I'm just dropping a forum post on HN here because I repeat it so often I'd rather just link to a blog at this point.
The subject always revoles around "What is the best Linux notebook?".
The right notebook for
Linux is a Linux notebook. Vendors of such machines are still boutique,
but unlike in the past they actually exist. Just a few are Zareason,
Thinkpenguin, and System76. I personally have an off brand Clevo 740 SU
(same model as the System76 Galago) because I had confidence in the
notebooks ability and got it OSless since I'd have to install Arch
anyway.
But recommending all these Samsung and Llenovo Windows
machines is a disservice to everyone. It is a disservice to the Linux
ecosystem because you cannot guarantee hardware support and using a
non-Windows OS will void your warranty most of the time (at least if
they catch you with it). It means that you get a bad impression of the
experience due to any bugs or glitches you encounter, and rather than
acknowledge you crossed into the land of dragons and took the risk many
end up blaming the ecosystem that cannot provide hardware support
realistically for any parts the vendors do not support in kernel
themselves - especially those that are actively hostile to attempts to
implement hardware support (video drivers - Android ones are really bad
right now, but Nouveau had to wage a tangible uphill battle to get where
it is today, but a lot of wifi cards, pci cards, etc can have no vendor
support).
It also means you are paying your MS tax, and getting a
Windows license you intend not to use. I'm not even going to argue the
price aspect, because we know it really does not matter - if Linux were
ever a threat (and really, it already is with Windows talking about
version 9 possibly being free or ultra low cost with the looming threat
of Android) they would just give away licenses, and that combined with
bloatware contracts would provide the vendors more revene than just
shipping Ubuntu (or whatever distro).
What I care about is the
message. Every Linux Thinkpad fanboy is one bullet point in the Llenovo
board meeting affirming the need not to ever ship a non-Windows notebook
(except in countries like Germany that actually force them to). It
sends the message "go ahead, bill me for a Windows license I'll never
use, and make me fight the hardware to make it work, but I will still buy your stuff because having a pleasant straightforward and painless Linux experience is not one of my priorities.
It
also obscures how large the market segment is, because to these vendors
every machine sold is a mark that Windows is still king. If they do not
see retailors selling real Linux machines (including the Dell one) they
have absoutely no reason to ever fathom selling Linux native machines
themselves.
And that hurts you, because that means there is
less adoption, fewer options, and less pressure towards more widespread
use of the platform. And for whatever your reason, you want to use
Linux right now, and buying these Windows machines denies others from
having the chance to even know it exists, and supports the continued
monopoly Microsoft has on the personal computing industry (and Apple is
not even on that radar).
So please,
when you are looking for a new notebook with the intent to run a Linux
distro on it, give some consideration to the vendors actually selling
Linux machines, with support, as first class citizens. If you cannot
find one that meets you needs so be it, but don't go out of your way to
buy a Windows notebook and hope it can run a Linux distro flawlessly.
Original posting was here.
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