrong answer.
(edit: Looks like mjg59 came along and gave a more detailed answer, you should lookat that)
The is no public outcry for the Acer Cloudbook I bought which tolerates Linux about as well as these new MacBooks.† Acer provides no drivers or other help. I don't see any reason to expect Apple to go beyond Acer to support unintended operating systems.‡
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† It has trackpad driver problems, EFI mysteries, and a broken APIC (from Linux's viewpoint). With a couple hours hacking about you can get Debian installed, but each new kernel release is a crap shoot that can end in an unbootable machine for some as yet undiagnosed malady. Recent kernels result in it instantly deciding it has overheated and must power down immediately.
‡ I also don't see Acer submitting patches to my operating system, though that would be shocking.
If you could 100% compartmentalize this, have people working on it independently, maybe you could minimize impact, but how can you justify that spending?
They know the open-source community is capable of working to fix problems like this.
The open-source community can do it. Look, we got Linux on the PS4. This isn't even hard by comparison.
It's about control. Apple doesn't want YOU to replace OSX, they want to do it themselves with something they control, not let you gain control.
However thanks to the razor thin margins and the desktops being replaced by laptops with docking stations, they are a dying breed.
Investing in Linux would not be a problem it just means that is becomes just a tiny bit harder to do whatever they want on the hardware side. I'm surprised they still maintain Bootcamp.
Apple prefers and has done a lot better with smaller, more focused teams.
A simple announcement as in "We're working on it. Expect Linux drivers in 6-12 months." would suffice to calm the waves.