Laptop learning
Getting a Linux-powered laptop will make you the envy of your classmates.
“Pretty much any laptop you buy will play nicely with a modern distribution”
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esktop Linux has come a long way in just a few years, and by now most of our readers are in agreement that one’s day-to-day computing can be done as well, if not better, using Ubuntu, Lib re Office and< insert your favourite FOSSbrowserhere> than Windows, MSOffice and Internet Explorer/Edge. The old arguments about less bloatware and fewer viruses are still true, and we also have some great new ones about privacy.
Of course, there are obstacles, both real and imagined, that prevent some people moving full-time to Linux. These might be the advanced features of Photoshop, or a reliance on some other special software for which no Linux port or viable alternative exists (yet). But how can Linux and FOSS, in general, cater to the needs of students, our future leaders, who venture back to classrooms and lecture theatres this month?
Many students are desirous of new laptops to start the term, and there certainly are bargains to be had. Fancy i9 or Ryzen 9 processors are only necessary for hardcore gamers or video editors; for simple classroom-related chores, the budget-friendly options are fine. Because i3 laptops are so cheap, we caution against buying a secondhand system. One never knows how much dust is inside, and it’s always better to have a warranty and not need it than vice versa. That said, it’s easy to breathe life into an older machine by adding extra RAM or an SSD (and subtracting Windows). Avoid 32-bit machines, though, because distributions are slowly winding up support here.
Historically, laptops and Linux haven’t gotten on well. We are haunted by memories of dodgy integrated graphics that didn’t work with drivers that claimed to support them, failures to wake from suspend, poor battery life, and lots of other things that still give us nightmares. Mercifully, those days are gone, and pretty much any laptop you buy will play nicely with a modern distribution. You can even put Linux on your MacBook, although this takes some wrangling ( see
LXF225), or if you’re feeling especially contrary and adventurous, latter incarnations of Microsoft’s Surface Pro. There’s still the perennial secure boot issue (which until deactivated prevents unsigned OSes being installed) but even if this feature can’t be disabled, Ubuntu derivatives and Fedora can still be used. While it’s possible that OEMs could prevent secure boot from being disabled, we’ve never seen a concrete example. What we have seen is cases where the UEFI settings can only be changed when an administrator password has been set up, or those settings can only be accessed by clicking Windows 10’s Shutdown menu, holding Shift and selecting Restart > Troubleshoot > Advanced Options – it’s all so obvious. Many users (laptop and desktop) complain that the startup screen telling them which key to press to access UEFI settings flashes by too quickly. It does vary, but try one of F1, F2, F10, F12 or Esc, or Google your laptop or motherboard’s model number.
There are now a few places that will sell you a laptop with Linux pre-installed, which pretty much guarantees the hardware will play nicely with Linux, and means better support if something does go wrong. In the UK, we have Entroware and Starlabs Systems, who both sell a variety of desktops and laptops. In the US, there’s System76, and a growing number of smaller retailers. Dell has been leading the market, selling laptops with Ubuntu on them since 2012 under the Developer Edition moniker (it actually sold its first Linux machines in 2007, but that didn’t pan out). Our tech ed loves the XPS13, but it may be overkill for a classroom machine, especially the QHD+ version.