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Ask Slashdot: Linux Distro For Hybrid Laptop?

Posted by Soulskill on from the half-man-half-penguin dept.

Steve Parrish writes: I needed a new laptop and found a great deal on an Asus Transformer TP500L. It's one of the laptops where you can flip the screen back and use it as a tablet. I'd like to replace Windows 8.1, and I'm having a difficult time finding a Linux distro that will work on it. I'm familiar with Mint, SolydX, and older Ubuntu versions. I tried the latest Ubuntu with Unity and didn't like it, but the OS installed with only a few minor issues. Has anyone tried any other distros on a hybrid laptop with a touchscreen? I've used Linux for several years, but I'm no guru -- I'm not comfortable with the command line or other advanced workings. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

9 of 210 comments (clear)

  1. Ubuntu 14.04 by tommeke100 · · Score: 5, Informative

    I have Ubuntu 14.04 running on an 'older' Acer aspire one (a pretty shitty machine, but actually works okay with SSD disk and Ubuntu).
    . It's probably easiest to install, you get used to the Unity interface after awhile really. The things it doesn't install correctly I just googled with mostly easy fixes (apt-get this and that).
    There are actually ways of not using Unity but the old Gnome interface for example. Again, Google is your friend (in this case).

  2. If ubuntu installed by Culture20 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Then "apt-get update && apt-get install xubuntu" or "apt-get update && apt-get install kubuntu"
    Don't give up just because the default GUI blows chunks.

    1. Re:If ubuntu installed by tylikcat · · Score: 4, Informative

      My housemate is running a Thinkpad Helix - a somewhat similar hybrid - with Kubuntu, and the plasma desktop appears to work fairly well (we were discussing this recently in some depth, as I'm in the pre-contemplation phase of the next laptop). I would at least look into it - it appears to be functional, and avoids the Unity issues.

      (I'm currently on vacation, so cannot easily consult with said housemate.)

    2. Re:If ubuntu installed by jones_supa · · Score: 3, Informative

      Then "apt-get update && apt-get install xubuntu" or "apt-get update && apt-get install kubuntu"

      If I remember correctly the metapackage names are xubuntu-desktop and kubuntu-desktop.

      XFCE is kind of problematic as the development is slow. The last stable version is almost 3 years old, although it generally works just fine. You may want to turn off the integrated compositor (as it causes tearing) and replace it with Compton.

  3. Fedora by lucm · · Score: 4, Informative

    I don't know about transformers, but I have tried a lot of distros lately on Lenovo convertible laptops, and my best experience has definitely been with Fedora. The setup is almost as easy as Ubuntu and the touch screen works well.

    I'm not a Debian fan and I typically pick CentOS, but I was surprised to see how Fedora is more polished and convenient.

    --
    lucm, indeed.
  4. I did the same by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    I have the exact same laptop model, and am currently running Ubuntu 14.10. Not saying it is perfect, but it runs well enough. The laptop is new enough that current drivers for the WiFi hardware are not included with Ubuntu (I have tried a few things, with marginal success, currently using a WiFi USB dongle). The touch pad (not screen, that works well off the bat) settings needed to be tweaked in order to be used as well. One other thing I have noticed is that sometimes during certain operations, the cursor and/or tooltips can flicker.

    Overall, it runs well with those things being the only issues.

    Link to wifi workaround:
    http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/1796

    Link to touchpad workaround:
    http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=179238

    Good Luck!

  5. Linux Mint 17.1 by steveha · · Score: 5, Informative

    I just put Linux Mint 17.1 MATE 64-bit on a Lenovo IdeaPad S415. Everything just worked out of the box, and that includes both the multitouch touchpad and the touchscreen. Also the network, wifi, sound, and graphics. Everything.

    http://notebookplanet.blogspot.com/2013/12/lenovo-ideapad-s415-specs.html

    That IdeaPad is a year old. A year ago, no Linux that I tried worked out of the box with it; graphics didn't work. X always got confused by the fact that the machine has two graphics adapters (one built-in to the AMD APU chip, and a discrete one).

    I've really been enjoying Linux Mint 17.1; it seems to be a big improvement over Linux Mint 16. You can easily and non-destructively try it, just by booting from a USB flash drive that has Linux Mint on it. (You can use UNetBootIn to make the USB flash drive.)

    While I can't guarantee that Linux Mint 17.1 will work on your hardware, it worked great on mine so I think it's worth your time to try it out.

    --
    lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
  6. Fedora updates frequently vs Ubuntu by raymorris · · Score: 4, Informative

    A couple of people have mentioned success with Fedora. That doesn't surprise me because Fedora is supposed to have all the latest packages, with the latest in touchscreen features and the newest version of drivers for the newest hardware. However, balance that against the other side of the coin. Because Fedora is based on the latest and newest, they don't provide the type of long term support for older versions that Ubuntu and some others do.

    If you choose Fedora, realise that pretty soon you'll have to decide to either a) upgrade to the next version of Fedora or b)stick with the versions you have of all the software. Don't plan on installing the 2017 version of a program on a 2014 version of Fedora. Plan to either upgrade the whole OS or upgrade nothing in a few years.

    Ubuntu and CentOS are more about long term stability. The current version of CentOS will be getting updated packages by years from now, so you can keep using the same version of CentOS and update packages as needed.

    The downside to the more long term stable distros is that they may not have the latest and greatest touch screen features - they'll have well-tested packages that have already proved themselves in Fedora for a year before they are added to CentOS (debranded RHEL).

  7. Re:Touchscreen + Linux... by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 3, Informative

    You mean like these?

    http://forum.xda-developers.co...

    Google doesn't care if end users download and install them, they just don't want OEMs to do it without properly joining the OHA.

    Though in all honesty, I'd just leave Windows intact and install bluestax (which is free.) Getting drivers and shit working on that is going to be a royal PITA and probably won't be worth the time you spend on it. Just install something like Start8 and ignore that piece of shit called metro -- it won't bother you if you don't bother it.