5 ms·

There is something I can't understand. They couldn't produce a really necessary Ubuntu laptop and they think they will be able to create a phone that doubles as

by pqs 13y ago

There is something I can't understand. They couldn't produce a really necessary Ubuntu laptop and they think they will be able to create a phone that doubles as netbook. They are deluded. I'll soon have to buy a new laptop. I really would like to buy an "Ubuntu Air" laptop, if it existed. But it doesn't. Those that wan't to buy an Ubuntu laptop (or any other linux laptop) must study all the components of the computer they are going to buy and check for driver compatibility, plus some prayers, because you never know if it is really going to work well. This is really painful, and I'm not taking into account the usual regressions when upgrading. At the end, I will probably buy a Mac. I have a baby and I don't have time to spend configuring wireless card drivers for days. But I'd love to have a high quality linux laptop.

izacus 13y ago
sigh Not this FUD again. Ubuntu will work well on pretty much any single-graphics Ultrabook currently on the market. Can we leave the wifi problems complaints in previous decade where they belong?
- Alterlife 13y ago
  > Ubuntu will work well on pretty much any single-graphics Ultrabook I have a dell vostro 3360 which I bought thinking that everything would be ubuntu-fine... Not an ultrabook, but similar hardware. It turns out that on on stock ubuntu, even for light tasks, the fan runs overtime. This is not a problem on the manufacturer provided Windows 7. Dell provides Linux drivers to control the fan speed... but they do not work very well even after a fair amount of tweaking (there's a settings file which determines when the fan is supposed to switch on). To me, this is one of the most annoying problems that a machine can have. Manufacturer support of operating systems matters.
- AlexanderDhoore 13y ago
  Yeah, this is not FUD. I have a thinkpad edge running Ubuntu (and I tried a few other distros). Both the Broadcom wifi and the AMD graphics are very wonky. Broadcom worked, but a kernel upgrade broke it. AMD driver works, kind of, but not when I plug in an external screen. I had it fail on me during a presentation I was giving. Next time I'll use my macbook, just to be safe. Obviously I don't blame Ubuntu. I blame myself for not buying a laptop with Ubuntu support. Next time I'll buy System 76.
  - rlpb 13y ago
    A general rule for good Linux support (not just Ubuntu) is to avoid Broadcom wifi. Get Intel wifi, and Intel graphics. Or, as you say, something that is Ubuntu certified.
- davidw 13y ago
  Yeah, you can definitely get Linux running on pretty much whatever. But the point would be for Ubuntu to provide something that requires absolutely no fiddling, and where everything is nicely tuned and tested, and hey, maybe with some really kick-ass hardware at that. I'm in the market for such a machine, and it's driving me absolutely batty. * The Dell XPS 13 is the front runner, but I would prefer a larger screen. I stare at it all day, so that's more important than having something super portable. Also, compared to my current 1900x1200 screen, I'd be taking a pixel hit going to 1900x1080. Because some morons decided that watching movies was more important than doing actual work with computers. Also, the Wired review does mention Wi-Fi problems with the machine, which are not Linux specific, but probably due to the construction. http://www.wired.com/reviews/2013/07/dell-xps-linux/ http://www.wired.com/reviews/2013/07/dell-xps-linux/ * The Chromebook Pixel. Now this is a screen! I love it! The whole package looks pretty nice, although it's maybe a tad underpowered in terms of CPU and memory - I'd spend a bit more to get something I'm going to be comfortable with for the next few years. The killer though: 32 gigs of storage! NOT OK. Yeah, it comes with 'Google Drive' cloud stuff, but that doesn't cut it for me. I don't use a lot of disk - my current machine only has 100 gigs used up, so I'd probably be able to get by with a 128 gig SSD, but 32?! Sorry. Also, I'm a bit worried about support for the machine: Dell's has, for me, been pretty good in the past. I'm not sure I trust Google as much. * There's a new Samsung that's supposed to come out with a high res screen soon: http://www.samsung.com/global/ativ/ativbook9plus.html http://www.samsung.com/global/ativ/ativbook9plus.html - it looks pretty good, but once again, 13 inches... not sure I'd be happy with that, and I'm not sure it'll be out in time for me to get it during my trip to the US:-/ Sure, I can get an external screen, but that means I have a completely different screen environment depending if I'm at home, at work, or somewhere else.
- arjie 13y ago
  When you have figured out Intel 4965 on the current kernel please report how you did it. The same that works on Windows.
- pqs 13y ago
  This is not FUD. These are real experiences from real people.
- vassy 13y ago
  I paid £1800 for the Lenovo X1 Carbon because I'd thought it was the best ultrabook at that time. Installing Ubuntu on it resulted in problems with: volume and brightness settings, trackpad, hibernation, fingerprint reader, mounting my NAS drive. I don't have it anymore because I got robbed. Although I'm a Linux enthusiast, I ended up replacing it with the 2013 Macbook Air, because I don't want to pay a premium price for a product that I can't use 100%.
  - papaf 13y ago
    Quote from an Ubuntu user with an X1: The Lenovo X1 Carbon is a dream for Linux. If you want to run Linux on an ultrabook, I cannot recommend the Carbon more highly. http://www.inaccuratedesign.com/2012/10/22/Linux-on-the-X1-Carbon.html http://www.inaccuratedesign.com/2012/10/22/Linux-on-the-X1-C... Fedora is also OK apparently: http://sysconfig.org.uk/2013/05/fedora-18-on-lenovo-thinkpad-x1-carbon/ http://sysconfig.org.uk/2013/05/fedora-18-on-lenovo-thinkpad... Arch too: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Lenovo_ThinkPad_X1 https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Lenovo_ThinkPad_X1
dhoe 13y ago
The Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition, which has Ubuntu preinstalled, is as close to "Ubuntu Air" as it gets. Don't like it?
- oftenwrong 13y ago
  I just went over to the XPS 13 site, and I found this amusing image: http://i.dell.com/sites/imagecontent/products/PublishingImages/xps-13-l321x-mlk/images/laptop-xps-13-MLK-love-pdp-module-2.jpg http://i.dell.com/sites/imagecontent/products/PublishingImag...
- pqs 13y ago
  That could be an option. But, I once bought a Dell Mini 12 with Ubuntu pre-installed and it was a nightmare. It used a modified version of Ubuntu (with ad-hoc repositories hosted by Canonical) with an unstable binary blob. Therefore, not only it didn't work well, it wasn't upgradable! If I buy a XPS13, will I get stuck with Ubuntu 12.04 for life? Will Ubuntu test its new version (at least the LTS ones) with this machine? If I buy a Mac, I'll be sure that it is upgradable for a long time and that Apple will support it. Edited to add a link to my own account of the facts (2008): http://bits.quintanasegui.com/2008/12/30/dell-sells-ubuntu-boxes-that-cannot-run-ubuntu/ http://bits.quintanasegui.com/2008/12/30/dell-sells-ubuntu-b...
- pqs 13y ago
  By the way, how about battery life? According to this article, it has 5h of battery life. http://www.wired.com/reviews/2013/07/dell-xps-linux/ http://www.wired.com/reviews/2013/07/dell-xps-linux/ This is half of the battery life of a Macbook Air! If they sold a similar laptop with a Haswell processor ...
joelg236 13y ago
https://www.system76.com/laptops/model/galu1 https://www.system76.com/laptops/model/galu1 No?
- ash 13y ago
  It's heavier than Air - 1.72 kg (3.8 lbs) vs 1.35 kg for 13-inch Air. Every gram counts when inside a backpack.
- pqs 13y ago
  I don't think the sell or offer support in Spain.
tiziano88 13y ago
check out the Lenovo X1 Carbon
- davidw 13y ago
  Looks like a nice machine, generally, but then we get to the screen size: 1600x900. Pathetic. The new Nexus 7, for $230, has more pixels.
  - nicholassmith 13y ago
    Do you sit closer to your laptop than to your phone? I know in general I don't, and whilst I can certainly appreciate the quality inherent in a very high resolution screen I'm not clamouring for one. I got a MBA 13" over a MBPr as I thought the screen difference wasn't high enough for the tradeoffs.
    - davidw 13y ago
      I currently have a laptop that does 1900x1200, that I purchased a few years back. I don't want anything less than that if at all possible: I can keep a lot of code on the screen at the same time.
droidist2 13y ago
>At the end, I will probably buy a Mac. I have a baby and I don't have time to spend configuring wireless card drivers for days. True. The most compelling reason not to get a Mac for me is price, but if someone told you that for $500 they would come over and fix your daily GNU/Linux headaches (say 2 hours a week, that's 312 hours over 3 years) you'd hire them in a heartbeat.
pmelendez 13y ago
There is a big motivation to go to mobile since that market is still growing and laptop's market stopped the growth a while ago. Also, keep in mind that the edge want to replace the laptop in most situations. And finally, they failed to gather funds for this, but they didn't fail producing it, so your comment about being deluded doesn't make a valid comparison.
methodin 13y ago
Hasn't linux benefited by the backport of Android code?
Zigurd 13y ago
With Haswell it should become easier to find a suitable laptop for Ubuntu. I ended up getting a nice enough, and inexpensive Sony VIAO because it has only Intel HD graphics. Now that Intel's GPU has much higher performance, that configuration should become more common with high-end CPUs, and the new Intel GPUs will drive 4k monitors. Your wifi card won't be a problem. It hasn't been for years now.
pekk 13y ago
FUD. If you are uncomfortable deciding your own hardware, you can buy from vendors which explicitly support Ubuntu like System76

by pqs 13y ago

izacus 13y ago

sigh Not this FUD again. Ubuntu will work well on pretty much any single-graphics Ultrabook currently on the market. Can we leave the wifi problems complaints in previous decade where they belong?

Alterlife 13y ago
> Ubuntu will work well on pretty much any single-graphics Ultrabook I have a dell vostro 3360 which I bought thinking that everything would be ubuntu-fine... Not an ultrabook, but similar hardware. It turns out that on on stock ubuntu, even for light tasks, the fan runs overtime. This is not a problem on the manufacturer provided Windows 7. Dell provides Linux drivers to control the fan speed... but they do not work very well even after a fair amount of tweaking (there's a settings file which determines when the fan is supposed to switch on). To me, this is one of the most annoying problems that a machine can have. Manufacturer support of operating systems matters.
AlexanderDhoore 13y ago
Yeah, this is not FUD. I have a thinkpad edge running Ubuntu (and I tried a few other distros). Both the Broadcom wifi and the AMD graphics are very wonky. Broadcom worked, but a kernel upgrade broke it. AMD driver works, kind of, but not when I plug in an external screen. I had it fail on me during a presentation I was giving. Next time I'll use my macbook, just to be safe. Obviously I don't blame Ubuntu. I blame myself for not buying a laptop with Ubuntu support. Next time I'll buy System 76.
- rlpb 13y ago
  A general rule for good Linux support (not just Ubuntu) is to avoid Broadcom wifi. Get Intel wifi, and Intel graphics. Or, as you say, something that is Ubuntu certified.
davidw 13y ago
Yeah, you can definitely get Linux running on pretty much whatever. But the point would be for Ubuntu to provide something that requires absolutely no fiddling, and where everything is nicely tuned and tested, and hey, maybe with some really kick-ass hardware at that. I'm in the market for such a machine, and it's driving me absolutely batty. * The Dell XPS 13 is the front runner, but I would prefer a larger screen. I stare at it all day, so that's more important than having something super portable. Also, compared to my current 1900x1200 screen, I'd be taking a pixel hit going to 1900x1080. Because some morons decided that watching movies was more important than doing actual work with computers. Also, the Wired review does mention Wi-Fi problems with the machine, which are not Linux specific, but probably due to the construction. http://www.wired.com/reviews/2013/07/dell-xps-linux/ http://www.wired.com/reviews/2013/07/dell-xps-linux/ * The Chromebook Pixel. Now this is a screen! I love it! The whole package looks pretty nice, although it's maybe a tad underpowered in terms of CPU and memory - I'd spend a bit more to get something I'm going to be comfortable with for the next few years. The killer though: 32 gigs of storage! NOT OK. Yeah, it comes with 'Google Drive' cloud stuff, but that doesn't cut it for me. I don't use a lot of disk - my current machine only has 100 gigs used up, so I'd probably be able to get by with a 128 gig SSD, but 32?! Sorry. Also, I'm a bit worried about support for the machine: Dell's has, for me, been pretty good in the past. I'm not sure I trust Google as much. * There's a new Samsung that's supposed to come out with a high res screen soon: http://www.samsung.com/global/ativ/ativbook9plus.html http://www.samsung.com/global/ativ/ativbook9plus.html - it looks pretty good, but once again, 13 inches... not sure I'd be happy with that, and I'm not sure it'll be out in time for me to get it during my trip to the US:-/ Sure, I can get an external screen, but that means I have a completely different screen environment depending if I'm at home, at work, or somewhere else.
arjie 13y ago
When you have figured out Intel 4965 on the current kernel please report how you did it. The same that works on Windows.
pqs 13y ago
This is not FUD. These are real experiences from real people.
vassy 13y ago
I paid £1800 for the Lenovo X1 Carbon because I'd thought it was the best ultrabook at that time. Installing Ubuntu on it resulted in problems with: volume and brightness settings, trackpad, hibernation, fingerprint reader, mounting my NAS drive. I don't have it anymore because I got robbed. Although I'm a Linux enthusiast, I ended up replacing it with the 2013 Macbook Air, because I don't want to pay a premium price for a product that I can't use 100%.
- papaf 13y ago
  Quote from an Ubuntu user with an X1: The Lenovo X1 Carbon is a dream for Linux. If you want to run Linux on an ultrabook, I cannot recommend the Carbon more highly. http://www.inaccuratedesign.com/2012/10/22/Linux-on-the-X1-Carbon.html http://www.inaccuratedesign.com/2012/10/22/Linux-on-the-X1-C... Fedora is also OK apparently: http://sysconfig.org.uk/2013/05/fedora-18-on-lenovo-thinkpad-x1-carbon/ http://sysconfig.org.uk/2013/05/fedora-18-on-lenovo-thinkpad... Arch too: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Lenovo_ThinkPad_X1 https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Lenovo_ThinkPad_X1

dhoe 13y ago

The Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition, which has Ubuntu preinstalled, is as close to "Ubuntu Air" as it gets. Don't like it?

oftenwrong 13y ago
I just went over to the XPS 13 site, and I found this amusing image: http://i.dell.com/sites/imagecontent/products/PublishingImages/xps-13-l321x-mlk/images/laptop-xps-13-MLK-love-pdp-module-2.jpg http://i.dell.com/sites/imagecontent/products/PublishingImag...
pqs 13y ago
That could be an option. But, I once bought a Dell Mini 12 with Ubuntu pre-installed and it was a nightmare. It used a modified version of Ubuntu (with ad-hoc repositories hosted by Canonical) with an unstable binary blob. Therefore, not only it didn't work well, it wasn't upgradable! If I buy a XPS13, will I get stuck with Ubuntu 12.04 for life? Will Ubuntu test its new version (at least the LTS ones) with this machine? If I buy a Mac, I'll be sure that it is upgradable for a long time and that Apple will support it. Edited to add a link to my own account of the facts (2008): http://bits.quintanasegui.com/2008/12/30/dell-sells-ubuntu-boxes-that-cannot-run-ubuntu/ http://bits.quintanasegui.com/2008/12/30/dell-sells-ubuntu-b...
pqs 13y ago
By the way, how about battery life? According to this article, it has 5h of battery life. http://www.wired.com/reviews/2013/07/dell-xps-linux/ http://www.wired.com/reviews/2013/07/dell-xps-linux/ This is half of the battery life of a Macbook Air! If they sold a similar laptop with a Haswell processor ...

joelg236 13y ago

https://www.system76.com/laptops/model/galu1 https://www.system76.com/laptops/model/galu1 No?

ash 13y ago
It's heavier than Air - 1.72 kg (3.8 lbs) vs 1.35 kg for 13-inch Air. Every gram counts when inside a backpack.
pqs 13y ago
I don't think the sell or offer support in Spain.

tiziano88 13y ago

check out the Lenovo X1 Carbon

davidw 13y ago
Looks like a nice machine, generally, but then we get to the screen size: 1600x900. Pathetic. The new Nexus 7, for $230, has more pixels.
- nicholassmith 13y ago
  Do you sit closer to your laptop than to your phone? I know in general I don't, and whilst I can certainly appreciate the quality inherent in a very high resolution screen I'm not clamouring for one. I got a MBA 13" over a MBPr as I thought the screen difference wasn't high enough for the tradeoffs.
  - davidw 13y ago
    I currently have a laptop that does 1900x1200, that I purchased a few years back. I don't want anything less than that if at all possible: I can keep a lot of code on the screen at the same time.

droidist2 13y ago

>At the end, I will probably buy a Mac. I have a baby and I don't have time to spend configuring wireless card drivers for days. True. The most compelling reason not to get a Mac for me is price, but if someone told you that for $500 they would come over and fix your daily GNU/Linux headaches (say 2 hours a week, that's 312 hours over 3 years) you'd hire them in a heartbeat.

pmelendez 13y ago

There is a big motivation to go to mobile since that market is still growing and laptop's market stopped the growth a while ago. Also, keep in mind that the edge want to replace the laptop in most situations. And finally, they failed to gather funds for this, but they didn't fail producing it, so your comment about being deluded doesn't make a valid comparison.

methodin 13y ago

Hasn't linux benefited by the backport of Android code?

Zigurd 13y ago

With Haswell it should become easier to find a suitable laptop for Ubuntu. I ended up getting a nice enough, and inexpensive Sony VIAO because it has only Intel HD graphics. Now that Intel's GPU has much higher performance, that configuration should become more common with high-end CPUs, and the new Intel GPUs will drive 4k monitors. Your wifi card won't be a problem. It hasn't been for years now.

pekk 13y ago

FUD. If you are uncomfortable deciding your own hardware, you can buy from vendors which explicitly support Ubuntu like System76