PPS: Please at least TRY to read the following (if possible, not just the title) with an open mind and in a spirit of tolerance. It was written in good faith by a Linux user who will be staying on Linux.
PPPS: Among all the mean-spirited downvoting and insults and calumny (hey, this is social media) I actually learned a few useful things from this discussion. Perhaps the highlight was the tip about an obscure crowdfunded project which really fits the bill. Too late this time but I’m hopeful such projects, including Pine and Framework, might be become more available and more affordable in future.
PPPPS: I do not reply to downvoters (after all, you’re declaring you don’t care what I have to say). Or to people who obviously have not read beyond the title. Sorry. My post is very clear and I cannot express what I wrote better. In summary: There is a worsening problem with Linux compatibility on low-end hardware, due to the decline of desktop computing and in particular to the insurgency of ARM and Mediatek. It may hurt to hear it but it’s true and we should care about it. Thanks to those who offered constructive feedback.
I’m frustrated. Once again, I have had to buy a computer I didn’t want in order to stay on Linux.
Some background. Compared to most people in this forum, I am a somewhat normal computer user. That is, I have not touched a mouse in decades, I use a small lightweight low-end laptop (which is not slow on Linux), and I do not take anything to pieces. To be clear, I’m a programmer and a massive FOSS idealist. But I’ve never been interested in hardware, and in this respect I’m a complete normie. Let’s not forget that for most ordinary people, a “computer” these days is the tethered corporate toy in their pocket.
For me this slide away from free personal computing is now getting impossible to ignore.
- 20 years ago I could buy a laptop (a Fujitsu) from a major European electronics retailer which came with a Linux CD - a Linux CD! (Kanotix, a Debian variant).
- In the late 2010s, I had a nice choice of cheap Taiwanese Wintel netbooks. So there was a Windows tax to pay but at least the hardware worked fine.
- 4 years ago, the options were getting thin on the ground. For 400€ I could find only one Linux-compatible X86 laptop, made by Acer. And since I didn’t have a Linux live USB, I had to (fake-) register the thing with Microsoft in order to get access to the damn web.
- Today, there’s almost nothing left. Intel laptops have all but disappeared from the budget aisle, replaced by ARM-powered Chromebooks and, increasingly, big Android tablets with keyboards. Putting non-spyware Linux on these things is often possible, sort of, but it’s a nightmare. You’re back to the 2010 era of ROM-flashing on Android, using repos from random developers and wading through impenetrable forum discussions. It’s a massive PITA. This is not the way computing should be done, and normal users will never do it even if they were capable. It’s hardly secure either.
The geeky suggestion which I can hear coming, “buy a secondhand Thinkpad”, is not a proper solution. It’s a band-aid fix with a timeout (PS: meaning it’s on the way to EOL). Hardware from the likes of Tuxedo and Framework is nice but too heavy (PS: correction, Framework is not heavy) and way too expensive for me. The Pinebook Pro is always out of stock.
And anyway, for years I have wanted to move from a laptop to a convertible tablet (like the Surface or Lenovo’s Yoga and Duet lines) (PS: meaning the form factor pioneered by those models, the cheap options these days are invariably on ARM). It makes so much sense ergonomically and even in terms of maintenance. (Keyboards have moving parts. I have to change my Acer because it has a faulty keyboard which cannot be fixed except professionally at prohibitive cost. Crazy.) But none of these computers are easily compatible with Linux. It’s possible, yes, but hardly simple.
I considered, for a fleeting moment, throwing in the towel. After 20 years.
And then bought yet another laptop, basically the same model as last time except a Chromebook. I know I’ll get an OS I control onto it without too much stress. That’s a relief. But I’m more worried than ever about how this story is going to end.
PS: I should have predicted the bitterness and negativity and cynicism I would provoke simply by sharing my thoughts and feelings in good faith. Social media is absolutely incorrigible. In the meantime I will of course be staying on Linux, as I thought I described.
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I don’t understand. First, usually laptop keyboards are pretty easily replaceable, there should be teardown videos for just about anything on YouTube. You shouldn’t need to pay a professional, or buy a whole new laptop.
But even if you do, it’s just “buy laptop, install Linux”. Yes you may need to troubleshoot some driver issues if the manufacturer doesn’t target Linux, but that’s part and parcel of using Linux. If you want something that Just Works, buy a Mac (and use MacOS, not Asahi Linux on it).
The teardown video is available. It’s a 100-stage process involving specialized tools. I know my limits.
But even if you do, it’s just “buy laptop, install Linux”.
Not for less than a grand it isn’t. Not today. For reasons outlined. Go and check. The situation has changed.
buy a Mac
So you don’t think it’s a big deal if non-techie users without 1000 bucks to spare cannot use a computer with an OS under their control? I do.
Disappointed with the flippancy (not to mention predictable bitterness and mockery) of the comments here. I want FOSS to succeed. I thought people here too did.
Not for less than a grand it isn’t.
My dad just bought a shop-standard Lenovo for $600~ and I slapped Mint on it with 0 issues.
I just went on Dell’s site and found a surprising number of cheap Intel laptops that run Windows. That is, not Android or ChromeOS, a real full OS.
Only the premium ones support Linux out of the box, but I’ve had very few issues with Linux on Dells at work. At home I have one of the newer cheap Thinkpads, and it had no issues with Debian. I think OP is trolling, because nothing they’re saying lines up with reality, and they’re changing their story in almost every comment.
Why would you make accusations like this? I don’t get the meanness of spirit of people on social media, I just don’t. Why is it so hard to accept that somebody would write a post stating their experiences and observations and not have some kind of dark ulterior motive? I just do not get it.
Actually, having read your first paragraph I went to Dell’s site and I was just about to offer some comments, but now I see the second, full of insult and calumny, and I find I don’t have the energy to bother.
After 20 years. [Of using Linux] But none of these computers are easily compatible with Linux. It’s possible, yes, but hardly simple.
What Linux distro are you using in 2026 that still struggles with hardware driver support for mainline systems from a manufacturer you’ve heard of? Most driver hardship these days stems from putting Linux on locked down or uncommon/ niche hardware. Basically any system you’ve listed will do fine without tinkering, pick the system you want with the features you need, buy it, then install Linux. I bet most things just work out of the box.
Please re-read the paragraph where I describe what is available, on the shelf, in an the same affordable price bracket, now compared to 20 years ago.
PS: inane toxic downvoting does not make facts disappear. My observation was pretty watertight: in the low-end hardware niche, Linux is now significantly less well supported than a decade ago. That should be a problem for everyone here.
You post is long but is not very clear, the commenter above is correct. What exactly is your grievance? That Linux does not support your ancient laptop? Or it does not support the laptops (let’s face it, tablets) that YOU want?
Unfortunately resources are scarce in the Linux community, so labor needs to be allocated where most people are (AKA using hardware from the last ~5-10 years, not 30). And Windows surface tablets are extremely locked down.
I’m sorry that you can’t find people who want to continue supporting hardware so old people get nostalgia when they hear its name (eg. Pentium i586). It seems to me you’re not willing to do it either.
Ultimately you’re reducing to hardware a phenomenon that also involves software. Realistically who can run modern computing operations (such as web browsering) on a laptop with 3-4 GB RAM? The answer is nobody. Not comfortably, at least. Browsers take easily 3GB of RAM with just a few tabs open.
As for all laptops being bulky… this is the consumer preference. I don’t like it either but we can barely fault manufacturers for producing what consumers want to buy. I see this trend on phones as well, for me smaller phones are the best thing but the market moved towards bigger screens, heavier phones. And you want underpowered devices? If you could have a slim and lightweight laptop/tablet, wouldn’t you want it to be as powerful as possible? This doesn’t make any sense from a consumer perspective.
Lastly, if you want whatever machine you buy to last longer, then ironically you should learn a thing or two about hardware so that you can replace parts yourself. You don’t have to become a genius, just follow some steps on YouTube on how to change RAM, add SSDs… and yes, Thinkpads especially older ones are great for this since many parts are non-soldered. Apparently this year they are also launching a new one that is way easier to open up and replace parts with their removable keyboard.
For the price comparison between then and now: you should probably not compare the price in today money with the price from 10 or 20 years ago: inflation is a reality and your 400$ from 2000 wouldcost how much in today’s money? Maybe 800$, more? So, it’s not that bad.
The real issue, the one you should be worrying about and pointing out to people, is that while inflation is doing its thing (making prices go up), salaries have not gone up at the same rate, quite the opposite: our salaries are worth less. And that is the real place where most people (those who earn their living through a salary, aka most of us) are being screwed up. Bad.
But I’m more worried than ever about how this story is going to end.
I’m not a dev, I’m a mere GNU/Linux user myself (before Linux, I was using Apple computers and have been doing so since the mid-80s), but I too worry.
Not because of the price of the hardware (see my previous remark) but because I see little reasons to be optimistic about the future of the “general purpose” computers in general. And even less reason to be optimistic about the respect of our freedom and privacy on that computer. It almost already is a lost fight on our mobile devices. Edit: and most of it has been lost in the name of ‘convenience’, btw. And it’s a fight we are losing on the political/societal level. At the same speed we’re being un-learned, so to speak, of the core values of what being a citizen in a democracy is supposed to mean.
But that is a whole different story.
PS: I should have predicted the bitterness and negativity and cynicism I would provoke simply by sharing my thoughts and feelings in good faith.
Why worry about that? It’s nothing new (and certainly not exclusive to around here) that most people don’t like being disturbed, or annoyed. They won’t change because it’s coming from you, or from I ;)
Not because of the price of the hardware (see my previous remark) but because I see little reasons to be optimistic about the future of the “general purpose” computers in general. And even less reason to be optimistic about the respect of our freedom and privacy on that computer. It almost already is a lost fight on our mobile devices. And it’s a fight we are losing on the political/societal level. At the same speed we’re being un-learned, so to speak, of the core values of what being a citizen in a democracy is supposed to mean.
But that is a whole different story.
It’s the subtext to my whole post. I completely share your take.
In your previous post you mentioned this:
And anyway, for years I have wanted to move from a laptop to a convertible tablet (like the Surface or Lenovo’s Yoga and Duet lines). It makes so much sense ergonomically and even in terms of maintenance.
I was in a similar boat, a few years ago. Then I started I realizing the constant trade-offs I was accepting to do in order to use an always newer and better tech… So, I did what I was trained to do: consider the problem in its entirety, not just as “computers are getting more expensive or they come with too many trade-offs” position (which it is, btw) but as something more global: what do I want to achieve with those high-tech tools and do I really need them to achieve that?
In my case, this is not a universal truth but it’s 100% working for me, I realized that most if not all what I had been trying to achieve with high-tech was to recreate something comparable to what I had been using all my live, since I was a little boy: analog tools. Like, you know, reading actual books, writing and sketching using actual pen and paper, and so on.
So my very personal solution was simply to move away from digital-tech and to rekindle my usage of analog low-tech. It took me some effort to re-educate myself but it was worth it. That was also a true revolution in the preservation of my privacy and… sanity (I quit all social media at the same time, now a few years ago, and it was so liberating).
It’s also cheaper ;)
Interesting take, and maybe you are a kind of pioneer.
Actually, I’ve done something a bit similar in that I use my mobile device (“smartphone”) a lot less than a decade ago. It had got to point where I was doing everything on Android (i.e. like most people today). I said STOP to that and moved gradually back to the laptop. Now I have a tiny smartphone (4-in Cubot) which I use for the same things as 15 years ago: mapping, photos, podcasts and that’s about it, certainly nothing social (nothing at all, including messaging, if you can believe it). Pretty radical but it’s been a liberation, similar to your experience.
Interesting take, and maybe you are a kind of pioneer.
I see myself as being a lot more stubborn than a ‘pioneer’ in anything ;)
The day I realized I could not agree with the intense push toward always more invasive tech (with less privacy, less user control and more outside control, be it private-corporation or official/public), I acted accordingly… to the best of my limited abilities.
Pretty radical but it’s been a liberation, similar to your experience.
Indeed.
As for my own phone (I have one: I’m no Luddite, I just wish to stay in control). I use as a mere phone (and barely) and for any app/services I have no reasonable alternative to. Which means I use it for work/business/government/financial things (which is already too much, but like I said there is no real reasonable alternative left for those). So on that phone, there is no social, obviously I quit using all of them beside the Fediverse (that I only access on my computer), no games, no movies, no apps (beside Uber), no music or podcast (for the rare occasions when I want to listen to something on the go, I will use an old iPod one with the wheel). I’ve even stopped taking pictures almost entirely and completely stop taking personal pictures.
We are very similar, it seems.
With the exception that I’m totally addicted to podcasts. Literally thousands of hours per year, and I jack up the speed on them, too (productivity hacking is a mirage, I know, I know).
And photos. I take a ton. But only a few survive my ruthless culling.
And photos. I take a ton. But only a few survive my ruthless culling.
I used too. Started as a little boy in the 70s… I quit approx a decade ago when people started becoming hostile towards my kind of pictures (street). It always was my hobby, not worth the hassle. Instead, I switched to sketching street scenes ;)
when people started becoming hostile towards my kind of pictures
I feel this. Days are well and truly gone when we could play at Henri Cartier-Bresson. Yet another baleful by-product of social media.
Your sketching solution is a fine hack. Good luck with it.
