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Yeah, I have to agree with this. I used GNU/Linux on my laptop exclusively when I was in grad school, and every "sudo apt-get update && upgrade" felt like takin

by thearn4 12y ago

Yeah, I have to agree with this. I used GNU/Linux on my laptop exclusively when I was in grad school, and every "sudo apt-get update && upgrade" felt like taking a turn in Russian roulette. The generic device drivers were almost always a nightmare. Power management was abysmal. And this was on a Lenovo machine that is generally considered to be pretty Linux friendly. While I never did have a problem that wasn't eventually solvable, I finally came to accept that I really don't like playing sysadmin, and would much rather know that I can pick up my machine, perform library updates, and actually go work on something at a moments notice. At least on a laptop. On a desktop machine, I'm willing to be much more patient.

hiou 12y ago
Just for my own curiosity, did you intentionally chose a Laptop that you knew was 100% compatible to begin with? Edit to the downvoter who can't use their words: The above comment said "Lenovo machine that is generally considered to be pretty Linux friendly". Seems like a relevant question as to whether that meant 100% compatible via Lenovo's declaration or online research and an educated guess. It was a sincere question as Lenovo does provide specific information about Linux compatibility. http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/pd031426 http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/pd031426 Mind explaining to me what I did wrong there?
Eiriksmal 12y ago
@Sibling comment: The Linux Laptop resource websites can't keep pace with the short lifecycles of the typical laptop. It's either pay $400 for this outdated laptop I know will work out-of-the-box with *nix, or spend $300 on a machine that's 1.2x faster with unknown compatibility.
bigbugbag 12y ago
« And this was on a Lenovo machine that is generally considered to be pretty Linux friendly.» I don't know where you got that info, lenovo laptops have actually been getting away from being linux friendly, at least in my own experience over 5 generations of thinkpads.

by thearn4 12y ago

hiou 12y ago

Just for my own curiosity, did you intentionally chose a Laptop that you knew was 100% compatible to begin with? Edit to the downvoter who can't use their words: The above comment said "Lenovo machine that is generally considered to be pretty Linux friendly". Seems like a relevant question as to whether that meant 100% compatible via Lenovo's declaration or online research and an educated guess. It was a sincere question as Lenovo does provide specific information about Linux compatibility. http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/pd031426 http://support.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/pd031426 Mind explaining to me what I did wrong there?

Eiriksmal 12y ago

@Sibling comment: The Linux Laptop resource websites can't keep pace with the short lifecycles of the typical laptop. It's either pay $400 for this outdated laptop I know will work out-of-the-box with *nix, or spend $300 on a machine that's 1.2x faster with unknown compatibility.

bigbugbag 12y ago

« And this was on a Lenovo machine that is generally considered to be pretty Linux friendly.» I don't know where you got that info, lenovo laptops have actually been getting away from being linux friendly, at least in my own experience over 5 generations of thinkpads.