3 ms·

Does anyone ever try to install Windows from scratch on these new laptops? They have far more problems than Linux out of the box - no Wifi drivers, no correct d

Does anyone ever try to install Windows from scratch on these new laptops? They have far more problems than Linux out of the box - no Wifi drivers, no correct display driver so everythings stuck at 1024x768. No touchpad driver on one of them. Meanwhile, I've installed Arch and NixOS on a Chromebook Pixel 2013, Chromebook Pixel 2015, Lenovo X1 Carbon and a 2015 Macbook Pro in the last 18 months. Never had a significant issue, other than sound not working on the Pixels until I ran `yaourt -S linux4-samus`. When these threads pop up, I often get the impression that people are relaying experiences from 5+ years ago and assuming nothing's changed since then. Meanwhile, I don't have to deal with OS X's obnoxious behavior: the fact that I can't have a touchpad be natural scroll with an external mouse that is normal scroll. The fact that PageUp/Down/Home/End act completely inconsistently when using a "Windows" external keyboard with OS X. The feature-less window manager. Finder. Etc. If I have to spend 20 minutes tweaking Linux on my laptop, it's a small price compared to bending to OS X's quirks. In my opinion, of course.

Theodores 10y ago
I think you are onto something with running linux on a Chromebook. For years I have struggled with deaf wi-fi on laptops running Ubuntu, I spend half my evenings reconnecting the wifi on a Lenovo laptop, and that is with an external wifi dongle as there is no chance of getting the internal wifi working. I am writing this on a Chromebook Pixel 2013 variant, the wifi on this machine and every other Chromebook I have used is rock solid. I like the 'design classic' aspect of the Pixel (original flavour) and I didn't want to take it to pieces or leave it broken. Therefore, new Chromebook. My new cheap (£250) Chromebook is the Asus one with the HD screen, zero moving parts and a tough aluminium case. Everything on it works except for the internal speakers (sound is on HDMI) but I don't need sound to read my emails and write stuff in 'vi'. Rather than go for an esoteric linux I went for the ease of Gallium OS. This is an XFCE Ubuntu with all the hardware sorted except that HDMI sound problem... Now for ports... I presume next-gen Chromebooks will be USB-C, I just wanted a glorified keyboard/screen with wifi that worked, however, the ports are proper ones on the Chromebook, no fiddly mini HDMI or other leads that restrict the movement of the laptop. Battery life - realistically I can go all day but I get range anxiety if I do that so I carry the brick. I run DHCP on the cheap Chromebook complete with a reverse proxy so that my dev environment (still on the old laptop) can be worked on via the Chromebook (which runs keyboard/mouse sharing via Synergy) and via the phone/tablet for testing. I believe that the next generation Chromebooks are going to solve a lot of problems for me, my cheap chromebook doesn't do sound, the screen is non-touch but HD, the keyboard is not backlit (I use an external keyboard now) and I am not sure it has a CPU... I wonder if the android running next-gen Chromebooks will eat into the non-pro, non-developer market that Apple are trying to make their own, if this does happen then the Apple market share will start to diminish.
- colemickens 10y ago
  Yes! We are on the same page completely! The new $500 Samsung with HiDPI screen? I do all of my development remotely like you, but on an Azure VM. I just want a nice screen to look at when I typing into vim via mosh. At $500, I'm really hopeful that there will be a steady stream of Linux-capable, HiDPI, USB-C enabled hardware for the forseeable future. I already own three chargers that will charge it. Yes, I love Chromebooks and I'm not that into Chrome OS. Thank you Google!
Santosh83 10y ago
Exactly. People don't seem to realise how the entire hardware industry holds Windows' hands and even then it isn't THAT much better than a volunteer driven effort. One wonders where Linux would be if the hardware manufacturers showed it even 50% the love they show for Windows.

Theodores 10y ago

I think you are onto something with running linux on a Chromebook. For years I have struggled with deaf wi-fi on laptops running Ubuntu, I spend half my evenings reconnecting the wifi on a Lenovo laptop, and that is with an external wifi dongle as there is no chance of getting the internal wifi working. I am writing this on a Chromebook Pixel 2013 variant, the wifi on this machine and every other Chromebook I have used is rock solid. I like the 'design classic' aspect of the Pixel (original flavour) and I didn't want to take it to pieces or leave it broken. Therefore, new Chromebook. My new cheap (£250) Chromebook is the Asus one with the HD screen, zero moving parts and a tough aluminium case. Everything on it works except for the internal speakers (sound is on HDMI) but I don't need sound to read my emails and write stuff in 'vi'. Rather than go for an esoteric linux I went for the ease of Gallium OS. This is an XFCE Ubuntu with all the hardware sorted except that HDMI sound problem... Now for ports... I presume next-gen Chromebooks will be USB-C, I just wanted a glorified keyboard/screen with wifi that worked, however, the ports are proper ones on the Chromebook, no fiddly mini HDMI or other leads that restrict the movement of the laptop. Battery life - realistically I can go all day but I get range anxiety if I do that so I carry the brick. I run DHCP on the cheap Chromebook complete with a reverse proxy so that my dev environment (still on the old laptop) can be worked on via the Chromebook (which runs keyboard/mouse sharing via Synergy) and via the phone/tablet for testing. I believe that the next generation Chromebooks are going to solve a lot of problems for me, my cheap chromebook doesn't do sound, the screen is non-touch but HD, the keyboard is not backlit (I use an external keyboard now) and I am not sure it has a CPU... I wonder if the android running next-gen Chromebooks will eat into the non-pro, non-developer market that Apple are trying to make their own, if this does happen then the Apple market share will start to diminish.

colemickens 10y ago
Yes! We are on the same page completely! The new $500 Samsung with HiDPI screen? I do all of my development remotely like you, but on an Azure VM. I just want a nice screen to look at when I typing into vim via mosh. At $500, I'm really hopeful that there will be a steady stream of Linux-capable, HiDPI, USB-C enabled hardware for the forseeable future. I already own three chargers that will charge it. Yes, I love Chromebooks and I'm not that into Chrome OS. Thank you Google!

Santosh83 10y ago

Exactly. People don't seem to realise how the entire hardware industry holds Windows' hands and even then it isn't THAT much better than a volunteer driven effort. One wonders where Linux would be if the hardware manufacturers showed it even 50% the love they show for Windows.