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Ask Slashdot: Linux Distro For Hybrid Laptop?
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.
There is nothing really polished out there.
How about leaving Windows 8.1 on it? The device you have is the very device 8.1 was designed around. Linux will be clunky compared to it.
To me it seems that the trend of forcibly replacing every Windows device with Linux is still alive, even though Linux does not offer big benefits anymore.
It did offer big benefits in the past: UNIX workstations were expensive, and Microsoft software worked like garbage (slow, unsecure, crashy). This was from late 90s to early 00s. The situation looks very different today.
I just don't see the point in replacing my OS with something that is technically inferior. The Linux desktop is super glitchy, power management is worse, suspend / hibernation can be flaky, and there might be an odd hardware device that does not work to its full extent.
Linux's largest remaining advantage is that it is a fully open environment.