That's an error if you want Linux [0] to work on client hardware. Manufacturers pay the distributions to do hardware enablement if they think there is a custom

That's an error if you want Linux [0] to work on client hardware. Manufacturers pay the distributions to do hardware enablement if they think there is a customer for the OS on their hardware: alternative OS users are invisible if they buy Windows laptops. Every quarter when the distributions meet with the manufacturers the main topic of conversation is how many units shipped with their OS - this guides investment. Furthermore, manufacturers are the main way that other parts of the ecosystem learn about demand for an OS. As a Linux distribution, if you can't get Intel to give support for a chipset then the main thing you do is phone up HP/Dell/Lenovo etc and get them to convince Intel for you. That's not going to happen if the manufacturer doesn't know that there are client side Linux users. [0] I don't know about the hardware enablement story for alternatives like *BSD