The Future of Linux on Laptops

katie_york writes "CoolTechZone discusses the future of Linux on laptops after HP and Ubuntu's recent announcement. 'What would be even more exciting for Linux is if other OEMs, similar to HP, took the same approach by partnering with selected distributions of consumer friendly Linux and started offering an alternative not only in third world regions, but also in the United States. In addition to that, support for Linux on the desktop side of things would be just as welcomed.'"

Comments

Priceless...

[TripMaster Monkey]

From TFA:

After all is said and done, I have to wonder if anyone from Redmond, Washington had any input towards HP's decision to offer Linux to the "3rd World" and exclude the U.S. (the richest Windows market) from it's[sic] Linux program. I would certainly like to believe not. Of course, we all love a good conspiracy theory now, don't we?

Wow...sounds like Gundeep Hora wrote this article with Slashdot specifically in mind...

^_^

Re:Priceless...

[kesuki]

Don't worry, Wal-mart will never buckle down to pressure from Microsoft. They will continue to sell PCs w/out OSes, and/or w/Linux. Yeah, many people hate Wal-Mart for the pressure they put on vendors/etc... But what other main stream OEM will ship PCs without an OS/ with Linux, and not charge you for a copy of windows? No, Apple doesn't count!

So if you want a Linux Laptop, in the US right now, you've got wal-mart, and some small computer shops that probably have the license cost for windows included in your purchase price.

Upgrades?

[bmalek]

I agree that this is the way to do it (making sure all the hardware works with Linux), however what happens when somone wants to do an upgrade down the road? Chances are they are going to have to choose from a very small list (by comparison to a Windows machine) of upgrades that now work with their version of Linux.

Now some of you may not think this is a bad thing, but I can see where it could be heading... Want that new upgrade? Send your machine back to HP and for $400 you can have this $100 piece of hardware because you have no choices and we can charge you whatver we want! Profit margins here we come...

Are we really still having problems?

[garcia]

Apparently, HP is determined to make certain models work 100 percent with Ubuntu.

Is Linux still suffering from incompatible hardware in computers these days? I haven't purchased a laptop since 1996 but it ran Linux (I did have to use AcceleratedX because at the time XFree didn't support the video card chipset) just fine.

Are we still having serious problems with people not being able to use their computers 100% with Linux or are they talking about "out-of-the-box" with no configuration necessary?

Whatever

[Otter]

Anyone who was using Linux in 1999 remembers when there were announcements like this every day. (Dell partners with Red Hat! Compaq partners with Ximian! Dell partners with Eazel! Compaq partners with Red Hat!) None of it amounted to anything.

This is good news, I guess, and making something work with free drivers on any one distribution makes it work (with some kicking and swearing, anyway) on all Linux. But I'm not throwing a party just yet...

I will buy

[fimbulvetr]

While I've never been an HP fan, I'd be inclined to purchase one of these after reading the initial reviews.
I'd be especially interested if it had an AMD processor.
HP had one of the best laptop repair policies I've ever seen. Back when I did HP warranty work, one could send in a (broken for just about any reason) laptop, and pay a flat $400 fee for getting it fixed. While that may sound expensive, it's a heck of a lot cheaper than paying for the parts + labor for an LCD replacement.
Additionally, it seems HP doesn't hide behind the "bad pixels are not a defect" policy. While some manufactures (*Cough* Apple, Dell) require that your LCD has at least 20+ bad pixels before they fix, I've seen HP repair laptops with 5 or less.

Obviously, this is anecdotal, and their policies may have changed.

Re:Linux, installation and ease of use

[NickFortune]

Installing Linux of a laptop is easy, especially with ditributions like Ubuntu. The fact that Linux comes preinstalled or not with the hardware doesn't matter IMHO.

Umm... you think so? Linux on the desktop is easy. Laptops can be challenging. Unless of course you mean just getting the binaries onto the disk. Even then its not always straightforward. I 'll always remember the fun I had once getting anaconda to work with some crappy SiS onbard graphics chip

Lapops use more custom components and working drivers are harder to come by. I'm writing this on a Tosh Satellite M30 which works perfectly - but then I did some careful reading ahead of my purchase. Even then, getting the wifi up and running was an adventure.

On the other hand, if it comes pre-installed, we should expect a decent default configuration. If not, it seems reasonable to complain to the manufacturer.

That said, I can see where you're coming from. Hey, I don't even duspute your conclusion.

Re:I would be happy with a OS Free system

[jzono1]

Not possible due to the demands by m$, one _CAN NOT_ sell computers without an os if one is at the same time selling m$ stuff.

Oh, the irony!

[heffel]

I just got an HP ZV6000 series laptop, featuring an AMD 64 processor. I got it with all the intention of installing Ubuntu for AMD 64 on it.

To say that the laptop is not linux friendly is an understatement. There are no drivers for the video card, you can get X.org sort of working with the vesa driver. The touchpad is partially supported, scroll bar doesn't work and you need to resort to tricks to make it work (remove and readd the psmouse module).

I installed the latest Java development kit for Linux AMD 64 on it, followed by Eclipse. Eclipse keeps crashing every few minutes.

Although my intention was to run Ubuntu on this laptop, I find myself booting to Windows XP home all the time just to get some work done.

Re:Oh, the irony!

[heffel]

Let me guess - ATI chipset?

You got it.

Another question - are you comparing with the 64bit version of XP? You're not are you?

Nope, just the crappy 32 bit version of XP home that came preinstalled with the laptop (and that I never intended to use).

Have you tried 32bit Linux on it? I would put money on it working a lot better.

I'm thinking about it and might give it a shot. It will probably help with Eclipse crashing, I somehow doubt the video card and touchpad will work to its full potential.

I mean for God's sake, what advantage are you expecting from 64bit support on a laptop?

Blazing fast compilation times? Who knows, I dropped my old laptop and that was the end of it (I was happily running Ubuntu 32 bit on it) and needed to get a new one, I got a good deal on this one.

Planning on installing more than 4GB of RAM are you?

Maybe someday I will.

Try comparing like for like.

I don't have access to a 64 bit version of windows, don't know how much one would set me back, I hope the fact that I'm using windows now is temporary, while linux distros get better support for the hardware on the laptop.

And seek help for your masochist tendencies.

I'm working on it.

Linux as a Gaming Console

[stagmeister]

If linux had better graphics support, I think that linux would take off more - on both the laptop and desktop - as a development platform for console-style games. Think of it this way: If you are developing a game, you currently have to develop the game for windows, mac, linux, etc. if you want it to be on all platforms. However if you were to use a live linux distro as the base for a game, you could make it so that all you have to do is restart your computer, put the CD in your drive and the game runs automatically - no need to mess with installing it on the hard drive, no need to have to port the game, nothing! It will run on any processor that it is designed for that has a fast cd-rom drive (which is pretty much all computers these days), and with network support built into linux you could very easily set it up to connect to the internet and get to a gaming server for lan parties or just regular internet play.