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Why do people still recommend Thinkpads for Linux when there are Linux-oriented manufacturers now?

I’ve noticed in the Linux community whenever someone asks for a recommendation on a laptop that runs Linux the answer is always “Get a Thinkpad” yet Lenovo doesn’t seem to be a big Linux contributor or ally. There’s also at least six Linux/FOSS-oriented computer manufacturers now:

So what gives? Why the love for a primarily Windows-oriented laptop when there are better alternatives?

eruchitanda ,
@eruchitanda@lemmy.world avatar

It saddens me to say this, but don’t buy from Purism. My Librem 5, after 2 years, still didn’t arrive.

vim_b ,

I opted for the Fir model, knowing version 2 would probably be 5–7 years away. My wife joked that we would have a school-age child before I got it… except it’s slowly becoming not a joke (and we didn’t even have kids when I preordered).

skankhunt42 ,
@skankhunt42@lemmy.ca avatar

100% don’t buy from Purism. I had their laptop. Librem 14? 15? And I gave it away to a friend after about a year. I had so many problems with it.

I had pre-ordered the phone but I asked for a refund just a month or so before everyone started saying they stopped giving refunds.

I have 4 pinephones, while they’re not daily driver ready, they’re awesome little devices and I’ve written a couple things for them. I also have 0 complaints about my system 76 laptop.

treadful ,
@treadful@lemmy.zip avatar

I got a Librem 13. Wasn’t worth it.

circuitfarmer ,
@circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

Cost.

Older Thinkpads remain extremely capable and (crucially) highly repairable. The T series in particular is also better built (read: more solid chassis) than many others, including some on this list.

It doesn’t make a lot of sense to support these alternatives given the absolute shock difference in cost. $300 bucks for a used T series gets you a lot from a customizability, repairability, and reliability standpoint.

eldavi ,

It doesn’t make a lot of sense to support these alternatives given the absolute shock difference in cost. $300 bucks for a used T series gets you a lot from a customizability, repairability, and reliability standpoint.

  1. bios updates leaves you at the mercy of the manufacturer;
  2. not every bios and distro works w lenovo’s bios update utility;
  3. and your battery life & performance has a big dependency on your bios so using something that it’s not designed to handle (eg anything that’s not windows) will result in less than optimal results. 3.5) same goes for hardware eg nvidia
circuitfarmer ,
@circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

I’ve had 4-5 such systems running Linux and never experienced any issues with BIOS.

Obviously you shouldn’t get a model using nvidia if you want to run Linux on it (unless you are aware of the extra time it takes to set up and the other pitfalls). I do actually have a T440p with a 730m in it – and it’s fine, I just run the open-source driver.

xcxcb ,

This is just fear mongering and wrong.

miss_brainfart ,
@miss_brainfart@lemmy.ml avatar

If you’re a FOSS enthusiast, might as well buy one of the models that are supported by Libreboot

ggnoredo ,

None of them are available in my country

S_H_K ,

I yearn for a starfighter and they send to my country but my government has an astronomical tax on anything priced over 200 dollars.

Tankiedesantski ,

Even if they’ll sell one to you internationally, you’re probably shit out of luck if something breaks and needs to be fixed under warranty.

Quackdoc ,
@Quackdoc@lemmy.world avatar

I literally threw a ThinkPad at a brick wall in rage a long time ago and it was fine a t-42 iirc. reccomended them ever since

owatnext ,
@owatnext@lemmy.world avatar

I dropped my T420s down the steps by accident. No issues, but the disc drive managed to fly out haha.

icdl ,

I’ve gotten a lenovo legion 5 for something around 1600$, with a 3070 rtx on it. Before that I had another legion as well, with 2060. I’ve gotten intel both times, my friend got the amd one. Why? They are a bit cheaper than the competition and I don’t really understand why asus version of essentially the same hardware costs more. Why not a linux oriented company instead of lenovo? Well linux isn’t as out of reach as it was 10 or even 5 years ago. Almost every driver you need is available even if you do a clean arch install out of the box. So why get a device that you can’t easily sell later on, won’t get god warranty services overseas and might be hard to repair in a pinch?

All this to say, get whatever you like. I think even on a macbook you can get a perfectly fine linux setup. I hate it when people assume linux needs to run on something specific and is out of reach. Get what you like at whatever price range you want, you’d be hard pressed to run into an issue installing and using linux on it.

I’ve gamed, developed web and android apps, patched kernel on asus rog series, lenovo legion series, some random msi model and a base configuration acer model. Almost zero problems.

yoz ,

Avoid purism at all costs. Watch Louis Rossman video on Purism mobile.

argv_minus_one ,

Also, why the hell would anyone ever recommend Lenovo for anything after the Superfish scandal?

yum13241 ,

Superfish would only function on Winblows however.

argv_minus_one ,

True, but you know what they say. “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” Maybe the last malicious firmware only does its evil thing if you’re running Windows, but what about the next malicious firmware? After such a grave betrayal, no one should trust Lenovo ever again. Not as long as other options exist.

yum13241 ,

Not to mention that Lenovo doesn’t make money on dinosaur ThinkPads anymore.

01189998819991197253 ,
@01189998819991197253@infosec.pub avatar

Superfish TL;DR

Kind of reminds me of Verizon’s App Manager.

LemonGrease ,
@LemonGrease@hexbear.net avatar

Funny red nipple

spauldo ,

“Clit mouse,” per xkcd. And it’s a major reason why I buy them.

freagle ,

Exactly. Track point is the number one reason

Shinji_Ikari ,
@Shinji_Ikari@hexbear.net avatar

I literally spent my hard earned bucks on a Tex Shinobi from one guy in Taiwan just so I could get the trackpoint for the desktop with a mechanical form factor without having to source a 30 year old Model M.

It’s my favorite keyboard ever btw. Don’t sleep on the Tex keyboards.

TheButtonJustSpins ,

That looks super old school.

Shinji_Ikari ,
@Shinji_Ikari@hexbear.net avatar

The layout is based on an old thinkpad layout which is cool. I never use the number pad either so it’s perfect for me. The palm rests are so comfortable as well.

01189998819991197253 ,
@01189998819991197253@infosec.pub avatar

I mean… It didn’t NOT persuade me…

Venutianxspring ,

They can be found cheap as shit. I got a great t480 for less than $150 and another $50 I upgraded my RAM and battery. It’s a really nice laptop and only cost me a couple hundred.

Double_A ,
@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

Cost and availability.

Most of those laptops cost over 1000€ if not even closer to 2000. And they don’t seem to ship to all countries.

While you can get a good used Thinkpad for 500€ everywhere in the world.

drwho ,
@drwho@beehaw.org avatar

And that’s with shipping included.

Cpo ,

And the CPU + RAM upgrade.

Zatujit ,

Cost? Framework is not really “Linux oriented”.

jasondj ,

Because most of these brands offer high-end laptops, the secondhand market is small and the new ones vastly exceed the needs of a lot of users.

Most people just browse the web, stream media, use productivity apps…these things don’t need much horsepower. The majority of people don’t need to run AAA games or graphics/video editing on their laptop.

Because of this, there is a great market for secondhand business laptops, and tons of great deals there. And of the big business brands (HP, Dell, and Lenovo), Lenovo tends to have the most compatible hardware (while also usually being very easily serviceable or upgraded).

I bought a Lenovo T470s with charger and a decent battery at a flea market on Father’s Day for $100 USD and he had a stack of them. Ordered some more memory and a bigger NVMe for $70, and now I have a very useful, practical, everyday laptop for less than $200, and it dual-boots a licensed Windows 10.

fakeman_pretendname ,

I’m sure it’s not everyone’s reason, but mine was “Thinkpad still has physical left, right and middle mouse buttons”.

freagle ,

Yes!

projectdp ,

I agree with a bunch of the comments here but wanted to add that there’s a decades-long legacy of good FOSS/Linux support on Thinkpads. Before any of these companies existed, Linux was running pretty reliably on Thinkpads.

I do like the newer options with these newer manufacturers, but I won’t be getting rid of my Thinkpads any time soon. I’m running a Framework now too.

Secret300 ,

I got a thinkpad for $50 at goodwiil. Those linux laptops are so much more expensive. I do plan on buying one soon tho cause I just got a new job

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