Looking to upgrade from an old Latitude, curious as to what mobile hardware you folks use for writing your open source projects?
I personally use a ThinkPad Z13 (all AMD; it’s nice but pricey), but I’d recommend getting a Framework (which wasn’t an option for me back then). I think modular and repairable laptops are cool, plus they seem to be well supported by the Linux community.
The only caution I would provide on Framework is their relative lack of BIOS updates: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/04/frameworks-software-and-firmware-have-been-a-mess-but-its-working-on-them/
They don’t have a BIOS updater for Linux (yet) and they have a history of overpromising stable updates. I get they’re hamstrung by upstream providers, but it’s a bad look on them to basically deliver a promised Thunderbolt update 1.5 years after announcing it. The CEO did say at least that they’ve hired on a new development team to get things moving, so hopefully they’ll be able to catch up.
Everything else I’ve heard about Framework is stellar.
I updated my AMD framework BIOS using fwupd last weekend with no problem on arch.
Thanks for the info. I wonder if it’s just the older Intel laptops that need the catchup then.
I’ve been watching on the framework machines for my next one. It looks like fwupd support them for BIOS updates. Framework owners will know more for sure.
I just bought a Framework 13, and I got say, it’s amazing. First of all, everything works out of the box. That’s surprising for a laptop with Linux. Even the Dell I used to own that specifically advertised compatibility with Linux and even came with Ubuntu had a fingerprint reader with no Linux support. Meanwhile, the fingerprint reader on my Framework has worked flawlessly.
Second, it’s blazing fast. I got the new AMD one, and it’s definitely fast enough to handle everything I’ve thrown at it.
Third, if something breaks on it, like the screen, replacing the part is incredibly easy. I’ve replaced a couple laptop screens before, and while they’re easier than phone screens, it’s still a PITA. And that’s if you can find a replacement screen.
And then lastly, eventually I’ll be able to upgrade it. I like that.
So yeah, if you can afford the price premium, I highly recommend the Framework 13.
I have a framework 13 with fedora and I like it.
You beat me to it! I have the same setup. Did you have any issues with the 39->40 update? It broke my icons in plasma
For me sound broke but I just had to rm a file and reboot
I haven’t had time to upgrade yet actually
Thinkpad A485. If you’re going used, I would grab a T460, T470, or T480. Really reliable models, all those can be had for $300 or less online, work great with Linux, and last forever. Plus they are decently repairable.
If new, I would also go with Framework laptops. Super repairable and sustainable. And very high quality laptops. My friend got one and it is super nice. Runs Fedora on it flawlessly.
Thinkpad A485
I had one of those, but the trackpad occasionally wouldn’t work until I rebooted several times (I was using fedora). Did you run into any similar issue?
Had that happen after BIOS updates. Sending it to sleep and waking it up once always fixed it for me.
Not with the trackpad, but other issues yeah. For some reason, this model seems to be really finicky depending on the distro you use.
I had weird random issues with most distros I’ve tried on it over the years.
The two distros that have worked with almost no issues are Manjaro, and Mint Debian Edition, which is what I currently run on it.
The most frequent I had with it were random lockups when bringing it out of sleep mode.
The A485 is actually such a terrible laptop. I would never reccomend such garbage to anyone considering mine almost never worked properly. I had in three years have six main board replacements for various hardware faults. Not a single of the boards has been free from severe hardware faults.
I’ve got a T480 and it gets really good battery life. Having a hot swapable battery is nice too. I would suggest avoiding the ones with a dedicated GPU though. They are power hungry and don’t have enough performance to be worth it.
what they said but don’t go below T480; the performance jump is huge (quad vs dual-core) and the price difference is negligible while almost everything is interchangeable (screens, keyboards, cards, plastic parts, dock stations, etc.).
T480 should be attainable around the $/€ 200 mark nowadays as they’re 5-6 gens behind and upgrading 'em to like 16 or 32 GB and 1TB NVMe or more is stupid cheap.
Fair point. Some folks are on an ultra tight budget or prefer the older model for various reasons.
But I agree, at $200-$300 used, you can’t really go wrong with the T480. Really nice specs for most use cases, and still fairly repairable and upgradable.
that’s right, the T480 is the best upgradable thinkpad there is, you can even up the ram to 64gb
System76 has some good options. A little overpriced, but your money goes towards an open-source friendly company.
I use Tuxedo InfinityBook since few weeks and I like it very much. :)
Framework laptop, the 13 model if you don’t need a dedicated GPU
ThinkPad x200s. I recently did the USB C charging mod and upgraded to WiFi 6E. I’ve had Libreboot installed for a while now.
I do wish I could have more than 8GB of RAM though.
I have a cheap Thinkpad from 2018 (E580). A couple of years ago I expanded its ram to 16 GB, added a NVME disk and an second-hand AX wifi card and it still serves me very very well.
Without being specific, I’d try to get something with firmware updates available on LVFS: https://fwupd.org/
And you might want to check for distribution specific notes on that model e.g.
- https://ubuntu.com/certified/laptops
- https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Category:Laptops
- https://linux-on-laptops.com/
- https://www.linlap.com/doku.php
If Wayland is more important to you than AI/ML/LLMs then you probably don’t want anything with an nVidia GPU
ThinkPad X230 with 9 cell, 16 GB RAM, total 1TB storage, and an Atheros NIC. A bit limiting at times, but I ‘outsource’ heavier tasks to my much more powerful desktop. I’m quite uncompromising with laptop design and ‘ergonomics’, so I’m trying to piece together a custom laptop based around the Framework mainboard before the X230 no longer meets my demands.
For testing stuff on Windows and work stuff that requires it, an X1 Carbon Gen 7 with 16GB RAM and 256 GB storage.
Framework is making machines that I find really interesting. I’m a Mac person, so I don’t have one and can’t speak to the experience.
As an owner of a 13 I really like it. I only use it mostly as a YouTube and email machine while most ofy heavy duty work is on a desktop but it does well enough running popos. They are a bit pricey to buy new thiugh so either get one of the older one used or go the used think pad route for a similarly repairable experience.
I use my Framework 13 (Intel 12th gen) for some heavy CPU workloads and it’s been a champ! For the balance of quality, performance, cost, and repairability I really don’t think it can be beat.
I just bought a Thinkpad x1 carbon preloaded with Fedora and it’s pretty fantastic.
I’ve heard a lot of good stuff about the Carbons, especially the older ones as Linux machines.
I have one from 2015 that is literally falling apart, but it still works okay. I’m going to be sad when I have to finally give up on it. Unfortunately, it’s not great for repair. I was going to replace the keyboard because some keys are malfunctioning, but it requires basically pulling apart the whole computer including some parts that are taped on.
So far I love it. I bought it brand new from Lenovo and you could pick from I think 3 or 4 distros. I picked fedora, which it came with 38. When I first booted up it had a bios update which honestly surprised me that they would bother. Then upgraded to 40 through the fedora upgrade path. All painless.
I was fully prepared to make a windows live USB just to flash the bios/firmware.
I’ve had a dell precision 5520 for several years now. Its been solid from a software support standpoint. Downside is the stock batteries swell up; I’ve settled for lower-capacity aftermarket batteries instead. On my second keyboard, second charge port and second power supply. Unfortunately a screw fell out and then the hinge broke as a result, and charging has gotten wonky, maybe since the charge port’s attachment point broke too. If you put the charge cable in just the right place it’ll charge, but sometimes I can’t find that position.
Pluses:
- 32g ram
- nvidia graphic accel
- replaceable keyboard, battery, memory
- touchscreen, webcam, etc all work.
- high dpi screen
- good linux support.
- daily driver for 5+ years
Minuses:
- USB3 dock doesn’t charge enough, still needs power supply.
- front edge of the laptop is a bit sharp
- swelling stock batteries, keyboard and mouse gradually stop working.
- should have used locktite on screws, some fell out and now hinge, power wonky.
I also have a thinkpad w520. Super solid, but gets hot when the gpu is enabled. Probably needs a thermal paste refresh. Still on the original keyboard. On second power supply, first one’s cable is getting sparky. Slow compared to the dell, short battery life, very heavy, still working though!
To run Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, or some other FOSS OS?
I’m running Fedora on a refurbished Thinkpad P1 Gen 4, and I’ve had good luck running Linux and the BSDs on higher end refurbished Dell Optiplex, Latitude, and Precision equipment.
Apple hardware is nice, and MacPorts gives me access to the vast majority of my *nix tools.
Shopping for new hardware I’d look at the list below to get Linux preinstalled.
- Thinkpad X1 Carbon
- Slimbook
- System76
- Tuxedo Computers
- Juno Computers
- Starlabs Systems
Or buy refurbed equipment from Dell or Lenovo.
