Unfortunately, here in Brazil you can easily buy laptops with Linux pre-installed from Dell, Acer, and others. They’re cheaper, in fact.
So why “unfortunately”? Because for what I can only assume is some sort of purposeful sabotage, they use their own custom distro based on an ancient version of Ubuntu, with icons that look like ass, repositories that are missing all modern packages, horrendously bad pre-installed software, and no updates.
So if you check comments, they’re filled with people who now think “Linux” = that sistro, and thus think Linux is functionally useless.
sabatogage I assume, or they cared for a week then stopped, kinda like companies always do… chase something they think will make them more money, then abandon improving it after implementation
At least you know the hardware will work and you can install your own distro (I know regular people won’t know how to do this)
I was looking for a convertible laptop during the holidays and I looked for compatibility and all of them had drivers missing, like the SD card, touchscreen, orientation sensor for tablet mode, bezel sensor for tablet mode. I ended up keeping my old laptop with mint and getting an android tablet that “just works”
For those who don’t want to go with a lesser known brand Lenovo has several models that can be configured with Ubuntu or Fedora (usually a little cheaper than the Windows version).
Edit: I should also mention Framework who, despite ruffling some feathers recently for similar reasons as Proton, are still, in my opinion, one of the most viable alternatives to large corporations. Their machines can be purchased with no OS whatsoever.
Superfish wasn’t at the BIOS level, it was a root certificate preinstalled in the OS. Wiping the machine and installing Linux as your operating system would have prevented any exploit.
I can see why you’d still be rightfully put-off though, since it shows a lack of good security hygiene, and you have to assume if they screwed up once there’s no reason they won’t do it again for similarly profit-driven reasons.
My apologies, I conflated it with something else they embedded into UEFI around the same time. Lenovo Service Engine had security vulnerabilities and couldn’t be removed with a fresh Windows install, as UEFI would just execute it at startup.
I’ve had a few false starts with Linux. I’ve tried a couple different distros here and there over the last 20-ish years, but I never make it more than a week before falling back to Windows. That said, I hate Microsoft’s direction, and I’m holding onto Windows 10 as long as I can.
If you need dedicated graphics and Linux and only want to screw with one machine I highly recommend you check out Framework mentioned in my comment edit above. Their 16 can be configured with integrated or dedicated either AMD or Nvidia graphics and can be purchased with no OS.
Purchasing with Linux preinstalled is problematic for some users because for most distros (though this is being actively worked on) encryption is set up during install not OOBE.
No, you wouldn’t think so. Producing a model that’s available with optional dedicated graphics makes no sense. With notebooks every gram and millimeter counts so you would want different models for integrated graphics and dedicated. Which Lenovo has plenty to choose from.
If Lenovo made my X1 Carbon thicker and heavier just so you could have an optional dedicated GPU I would be pissed and buy something else. That’s what the X1 extreme is for
It doesn’t need to be a Thinkpad. It just needs to exist.
Why is this even an argument? We’re discussing normalizing Linux in the public brain. So, tweak a Legion for compatibility. Whatever. So long as 1 option for each purpose exists to get this OS out there and push back on Microslop in the process.
Me too. It was even cheaper than the same laptop with Windows.
I had a dual boot for years but the way things are right now I don’t want to use Windows at all anymore.
Just bought a Linux laptop. It’s that easy now.
Maybe start linking Juno, Star, System76, or whatever in conjunction with this Microslop crap to normalize brands that do nothing but Linux.
People buy Microsoft, in part, because it’s off the shelf ready. Get people as close to that as possible and converts will happen more readily.
Avoid the #Microslop : insertlinkhere
Unfortunately, here in Brazil you can easily buy laptops with Linux pre-installed from Dell, Acer, and others. They’re cheaper, in fact.
So why “unfortunately”? Because for what I can only assume is some sort of purposeful sabotage, they use their own custom distro based on an ancient version of Ubuntu, with icons that look like ass, repositories that are missing all modern packages, horrendously bad pre-installed software, and no updates.
So if you check comments, they’re filled with people who now think “Linux” = that sistro, and thus think Linux is functionally useless.
sabatogage I assume, or they cared for a week then stopped, kinda like companies always do… chase something they think will make them more money, then abandon improving it after implementation
“Corporate ADHD” I call it.
At least you know the hardware will work and you can install your own distro (I know regular people won’t know how to do this)
I was looking for a convertible laptop during the holidays and I looked for compatibility and all of them had drivers missing, like the SD card, touchscreen, orientation sensor for tablet mode, bezel sensor for tablet mode. I ended up keeping my old laptop with mint and getting an android tablet that “just works”
That’s assuming the hardware vendor didn’t use a closed fork of the kernel with their own drivers hacked into it.
That’s usually costlier. It happens, but it’s not the norm.
For those who don’t want to go with a lesser known brand Lenovo has several models that can be configured with Ubuntu or Fedora (usually a little cheaper than the Windows version).
Edit: I should also mention Framework who, despite ruffling some feathers recently for similar reasons as Proton, are still, in my opinion, one of the most viable alternatives to large corporations. Their machines can be purchased with no OS whatsoever.
I permanently wrote off Lenovo after the Superfish factory-installed BIOS-level malware scandal.
Superfish wasn’t at the BIOS level, it was a root certificate preinstalled in the OS. Wiping the machine and installing Linux as your operating system would have prevented any exploit.
I can see why you’d still be rightfully put-off though, since it shows a lack of good security hygiene, and you have to assume if they screwed up once there’s no reason they won’t do it again for similarly profit-driven reasons.
Also other brands have been just as bad about using the correct certificate.
My apologies, I conflated it with something else they embedded into UEFI around the same time. Lenovo Service Engine had security vulnerabilities and couldn’t be removed with a fresh Windows install, as UEFI would just execute it at startup.
I’ve had a few false starts with Linux. I’ve tried a couple different distros here and there over the last 20-ish years, but I never make it more than a week before falling back to Windows. That said, I hate Microsoft’s direction, and I’m holding onto Windows 10 as long as I can.
Lenovo ThinkPads, yes. Integrated graphics only.
Moving beyond integrated graphics in pre-builds is one of the larger issues in terms of availability.
For people who can only afford 1 and only 1 machine for everything, getting a version with an actual graphics card in it is going to be a necessity.
If you need dedicated graphics and Linux and only want to screw with one machine I highly recommend you check out Framework mentioned in my comment edit above. Their 16 can be configured with integrated or dedicated either AMD or Nvidia graphics and can be purchased with no OS.
Purchasing with Linux preinstalled is problematic for some users because for most distros (though this is being actively worked on) encryption is set up during install not OOBE.
The vast majority don’t need dedicated graphics in their notebooks. It would be a waste of money and energy
Even so, you would think the option would be available on the more expensive machines but it isn’t always.
No, you wouldn’t think so. Producing a model that’s available with optional dedicated graphics makes no sense. With notebooks every gram and millimeter counts so you would want different models for integrated graphics and dedicated. Which Lenovo has plenty to choose from.
If Lenovo made my X1 Carbon thicker and heavier just so you could have an optional dedicated GPU I would be pissed and buy something else. That’s what the X1 extreme is for
It doesn’t need to be a Thinkpad. It just needs to exist.
Why is this even an argument? We’re discussing normalizing Linux in the public brain. So, tweak a Legion for compatibility. Whatever. So long as 1 option for each purpose exists to get this OS out there and push back on Microslop in the process.
Me too. It was even cheaper than the same laptop with Windows. I had a dual boot for years but the way things are right now I don’t want to use Windows at all anymore.
Until I did my first Linux install a year and a half ago I didn’t even know off-the-shelf Linux was a thing. It’s a huge step forward.