Install it yourself
At this point you might be thinking it’d be easier just to install Linux yourself – and you’d be right. We’re going to take a bit of time now to look at how you can pick a laptop off the shelf that you can be certain will run a GNU/ Linux distro with no hassles.
To kick things off Ubuntu maintains a tested compatibility list of not just laptops but also servers and desktops at www.ubuntu. com/certification/desktop. This covers a range of manufacturers including Lenovo, Dell, HP and Asus with the list specifically supporting Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and 14.04 LTS. Drilling down into the list you’ll find each model gives you a full rundown of components. BIOS and additional notes. It’s a solid start as just for Ubuntu 14.04 LTS there’s are over 160 laptops listed and more than 500 for 12.04 LTS.
This is the ideal position to be in, knowing that each component of a laptop is supported by Linux. If you’re thinking of buying a laptop that’s not on the Ubuntu list, then the thing to do is check each component the laptop uses against the Ubuntu certified component list at www.ubuntu.com/certification/catalog it’s not an exhaustive list but is a start.
You can take things further by scanning through http://linux-drivers.org while indivdual distros provide their own lists of supported hardware, eg Debian has a database ( https://wiki.debian.org/ Hardware), as does OpenSUSE ( https://en.opensuse.org/Hardware) and Linux Mint ( http://community.linuxmint. com/hardware).
More general advice is to choose an all Intel laptop. It seems harsh to AMD, but Intel has a sound track record of supporting Linux and releasing drivers as the hardware is released. Many key issues are related to issues with wireless card firmware and drivers, similarly but less common Ethernet drivers and discrete Nvidia and AMD GPU drivers. If you’re
thinking of buying any laptop ensure Linux supports these and avoid discrete GPUs, if possible.
A final but important point is that some laptop manufacturers are locking down the UEFI BIOS, making it impossible to install any other operating system. It’s hard to know how widely this trend is spreading, but the advice is do not buy a laptop before checking you’re able to boot off another device. Even if Secure Boot can’t be turned off, you’d still be able to install Ubuntu, OpenSUSE and Fedora as these have keys thanks to our benevolent overlord Microsoft. Mumble, mumble… There is a caveat here that these keys don’t have to be installed in the UEFI – they usually are – if not they can be installed from Windows.
Open hardware
People are becoming more demanding when it comes to closed and proprietary software and hardware. The explosion of embedded systems in the form of smartphones and tablets, has highlighted how locked down hardware has become, via closed-source bootloaders and unseen firmware. Desktop processors have also become so complex that they run their own firmware that can be updated and it’s the closed nature of this that rings privacy alarms for security types.