Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Linux laptop

countermoon

countermoon

macrumors regular
Original poster
I know you can install Linux on almost any laptop, but has anyone looked into buying a Linux laptop? One built for it, with a distro already installed. I've looked at some companies that do this, and I wondered if anyone here has any experience with this kind of thing.
 
I've looked at them, like pine, system 76 and few others, found the laptops to be a bit pricey for what they are. But I suppose rolled into the cost is research to find specific Linux supported components and tech support from the laptop manufacturer. I'm sure Linux laptop makers use a modified distro specific for components they use.

Might be a less hair pulling experience then buying a newer laptop off the shelf and trying to install Linux, who knows what type of customisation off the shelf laptop manufacturers use in their bios prevention component swapping.

Side note here, I'm currently trying to find a distro that will play nice and have the packages I need that will run on my supposed Linux friendly manufacture laptop. Wifi issues, or won't boot all the way and other frustrations. I'm about ready to just reinstall the hard drive I swapped out and use it as intended but I really don't need or want windows for the tasks I got the laptop for.

Maybe I would have been better just grabbing a manufacturer modified Linux laptop?
 
countermoon said:
I know you can install Linux on almost any laptop, but has anyone looked into buying a Linux laptop? One built for it, with a distro already installed. I've looked at some companies that do this, and I wondered if anyone here has any experience with this kind of thing.
Click to expand...
I have looked into it. As much as I'd like to support companies that offer laptops with Linux preloaded, I find their offerings overly expensive and overly restrictive (in terms of options available).

Instead, I've opted to simply buy what windows notebook strikes my fancy (I avoid the 2-in-1 types since there is a greater chance of driver issues and added expense of the hardware itself), make a recovery USB stick (to restore to the original Windows preload), and then wipe it out and install my favorite Linux distro.
 
I don't understand why anyone would actually pay for a laptop to run an OS that's free. All it took to blow away Windows 11 on my HP was downloading and writing an *.ISO to a USB drive and rebooting. Everything else happened pretty much automatically (distro I'm running is Deepin)
 
I sure hope you don't expect Linux to get dumbed down like all the rest so 'grandparents can use it'. That's what sucks about modern software these days. Too busy idiot proofing it where smart people can't even use it properly or worse, the UI looks like a cartoon. I don't want a LeapPad for a laptop.
 
  • Like
  • Sad
Reactions: Cape Dave and crymimefireworks
I still prefer it being meant for geeks. That's what makes it great. I don't want them pulling an Apple and dumbing it down or like Windows doing the same. You gotta be smarter than the equipment you're operating, learn how to use it. When folks stopped reading manuals and learning how to repair you see how they started making it where you throw it out and replace it.

Android still works because OEMs like Samsung still care about power users. Still got the customization and my ability to throw my favorite old apps on it. I'd hate to see Linux start forcing updates on people and being all generic. I hate dumbing down 'for the masses'. The masses have ruined everything else.
 
crymimefireworks said:
I wish this was true. Bluetooth mics don't work on Linux out of the box. Which means I can't work. I need a computer to do my work. I'm not a programmer. Therefore, I want to support paid options to get that extra power. Free isn't good enough.
Click to expand...

"Free isn't good enough"

That's an interesting statement that caused me to think about what I'm doing and using and such. It's interesting you mentioned this because it made me think of why one reason I opted for Foss, (other then the mega cooperations control) not because I'm cheap, but the work I do, I didn't think I was good enough for paid software and went the Foss alternative. Actually not sure if that's held me back in some aspects or not.

Just a random brain outgassing I suppose, but your comment there made me think a bit 🙂
 
nickdalzell1 said:
I don't understand why anyone would actually pay for a laptop to run an OS that's free. All it took to blow away Windows 11 on my HP was downloading and writing an *.ISO to a USB drive and rebooting. Everything else happened pretty much automatically (distro I'm running is Deepin)
Click to expand...

Well, one thing in favor of something like a System 76 laptop is that it's sure to work with Linux... I don't know how bad the situation is like now, but non-Linux laptops have had problems historically. Particularly when brand new designs. Some will work 100% when Windows gets replaced. Others will mostly work, but have something that doesn't work (often wi-fi). Others won't work, period.

And, of course, there is an argument that supporting someone like System 76 is vote to support Linux.

Then, for some, there is an argument that a Linux laptop means one is not supporting Microsoft by buying a Windows license.

All this said... I have to admit I'm cheap, and I've always cringed a bit at Linux laptop prices. Until recently, if spending MacBook prices, I'd have opted for the MacBook.
 
  • Like
Reactions: crymimefireworks
Since the idea of "off the shelf laptop to install Linux on" has come up and if the op don't mind, this brings a question of,

What off the shelf laptop would you walk into best buy or amazon and grab? As of right now, I cannot suggest a Lenovo yoga 6 due to the wifi issues. But it could just be me. Might be nice to have an index of Linux friendly devices.
 
An index of laptops that can run Linux would be a good thing. There may actually be something like that out there for all I know.

crymimefireworks said:
Dell has a specific model that supports Linux called Dell XPS 13 "Developer Edition".
Click to expand...

As I recall, Dell has offerred Linux preinstalled off and on over the years. Not that long ago, I checked out of curiosity, and it appeared they had more than one model with a LInux option.

crymimefireworks said:
Lenovo I'm not sure about. Have read Linux runs well generally on them.
Click to expand...

I'd heard not that long ago that Lenovo was planning on offering some models with Linux.

People have used Lenovos (particularly ThinkPads). But the brand is not 100% guaranteed--one writer has used some cheaper Lenovo, and reported minor problems with some distros.

ONE BIG PROBLEM...stuff does have a way of changing. (Stating the obvious, I know...) As I've mentioned, I think Dell has had on/off availablity of Linux systems. HP was once thought to be a "safe" buy--but I've heard of at least one situation where a modern HP just didn't work with Linux.

And let us not forget that distros can come and go and change.

crymimefireworks said:
The idea of buying a laptop that doesn't have Linux support direct from the manufacturer seems painful.
Click to expand...
If things don't go well, it could be painful/frustrating/expensive mistake/etc!

I've never had a laptop, apart from some old PowerBooks that were obsolete long before I got them. Until recently, there was the thought in my mind that as much as I appreciate Linux that if I were going to get a modern laptop there would be a strong argument in favor of a MacBook, which--evne if I did nothing that benefitted from macOS, would at least be easy to buy! Plus...Apple does some things very well with laptops (track pads are generally praised, long battery life, etc).
 
  • Like
Reactions: crymimefireworks
crymimefireworks said:
An index sounds like a great idea!

Dell has a specific model that supports Linux called Dell XPS 13 "Developer Edition".

Lenovo I'm not sure about. Have read Linux runs well generally on them.

The idea of buying a laptop that doesn't have Linux support direct from the manufacturer seems painful.

Linux has a long way to go. We need to support Linux-first vendors like System76 and Purism.
Click to expand...
At that price I'd rather buy a MacBook
 
slitherjef said:
Since the idea of "off the shelf laptop to install Linux on" has come up and if the op don't mind, this brings a question of,

What off the shelf laptop would you walk into best buy or amazon and grab? As of right now, I cannot suggest a Lenovo yoga 6 due to the wifi issues. But it could just be me. Might be nice to have an index of Linux friendly devices.
Click to expand...

What Linux distro have you tried? Usually newer kernel has better hardware support. This guy had no issue with Arch from six months ago on the Lenovo Yoga 6. Instead of reinventing the wheel best to refer to Linux enthusiasts to see what distros they recommend for a particular model.


https://archlinux.org/
 
I tried Manjaro, Ubuntu kubuntu, mint even the most recent Ubuntu most had various issues. A couple distros where a little old. Turns out non liked the wifi adapter Lenovo slipped in. Replaced the adapter with a supposed incompatible Intel ax200 WiFi 6 adapter and the live Ubuntu found the wifi adapter.

Haven't installed things yet, might try mint again just to get away from the snap store because I'm not sure I'm going to find the packages I need there and there are probably more .deb packages for what I need then snaps.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back