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Linux isn't perfect when it comes to hardware. Google has used it for both Android and Chrome OS and the issues that seems to keep showing up are related to upd

Linux isn't perfect when it comes to hardware. Google has used it for both Android and Chrome OS and the issues that seems to keep showing up are related to updating and testing. In fact from my personal experience Linux and hardware especially on laptops is very hit or miss. I'm guessing this is because many hardware companies don't upstream do to patents and other legalities. If a project comes along that can solve those issues I can see Linux having a GCC LLVM moment.

swiley 8y ago
The update issues are because google is circumventing the mainline kernel and relying on hardware manufactures to provide updates for the entire OS so they can keep the drivers closed source. This benefits google as well because it forces everyone to use their special user space which gives them a lot of control. If instead drivers were contributed back upstream this wouldn't be a problem. Personally it's been a while since I've had a laptop with serious driver problems on Linux. Some discrete cards from Nvidia cause problems and there's some weirdness with secure boot but other than those I really haven't seen what you're talking about.
- 0815test 8y ago
  You can use libhybris to provide support for AOSP/Android kernels and vendor components within a mainline userspace. With Project Treble, you could even have a generic userspace image be compatible with a sizeable fraction of "Treblized" devices - there are a few variations for 32-bit vs. 64-bit ARM, and for changes in the system image format, but other than that the Treble images are generic.
  - swiley 8y ago
    > mainline userspace. I don't think you quite understand what I'm saying? Mainline here refers entirely to the kernel. There is no "mainline linux userspace." (unless you count a handful of Linux specific userspace tools for stuff like ext4 filesystem creation.)

swiley 8y ago

The update issues are because google is circumventing the mainline kernel and relying on hardware manufactures to provide updates for the entire OS so they can keep the drivers closed source. This benefits google as well because it forces everyone to use their special user space which gives them a lot of control. If instead drivers were contributed back upstream this wouldn't be a problem. Personally it's been a while since I've had a laptop with serious driver problems on Linux. Some discrete cards from Nvidia cause problems and there's some weirdness with secure boot but other than those I really haven't seen what you're talking about.

0815test 8y ago
You can use libhybris to provide support for AOSP/Android kernels and vendor components within a mainline userspace. With Project Treble, you could even have a generic userspace image be compatible with a sizeable fraction of "Treblized" devices - there are a few variations for 32-bit vs. 64-bit ARM, and for changes in the system image format, but other than that the Treble images are generic.
- swiley 8y ago
  > mainline userspace. I don't think you quite understand what I'm saying? Mainline here refers entirely to the kernel. There is no "mainline linux userspace." (unless you count a handful of Linux specific userspace tools for stuff like ext4 filesystem creation.)