OpenBSD on the Microsoft Surface Go
jcs.org
jcs.org
The results are similar. Support is slightly better on Linux (e.g., Bluetooth & IIO sensors work.) Linux support is better than on any of my other Surface devices (Surface Pro 2017, Surface Pro 3, or Surface 3 non-Pro.)
In short: almost everything works out of the box. (The major exception is the front- & rear-facing cameras.)
I have been using this device daily since release day. It's one of my favourite devices.
*what I mean by this is, they don't pick shitty hardware from vendors to put into their system that has no kernel support. Better yet, there are OEMs who actively support Linux (Dell, Purism, etc), for example, on their systems. Support those folks, not folks like Microsoft.
Perhaps as a compromise: in general try to buy hardware directly from real Linux/BSD vendors, with an exception for second-hand purchases (which don't directly benefit the original manufacturer) of Surfaces &c.
As far as I can tell, none such exist. There are many companies making "detachable"/"type cover" tablet devices, but I can't identify that can match the size, weight, and performance of the Surface series.
I think it might be possible to raise the issue of Linux support to Panos Panay's attention. I have some thoughts how one might go about doing that.
Thankfully, the situation with the Surface Go is very promising. If the same choices are made for the Surface Pro 5/Surface Pro 2018 and Surface Book 3, I think these will be solid devices for software programmers who want to use Linux (or BSD.)
And, as I said, I use my Surface Go on a daily basis for work. It's a fantastic piece of hardware. I really enjoy using it.
I love my SP4, may replace it with a Surace Go gen2 if they keep the formfacter/weight down like that.
It's unfortunate that the Qualcomm WiFi does not work out of the box. However, the fix is fairly easy, and day-to-day WiFi performance is solid: fast, stable, no issues resuming from hibernate/suspend.
BTW, The Qualcomm wifi chipset is a BLESSING and considering the Surface Go is < 1 month old i'm sure its only a matter of time before open source drivers improve for it.
Uh, I (and you, and everyone except Qualcomm) cannot do that. ath10k drivers are inherently broken without a proprietary firmware because "blah blah 802.11ac blah blah" waves hands around
The atheros chip in that microsoft thing has been around for quite a while.
Nope.
The atheros chip is new, every single surface device used MARVEL and MARVEL was total crap - always having issues connecting, flaky drivers, poor standby experience. The surface go is the first device to not use marvel and i hope the next Pro's and Surface Laptops go atheros.
This old adage has never made sense to me. Not everyone can write software (let alone device drivers).
I'm pretty committed to System76 at this point because I don't feel like wasting time trying to solve a bunch of driver BS and unsupported chips. I have wasted untold hours doing this in the past. But perhaps some masochist impulse will lead me down the route of trying to save a few hundred bucks and I'll buy a cheap Chinese tablet.
On the other hand maybe unofficial Linux support for the surface go will be as good as Linux support for Macs has been in the past and it'll be a viable hardware choice.
May be Linux devs can take lead and define the specs for the hardware people.