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Razer Wants To Build the Best Linux Laptop, And It Needs Your Help (facebook.com)

Posted by msmash on from the quest-for-best dept.

Min-Liang Tan, a founder, CEO and creative director of gaming hardware company Razer, has assured enthusiasts that the company is looking into developing good -- the "best" he says -- Linux notebook. He writes in a post: The Razer Blade series have become the default coding machine for many out there and one of the most common asks is for us to support Linux on it. Well - we're looking at it and we're inviting all Linux enthusiasts to weigh in at the new Linux Corner on Insider to post feedback, suggestions and ideas on how we can make it the best notebook in the world that supports Linux. So if you're a Linux enthusiast, do check out the introductory thread.

23 of 220 comments (clear)

  1. No problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    128 GB RAM
    (2) 1 TB Solid State (Raid 1)
    Best CPU on the market
    Best Laptop GPU on the market
    4K screen
    4 USB 3.0
    2 USB type c
    HDMI out
    Thin and lightweight
    10 hour battery life
    Headphone jack

    All for $499.99

    1. Re: No problem by cfalcon · · Score: 3, Informative

      http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/i...

      "Select OS Key" -> Linux Tux

      I think it also exists for the other keyboard types they sell.

    2. Re:No problem by TWX · · Score: 2

      They were called "lamer keys" back in 1997 when we were still playing MS-DOS based games under Windows and pressing the key would essentially crash the computer.

      I had pried those keys off and replaced them with blanks that I cut from plastic. Worked marvellously.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  2. Why do they need help? by geek · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Are they going to pay me? What on Earth is so hard about putting together a Linux laptop? Thinkpads have been doing it for a decade.

    All Razer does is put together over priced crap that breaks the day after the warranty expires. Fuck them

    1. Re:Why do they need help? by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Stakeholder management. The stakeholders are Linux users who want a laptop, therefor they are the only ones who can suggest their requirements. Involving the stakeholders in this decision gives them a sense of ownership, so the product is more-likely to be accepted.

      Imagine if they develop the best... a $1,999 beast with excellent hardware support and the highest performance available to the Linux desktop, at a price point nobody wants to pay. Contrast that with something cheaper, lighter, with a good high-performance M2 SSD--a development environment that can build a kernel in 15 minutes instead of 11, sure, but it works fine, has better battery life, and only costs $499.

      Obviously two different groups of users will argue over which of these are better. Which group are they largely looking at for Linux uses, particularly developers? If they target their market appropriately, then their stakeholders will have an option which more-closely approximates what they need--paying for fewer useless features, and incorporating more desired functionality. Why pay the extra $30 for a Lightning port when all your devices are USB 3.0?

      --
      Support my political activism on Patreon.
    2. Re:Why do they need help? by MightyYar · · Score: 2

      These days, it doesn't even need to be a "Linux" laptop... just so it can virtualize with decent performance. The underlying OS doesn't really matter too much.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    3. Re:Why do they need help? by TWX · · Score: 2

      The best Linux laptop is the one that has all chipsets supported and meets your needs.

      I'm typing this on an Alienware M17X-R2 because while six years old it still does what I need it to do and it's well supported. Of course, weighing in around twelve pounds it's essentially a desktop computer and never leaves the desk.

      The point is that there are lots of different needs, there is no one right Linux-based laptop. Through what I do for a living I could really use something down in the Chromebook size much of the time as I have to deal with remote datacenters and telecom closets. Such a computer is not well suited to doing massive spreadsheets where screen size and resolution play a huge role and where the ergonomics of the physical keyboard interface matter.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  3. A truly FOSS laptop by infolation · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A truly free and open-source software laptop... which allows a FOSS BIOS or UEFI replacement, FOSS drivers. No Blobs, or Intel ME.

    Journalists, activists, and anyone who must have a secure, trusted computing device, need a modern alternative that be purchased off-the-shelf and supports Tails.

    1. Re:A truly FOSS laptop by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Or even non-broken, standard compliant UEFI and working ACPI implementation with full documentation and all hardware functionality correctly configured and fully enabled. And of course, comfortable mechanical keyboard. Replacement parts standardized when possible and 3D printable, with schematics, when not.

    2. Re:A truly FOSS laptop by KiloByte · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Both Intel and AMD look like a lost cause. Intel ME is certain to contains a network-accessible backdoor, AMD's version is slightly less vicious but not good either.

      There's hope in the ARM world: there's the TrustZone but some computers with non-locked bootloaders allow you to load your own code there. You obviously don't want to write such code yourself thus you probably want to use ATF but it's open for modification and, more importantly here, review.

      For example Pinebook (an incoming $89 laptop) allows you to do that, and if you don't need accelerated Mali400 proprietary drivers, you can use free software. Well, [near-]mainline support is not yet mature: simplefb LCD display is like four days old and the DRM driver is not yet working, but as shipment dates have been delayed again (currently for March 20ish), the kernel+uboot should be usable by then.

      Obviously, a computer where you not only can but need to tinker with to get working is not for everyone, but it is up to people like us to make it so. It is trustable, which is what you and me are looking for. And once Icenowy and the rest make the kernel usable, we can take that kernel, give it better userland than "dd this image of dubious provenience" and release to regular users.

      --
      The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
  4. Re:AMD CPU + nV GPU! by higuita · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No!!! not nvidia, do not support a company that do nothing to support open source drivers... as Linus say: "F*ck you Nvidia!"

    AMD Ryzen CPU + AMD GPU (for using AMDGPU KMS + radeonsi mesa drivers)

    full power, open source!

    --
    Higuita
  5. LOL WUT?! by the_skywise · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "The Razer Blade series have become the default coding machine for many out there"

    Uh... No?

    Show of hands here on Slashdot - which coders here use that as their default machine?

  6. You want to know what it needs? Modularity. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    A battery you can remove and replace yourself.

    Ram you can upgrade without a soldering kit.

    Removable panels to access dusty components.

    Japanese metal capacitors that won't die in 5 years.

    A modular power supply board.

    A screen the user can replace.

    Keyboard options.

    Ports.

    Open firmware, BIOS and drivers.

    Yeah, you have your fucking work cut out for you and if you get any 3 of those into the final product I'll eat my hat.

  7. Re:Eh... by paulatz · · Score: 5, Informative

    Too bad Linux still use the archaic terminal.

    Saying that Linux still uses the archaic terminal, is like saying that F1 drivers still uses the archaic manual transmission. Seriously, we use it because it works for us. Actually, most of us use Linux because of the terminal, not the terminal because of Linux.

    When OSX started to properly support terminal interface it started to attract developers, and now that more an more operations have become difficult without a GUI (i.e. debugging), developers are dropping it again.

    --
    this post contain no useful information, no need to mod it down
  8. Re:Eh... by epyT-R · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You know, even ms realized the value of a terminal, and powershell was born.

  9. #1 GET A Q&A DEPARTMENT! by Chas · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Seriously.

    Your neglect of quality control has been there for the entirety of your company.

    If you're going to be selling computers worth hundreds or thousands of dollars, you NEED Q&A.

    Otherwise, don't even bother.

    --


    Chas - The one, the only.
    THANK GOD!!!
  10. Re:Eh... by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

    Saying that Linux still uses the archaic terminal, is like saying that F1 drivers still uses the archaic manual transmission.

    But they don't. They use a computer-controlled flappy paddle gearbox now.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  11. Yay by thegreatbob · · Score: 2

    Is it going to require a persistent internet connect + named account to use it as anything but a basic brick?

    --
    There is no XUL, only WebExtensions...
  12. Re:AMD CPU + nV GPU! by Holi · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Well nothing other then posting anonymously to slashdot screaming "Faggot".

    --
    Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
  13. SUN KEYBOARD LAYOUT by bplipschitz · · Score: 2

    Put that CTRL key where it *belongs*!

  14. Re:AMD CPU + nV GPU! by bobbied · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How about FUCK YOU LINUS TORVALDS!!! His ego is too big.

    I'm no Linus fan boy... Quite the opposite actually, I agree his ego, mouth and self importance are all too big... HOWEVER, in this case, he is 100% correct about Nvidia. They are being idiots about Linux and not providing open source drivers.

    --
    "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
  15. Re:Eh... by bobbied · · Score: 2

    Too bad Linux still use the archaic terminal. If the elitists could just shut it with their god damn terminal and add a proper GUI for everything, Linux would gain mainstream support.

    I can tell you've not ever managed a Windows box in any kind of serious way. Sure, Microsoft has all sorts of GUI's for your viewing pleasure, but even they haven't made it possible to do it all from an understandable GUI so you often end up at the command line on a windows server. It's not some "If the command line was good enough for the old gezers it's good enough for me" attitude. What really makes management GUI's hard to write is how complicated everything is, Linux, Widows or whatever.

    So I don't believe the lack of GUI's is why Linux hasn't made it to the desktop. Windows doesn't have what you demand either..

    --
    "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
  16. Razer could just make a better Thinkpad. by sethstorm · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Look at what made the Thinkpad great and fix what Lenovo broke on it. Done.

    --
    Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.