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.
Everything you just said can be fixed by buying Thinkpads. All of them are supported because some companies use Linux at an enterprise level. Until those corporations disappear, Linux will never stop being supported on them. I see a lot of doom and gooom that is frankly unhelpful especially now that the Microslop monopoly is clearly breaking down and there is more potential for Linux than ever before.
The average person. I'm going to repeat that because apparently you missed it. The average person isn't buying used computers from enterprise resellers.
A new entry level Thinkpad from Lenovo is $935.10 on Lenovo's website right now and it comes with copilot. Buying used is a crapshoot because lots of those surplus or used business ones are being resold without RAM or in some cases Harddrives, which will obvious drive up the cost and that supply will be finite going forward as the RAM and components shortages continue. You don't even have to take my word for it.
Here is a guy who was salvaging business class laptops, refurbishing them and installing Linux to sell them to people who can't afford the new tech price increases and even he has been forced to give up doing that.
It's not about Linux not being supported. It's about barrier to entry.
My mother is not buying and installing RAM. My mother would not know what to do if she had driver issues on Linux.
And where with windows there's an assumption that you don't know anything about anything so guides with step by step instructions exist, with Linux, a lot of the time you'll get some lackluster instructions that assume you have a set amount of knowledge already.
So either you didn't read everything I said, and you're just responding to what you think I meant, or alternatively you wrong about what can be fixed by buying thinkpads.
https://youtu.be/T6eiFyJMWgM
The average person is most definitely buying second-hand laptops they can afford from Facebook Marketplace or similar, enterprise-grade or not.
Linux inherently has a barrier of entry by virtue of having essentially zero manufacturers selling hardware that ships with Linux installed. However I don't understand why you think price is a barrier of entry. If the majority of laptops are priced from 300 euros up to 4000 in some shops, then that's what customers are willing to pay. I don't mean now with the AI boom making everything more expensive either, I mean for the past few years this has been the market. Common people buy new from stores, or buy second-hand.
This issue is not specific to Linux. The used market is flooded with Windows laptops that no longer support windows 11 well due to only having 4-8 GB ram. Same with 8GB Macbooks.
I don't know why you're pretending that shopping for an older laptop model is only a problem for the average person if you want it to be Linux compatible. Also your grandmother doesn't have to do anything. She, like the average person, can take her laptop to a repair shop for servicing and upgrading.
This said, you're not the average person. You already went the extra mile by installing Linux on devices that don't ship with from factory. Further, you're specifically interested in small devices when the average person wants bigger screens, you want your device to be underpowered when the average person wants them as powerful as possible in a slim form factor without compromising on battery. Your rant has nothing to do with what the average person wants, your rant is, sorry to say, a completely self-absorved rant that just shows you're mad your niche preferences aren't supported by the Linux community, or the world consumer preferences as a whole.
I mean honestly could this title be any more self-absorbed?
I would ask if you're a Debian user (or use a Debian-derivative), but what even is the point when I already know the answer.
I feel like you have a reading comprehension problem and I'm over it. If you don't think there's a limit to the number of used (affordable) home PC's in this economy with literally everything that's going on with new computer prices, component prices etc then you are not paying attention.
I don't know if you chose to single me about specifically because you didn't like that me and Op agree about some of the things they said or what, but I'm not here for it.
You flashed right past the meat of what I was saying to quibble about this "being linux's" fault when that literally wasn't the point. Op isn't blaming Linux and neither am I. Don't bother to reply if you're not going to read to understand. I don't care what you have to say if you're just here to be combative.
I… literally thought you were OP. But anyways I respect your decision. Have a nice day.