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It's the old distinction between "should do legally" and just "should do". Of course I don't believe they should be forced to do anything. But then I reserve t

It's the old distinction between "should do legally" and just "should do". Of course I don't believe they should be forced to do anything. But then I reserve the right to be indignant about this. And I also think it is a bit stupid: Lenovo had a reputation for having serious business Laptops. They cared about power-user customers who wanted to configure everything, and they had good Linux support. Either they messed up technically - they did not know the effect this small change would have on Linux support. No problem, can happen, but is still a bit stupid. Or they messed up business-wise, by knowing this change would disable Linux, but not considering that important. I believe this is a much stupider screw-up. It's like you buy one of these modern crossover trucks, and then find out you can't use it off-road in the desert. Of course, 99% of customers will use them in urban and light rural traffic, and only rarely will they be used off-road. But part of the allure of such a vehicle is that you could. I don't believe that moustache-twirling executives are staging a conspiracy to kill Linux. But I do think Lenovo has lost their attention to detail that made them so special, and I can no longer recommend Lenovo products without hesitation, like I used to, which is a bit sad.

raesene9 10y ago
oh I agree with you I absolutely think they should support Linux, personally it's my OS of choice for technical work and their lack of support here makes me less likely to buy their stuff in the future (my next laptop will likely be a Dell XPS 13 Developer edition, precisely because of their linux support)
- hatsix 10y ago
  This is their consumer-focused Yoga. Their Thinkpad Yoga does not have any issues running Linux. The only issue I've ever had with Thinkpad laptops was the Prime Nvidia/Intel video card switching... which is very similar to this in that it just wasn't supported by the drivers. I see that Dell just had a big expansion of their Developer Editions... good for them! But it still appears that a fresh install of Ubuntu takes manual configuration of video drivers and power managment, meaning that they haven't figured out how to really make embracing Ubuntu smooth.
- Symmetry 10y ago
  I do wonder if Dell's trackpoints are going to suddenly improve now that IBM's old patents are expiring. If so maybe I'll get one too.
hatsix 10y ago
You can still install Linux on all of their 'serious business laptops'... including the Thinkpad Yoga. The only reason this is a "screw-up" is because someone posted it here and the tech media got outraged... there are MANY other Ideapad/Y-series laptops that have very poor Linux support. https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Lenovo_Thinkpad_Yoga_260 https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Lenovo_Thinkpad_Yoga_26... Their laptop brands are VERY distinct, and have been for a long while. Thinkpad is the brand that you should recommend for Linux users, not Lenovo in general.
- paulddraper 10y ago
  Even Thinkpads are getting crappy. I couldn't replace my Wifi card because the signature didn't match or some such crap.
tracker1 10y ago
It's kind of sad that the less tweaked options for laptops seem to be asus and acer... neither of which are my top choice, but seem to be much better than what's coming out of HP or Lenovo in the low-mid range.
- DanBC 10y ago
  The low end of ASUS includes things like the X205TA. Here's Debian: https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn/Asus/X205TA https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn/Asus/X205TA Here's Ubuntu (this is a very long thread): https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2254322 https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2254322 There's a video on youtube of a school tech support guy who has a bunch (149) of ASUS X200 to image the drives from a USB drive, and that involves updating the "bios" and then editing the bios settings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yectQ5MeS_Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yectQ5MeS_Y tl;dr: it's not fun on any of these netbooks.

raesene9 10y ago

oh I agree with you I absolutely think they should support Linux, personally it's my OS of choice for technical work and their lack of support here makes me less likely to buy their stuff in the future (my next laptop will likely be a Dell XPS 13 Developer edition, precisely because of their linux support)

hatsix 10y ago
This is their consumer-focused Yoga. Their Thinkpad Yoga does not have any issues running Linux. The only issue I've ever had with Thinkpad laptops was the Prime Nvidia/Intel video card switching... which is very similar to this in that it just wasn't supported by the drivers. I see that Dell just had a big expansion of their Developer Editions... good for them! But it still appears that a fresh install of Ubuntu takes manual configuration of video drivers and power managment, meaning that they haven't figured out how to really make embracing Ubuntu smooth.
Symmetry 10y ago
I do wonder if Dell's trackpoints are going to suddenly improve now that IBM's old patents are expiring. If so maybe I'll get one too.

hatsix 10y ago

You can still install Linux on all of their 'serious business laptops'... including the Thinkpad Yoga. The only reason this is a "screw-up" is because someone posted it here and the tech media got outraged... there are MANY other Ideapad/Y-series laptops that have very poor Linux support. https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Lenovo_Thinkpad_Yoga_260 https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Lenovo_Thinkpad_Yoga_26... Their laptop brands are VERY distinct, and have been for a long while. Thinkpad is the brand that you should recommend for Linux users, not Lenovo in general.

paulddraper 10y ago
Even Thinkpads are getting crappy. I couldn't replace my Wifi card because the signature didn't match or some such crap.

tracker1 10y ago

It's kind of sad that the less tweaked options for laptops seem to be asus and acer... neither of which are my top choice, but seem to be much better than what's coming out of HP or Lenovo in the low-mid range.

DanBC 10y ago
The low end of ASUS includes things like the X205TA. Here's Debian: https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn/Asus/X205TA https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn/Asus/X205TA Here's Ubuntu (this is a very long thread): https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2254322 https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2254322 There's a video on youtube of a school tech support guy who has a bunch (149) of ASUS X200 to image the drives from a USB drive, and that involves updating the "bios" and then editing the bios settings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yectQ5MeS_Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yectQ5MeS_Y tl;dr: it's not fun on any of these netbooks.