Path: csiph.com!weretis.net!feeder9.news.weretis.net!i2pn.org!i2pn2.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: D Newsgroups: comp.misc Subject: Re: Dell prepares to rebrand Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2025 18:58:37 +0100 Organization: i2pn2 (i2pn.org) Message-ID: <1a5f40fe-dbc8-af5e-ba4b-d2405cb36014@example.net> References: <67833e29$9$19$882e4bbb@reader.netnews.com> <6087dabc-14fd-61f7-d36b-7906b81348eb@example.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed Injection-Info: i2pn2.org; logging-data="3599426"; mail-complaints-to="usenet@i2pn2.org"; posting-account="w/4CleFT0XZ6XfSuRJzIySLIA6ECskkHxKUAYDZM66M"; X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 4.0.0 In-Reply-To: Xref: csiph.com comp.misc:26353 On Tue, 14 Jan 2025, Theo wrote: > D wrote: >> Ages ago when I was working at Dell, and later Dell EMC, there was an >> internal linux fan group that tried to get as many laptops as possible to >> work smoothly with linux. They had a public repository hidden deep, deep >> inside some dell sub domain with tools and stuff. > > http://dell.archive.canonical.com/ > for Ubuntu. You need to work out the codename for your laptop and then you > can add the repo for eg: > http://dell.archive.canonical.com/dists/bionic-dell-bighorn-grizzly-mlk/ > (mlk = Meteor Lake, whl = Whisky Lake, and other Intel CPU generations) > >> I would be surprised if you would not be able to run linux perfectly fine >> on the latest and greatest XPS. >> >> I think they even sell an XPS variety with Ubuntu from the factory. > > Often the deal is that Ubuntu is often available for purchase with the > latest XPS, but it's not always the latest Ubuntu - Dell are 1+ year behind > because of their QA and testing. If you buy a laptop today it might have > 22.04 LTS on it, because it shipped around the time of the 24.04 LTS release > and 22.04 was the current LTS at the time they did the development work. > Their repo contains packages which patch Ubuntu to make it work out of the > box on their hardware, plus some Dell management stuff you don't need. > > However, you often don't really need their repo. Once the laptop has been > out a few months, the patches get upstreamed and a fresh Ubuntu install > works fine. So what I'd do is install the latest interim release of Ubuntu > (eg 24.10 currently) and keep on interim releases until you hit the next LTS > (now 26.04), at which point you can decide whether to stay on LTS or keep on > interims. That way you should have an install that works for the first > couple of years - the first six months after release can be bumpy but should > settle down after that. > > Even then, most new laptops don't introduce anything new that isn't covered > by existing releases. This is really only for when something new is > released and Linux/Ubuntu need to catch up. In my case, it was the > 'soundwire' audio drivers on an XPS17 shipped spring 2020 - I stuck with > Dell's 18.04 until that had landed in mainline (20.10 I think). > > Theo > Thank you for the link and the up to date information! I've been using 1 year old Asus laptops for the past 5 years and never had any problems. Before that I used an old Macbook air 11.6", which also worked well. The trick is not to buy the latest and greatest, as you say, but to buy 1 generation older hardware to make sure patches and support is in the kernel. For regular day to day office machines, I have no problems with that. I do imagine though, that if you are a power developer, it can be frustrating that the latest and greatest might not work.