Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]

Groups > comp.os.linux.hardware > #3766

Re: Subnotebook?

Show all headers | View raw

On 11/02/2025 14:53, Theo wrote:
> David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> wrote:
>> On 07/02/2025 20:43, Carl Fink wrote:
>>> Anyone have a recommendation for a Linux-installed, or second-best
>>> Linux-compatible subnotebook? I'm defining a subnote as having a 10" or
>>> smaller screen, and I'm looking to buy new, not refurb or used.
>>>
>>
>> I've never found much point in pre-installed Linux systems - they never
>> have the distro or setup I want.  But that might be just me.  So I tend
>> to get the hardware I want, then install the Linux I want, ignoring the
>> "pre-installed" Windows.
>>
>> Generally, most hardware works out of the box with a fairly modern
>> distro (vastly more than with Windows), but there are some things to
>> watch out for if you get a very new design.  The most common issue, I
>> think, is new laptops or notebooks with Wifi chips that are not
>> supported by the kernel versions that come as standard with a mainstream
>> distro like Mint or Ubuntu.  That means upgrading the kernel, which can
>> be a pain without a working network - and these machines often don't
>> have Ethernet.  So make sure you have a USB C docking station or
>> Ethernet adaptor handy for putting it all together.
> 
> There are a couple of troubles:
> 
> 1.  Peripheral components that don't have Linux drivers.  Webcams, SD
> readers, pens/touchscreens, fingerprint readers.  Usually because the vendor
> went to the bargain barrel and found some obscure chip.  Nowadays a lot of
> thing stuff is USB which tends to avoid the problem if they use standard USB
> device classes, but sometimes they're 'special'.

I haven't tried fingerprint readers, but the rest are almost always USB, 
and almost always work out of the box.  Still, no guarantees.

> 
> 2.  A new breaking change for hardware, eg Intel introduces a new standard
> for doing audio, and the FOSS drivers haven't caught up.  Often Intel is
> good at writing Linux drivers themselves, but that doesn't mean they have
> filtered down to the distro you want to use, especially if it means more
> non-kernel work (eg somebody needs to write a new subsystem to do software
> DSP or whatever).
> 

That is also rare now, at least if you are willing to update to a recent 
kernel and you are happy with non-free stuff.  Not everyone is happy 
with those requirements, however - that's up to the OP to decide.  And 
as I noted in an earlier post, if the problem is with the Wifi module 
and you don't have Ethernet, it can be quite inconvenient.

> 
> A strategy is to buy a laptop that is available with pre-installed Linux
> (either directly or the Windows version of the same), because you know there
> at least extant drivers for all the hardware.  Typically those drivers will
> get upstreamed and then filter down to distros, so after maybe a year you
> can pick up a distro and everything will work.  You may need to use the
> vendor's Linux distro for the first year until all of those bumps have been
> sorted out.

Sure - if you can find such a model, and it suits your needs for the 
hardware.

You can also aim for slightly older models, which are also often cheaper 
(even when new), as that reduces your risks.  Most of the laptops I have 
had through the years are hand-me-downs from the sales folk - when their 
machines are a few years old, the accumulated junk from Windows makes 
them slow.  I wipe them and put on Linux, and the result is faster than 
it ever was before (especially if I can upgrade the memory, which is 
always a worthwhile investment if the hardware supports it).

> 
> Personally I wouldn't worry too much about buying any random thing and
> running Linux on it, but I'd be prepared in case the pen or the fingerprint
> reader didn't work.  I have been caught out by breaking changes with (audio,
> networking) before though.
> 

It certainly happens sometimes.

Back to comp.os.linux.hardware | Previous | Next — Previous in thread | Next in thread | Find similar

Thread

Subnotebook? Carl Fink <carlf@panix.com> - 2025-02-07 19:43 +0000
  Re: Subnotebook? candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> - 2025-02-07 20:00 +0000
  Re: Subnotebook? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2025-02-10 08:35 +0100
    Re: Subnotebook? R Daneel Olivaw <Danny@hyperspace.vogon.gov> - 2025-02-10 09:54 +0100
      Re: Subnotebook? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2025-02-10 10:40 +0100
      Re: Subnotebook? scott@alfter.diespammersdie.us (Scott Alfter) - 2025-02-10 23:13 +0000
    Re: Subnotebook? Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2025-02-10 09:59 +0000
      Re: Subnotebook? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2025-02-10 12:24 +0100
      Re: Subnotebook? Bud Frede <frede@mouse-potato.com> - 2025-03-25 09:17 -0400
    Re: Subnotebook? Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> - 2025-02-11 13:53 +0000
      Re: Subnotebook? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2025-02-11 17:49 +0100
      Re: Subnotebook? Carl Fink <carlf@panix.com> - 2025-02-12 13:29 +0000
    Re: Subnotebook? "Carlos E.R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2025-02-11 15:20 +0100
      Re: Subnotebook? David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2025-02-11 17:51 +0100
      Re: Subnotebook? Harold Stevens <wookie@aspen.localdomain> - 2025-02-11 16:47 -0600
  Re: Subnotebook? Popping Mad <rainbow@colition.gov> - 2025-03-24 22:16 -0400

csiph-web