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IME most devices end up with only “nearly complete” Linux support. I have spent nearly 2 decades using Linux, and it’s always been this way…

by yunohn 3y ago

jtriangle 3y ago
Yeah, not quite sure why this is being lauded as anything but pedestrian... I run several very old laptops like 1st gen i3 old, and they work fine, 0.3mp webcams even work, that's always basically been the case as long as your old hardware isn't super weird.
- TheCoelacanth 3y ago
  For ARM, nearly complete support is very much not the norm.
diffeomorphism 3y ago
This is talking about ARM devices not x64, so the comparison would be an android tablet having "nearly complete" Windows support. I am not aware of even one current gen tablet you could claim that for, but maybe you know of one?
- yunohn 3y ago
  My original comment was more about the fact that Linux support for almost everything is always /stuck/ at “nearly complete”.
  - diffeomorphism 3y ago
    Not really and misunderstanding what is meant for the sake of a pun. For the wording used in the article, your case is usually stuck at "complete" but very unpolished. E.g. all ports, sound, power etc. will work (fingerprint probably not), but sound might not be great, sleep might still use too much power, mic quality is bad,... (source: also using linux for 20 years). For the remaining polish, that is not surprising. That is also usually not the case with windows itself but rather additional work by the manufacturer. E.g. a few years ago I bought some lenovo laptop without windows. Installed a fresh copy of windows and sound, color profiles, mic quality etc. are decidedly unpolished out of the box, unknown devices in the device manager, ... . Spending some time to get all this from lenovo then fixed these issues, but again that was not done by windows. So I would also not have high expectations of polish for windows on chromebooks or "asahi windows".
    - yunohn 3y ago
      I’ve always found modern Lenovo laptops to have a proper Windows integration - you can install a fresh copy of Windows 10/11 and the OS will automatically find and install drivers (and even BIOS) updates via the standard update mechanism. In fact, I only recommend/buy Lenovo laptops for family members now and reinstall stock Windows for them to remove all possible bloatware without losing any hardware support.
heax 3y ago
That is so true. The best supported Linux laptop nowadays is the Win11 laptop of your choice with WSL.
- happymellon 3y ago
  Blatantly untrue. All my x86 laptops have worked fine. It's only ARM because the hardware is extremely proprietary.
  - coffeeaddict1 3y ago
    There are some things that simply do not work under Linux because of lack of driver support. An example is fingerprint readers. I agree that most x86 laptops are usable under Linux.
    - happymellon 3y ago
      Fingerprint reader works fine on mine. But then I bought Lenovo because they support their hardware including making drivers for their fingerprint readers.
      - coffeeaddict1 3y ago
        It's a hit and miss unfortunately. On my Lenovo Yoga 920, it doesn't work for example because there is no driver support. Similary on my Acer laptop too.
        happymellon 3y ago
        > On my MacBook M3, Windows doesn't work. Similarly on my Chromebook too. I mean, if it isn't a supported platform that's hardly the operating systems fault. However there are plenty of systems that do have drivers and are supported. The original quote was that the best supported is WSL, and that is not true.
- VBprogrammer 3y ago

IME most devices end up with only “nearly complete” Linux support. I have spent nearly 2 decades using Linux, and it’s always been this way…

by yunohn 3y ago

IME most devices end up with only “nearly complete” Linux support. I have spent nearly 2 decades using Linux, and it’s always been this way…

jtriangle 3y ago

Yeah, not quite sure why this is being lauded as anything but pedestrian... I run several very old laptops like 1st gen i3 old, and they work fine, 0.3mp webcams even work, that's always basically been the case as long as your old hardware isn't super weird.

TheCoelacanth 3y ago
For ARM, nearly complete support is very much not the norm.

diffeomorphism 3y ago

This is talking about ARM devices not x64, so the comparison would be an android tablet having "nearly complete" Windows support. I am not aware of even one current gen tablet you could claim that for, but maybe you know of one?

yunohn 3y ago
My original comment was more about the fact that Linux support for almost everything is always /stuck/ at “nearly complete”.
- diffeomorphism 3y ago
  Not really and misunderstanding what is meant for the sake of a pun. For the wording used in the article, your case is usually stuck at "complete" but very unpolished. E.g. all ports, sound, power etc. will work (fingerprint probably not), but sound might not be great, sleep might still use too much power, mic quality is bad,... (source: also using linux for 20 years). For the remaining polish, that is not surprising. That is also usually not the case with windows itself but rather additional work by the manufacturer. E.g. a few years ago I bought some lenovo laptop without windows. Installed a fresh copy of windows and sound, color profiles, mic quality etc. are decidedly unpolished out of the box, unknown devices in the device manager, ... . Spending some time to get all this from lenovo then fixed these issues, but again that was not done by windows. So I would also not have high expectations of polish for windows on chromebooks or "asahi windows".
  - yunohn 3y ago
    I’ve always found modern Lenovo laptops to have a proper Windows integration - you can install a fresh copy of Windows 10/11 and the OS will automatically find and install drivers (and even BIOS) updates via the standard update mechanism. In fact, I only recommend/buy Lenovo laptops for family members now and reinstall stock Windows for them to remove all possible bloatware without losing any hardware support.

heax 3y ago

That is so true. The best supported Linux laptop nowadays is the Win11 laptop of your choice with WSL.

happymellon 3y ago
Blatantly untrue. All my x86 laptops have worked fine. It's only ARM because the hardware is extremely proprietary.
- coffeeaddict1 3y ago
  There are some things that simply do not work under Linux because of lack of driver support. An example is fingerprint readers. I agree that most x86 laptops are usable under Linux.
  - happymellon 3y ago
    Fingerprint reader works fine on mine. But then I bought Lenovo because they support their hardware including making drivers for their fingerprint readers.
    - coffeeaddict1 3y ago
      It's a hit and miss unfortunately. On my Lenovo Yoga 920, it doesn't work for example because there is no driver support. Similary on my Acer laptop too.
      - happymellon 3y ago
        > On my MacBook M3, Windows doesn't work. Similarly on my Chromebook too. I mean, if it isn't a supported platform that's hardly the operating systems fault. However there are plenty of systems that do have drivers and are supported. The original quote was that the best supported is WSL, and that is not true.
VBprogrammer 3y ago