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For those who care, feel free to list hardware that doesn't work with (open source) Linux here:

http://www.leenooks.com/

Notes on hardware that now works (even better with actual free drivers) are very welcome too.

Also, do avoid purchasing things there if you want a fully functional, free system.

Here:

http://www.leenooks.com/page/show/Disks+and+Controllers

BTW, for those interested in simply avoiding hardware that doesn't work with Linux, this list is fairly active, and includes any and all hardware:

http://www.leenooks.com/

1. probably not by much
2. In the long run, the Windows laptop may be more expensive when I have to pay more for add-ons that are on the Linux Hardware Compatibility List. (You know, like buying a wireless card that works.) Even if I end up wiping the system and reinstalling some other Linux distro, I want to know that the hardware works with Linux.
3. Even if the add-on itself is pretty cheap, I've found that often I will end up buying a number of the cheap add-ons before I find one that's Linux compatible, so that effectively I've spent more money than actual list price (of the peripheral) to get it working. For example, I've got some webcams lying around that I ended up giving to the wife for her notebook. (She told me, "I only need one, you know...")
   
4. Most importantly, my time is valuable to me. I don't want to have to spend the time messing around with a Linux distro trying to see which video driver is going to work for me. Hey, don't get me wrong: I like tinkering just as much as the next guy, but in the meantime I want to have a working system. I'd rather tinker to see what I can make even better, rather than tinker to get something working.
   In the past, I have proudly emerged from the entrails of my machine saying, "Yesss! What a breakthrough! Am I a geek or what? After countless hours of Googling, downloading drivers, messing with the hardware, and writing my own script files, my computer now finally works properly!" Meanwhile, my wife's machine has worked from the beginning. Well, been there, done that; now I want to move on. I want it to just work.
5. The above referred to my willingness to pay more to receive a machine that works when I receive it, but I also get a future benefit by joining the critical mass that Dell creates by selling this machine. Specifically, since there is only one notebook (Inspiron E1505) from a major vendor that comes with Linux, I can be pretty sure that when someone comes out with something in the future for a notebook running Linux (say gRoadMaps or something), the author or the community will make sure it runs on that notebook. The same might not be true for some cheaper notebook with some weird chipset.
6. Dell responded to us as a community. We should support them, not just to reward Dell, but to show the rest of the corporate world that, yes, it is worthwhile supporting Linux. I'm not just referring to Dell's competitors, but manufacturers of Linux-INcompatible hardware (WinModems, anyone?).
7. You know we'll set up some Ubuntu system for the relatives so we don't have to do tech support for all their malware complaints? Well, this is the hardware equivalent. My dad's laptop is getting old and is starting not to meet his needs. If I'm happy with this Inspiron/Ubuntu package, I'll get one for my dad. Maybe then finally we can have hassle-free GPG-encrypted email and tunneled VNC for tech support. (Currently I refuse to support his Windows laptop.)
8. As a sibling poster noted, perhaps the Linux notebook is cheaper ($600 vs $699 for Windows?)

Wireless support on Linux is great if you simply do a little research and don't pick a card that doesn't work. You can't take a Linux unfriendly wireless adapter to water and make it drink, so don't waste your time.

Wireless works out-of-the-box (or soon after) - with a recent distribution of Linux - on most laptops these days.

I set up a wiki a while ago in order to track hardware that does not work with Linux and that you should avoid:

http://www.leenooks.com/

It's going pretty well and seems to have become popular enough in its niche that it's not just me maintaining it, and it (almost) pays for the hosting, with adsense.

For stuff to avoid, check out the incompatibility list:

http://www.leenooks.com/

A couple of years ago, the 'Linux Incompatibility List' was created to track stuff that doesn't work with Linux:

http://www.leenooks.com/

It may not be much, but it has the advantage that it points out what to avoid, and it's community maintained - with all the hardware out there these days, no one person can know about it all.

I started a wiki to help out those who, like myself, are Linux users who for some reason or another (mostly work-related) need to do some work on Windows:

http://win4.leenooks.com/

(although my hosting provider's networking seems a bit slow at the moment... might be slow to load:-( )

My bad. It's been awhile since I looked into it.
http://www.leenooks.com/184

At one point, it didn't work. At all. I know, cause I bought one (cheap 20 bucks).

I suppose this would be as good a place as any to mention the wiki I started, Windows for Linux Users, which attempts to gather up some software that is useful for long-time Linux users who are for some reason constrained to use Windows. I know I had a terrible time getting the environment to a point where I didn't want to smash the computer because focus wasn't following mouse and a bunch of other little annoyances.

Hi, if this is a known problem with Linux and that Inspiron model, you mightconsider adding it to the Linux Incompatibility List:

http://www.leenooks.com/

Thanks!

Good stuff - be sure the check out the incompatibility list at http://leenooks.com/ next time you want to know what *not* to buy!

[ Reposting this as myself... managed to fish my password out of the mail spool... ]

There isn't much that doesn't work, but it's worth listing, and easier to keep track of than all the stuff that works just fine:

http://www.leenooks.com/

There isn't much that doesn't work, but it's worth listing, and easier to keep track of than all the stuff that works just fine:

http://www.leenooks.com/

... be sure to let the rest of the world know about the modems that don't work at the Linux Incompatibility List:

http://www.leenooks.com/

There is a list of hardware that is not very Linux friendly here: http://www.leenooks.com/ - perhaps this stuff would make a good addition to the list.

If anyone has cards, or other hardware, that doesn't work, please point them out to the Linux Incompatibility List.

Thanks!

Someone should update the Linux Incompatiblity List:
http://www.leenooks.com/

The Linux Incompatibility List would benefit from the addition of specific makes and models, although do describe the incompatibility accurately so that people don't think that the hardware is completely incompatible with Linux, when it is really only one portion of it that does not make the hardware useless.

Thanks!

It's not slashdotted, the link is just wrong.

clicky