Hacker News Reader

Comment by nrp | Hacker News Reader

We dogfood regularly on Ubuntu LTS and Fedora, and we've been working with the team at Fedora (and have provided them a pre-release unit). In general, the only issue we foresee in the near term is that the fingerprint reader likely won't work out of the box in Linux. There is a driver though, and we're working on making that setup as easy as possible until it is in mainline.

View on HN

Can you please ensure that you support Linux Vendor Firmware Service (LVFS)[1] i.e ensure your vendors support it.

Edit: Bit more rant about LVFS goodness

Even my Logitech 2.4 Ghz receiver gets regular updates on LVFS, can't remember it happening even with official Logitech SW on Mac/Windows. LVFS fixes the embedded controller security/bugs mess. A functional laptop like Framework when released with first class support for Linux features like LVFS can add more value to the customer.

[1]https://fwupd.org/

Definitely! We're set up as a vendor there and will be using it for updates in the future: https://fwupd.org/lvfs/vendors/#framework

Yay! Added some more rant about LVFS to my original comment.

Do you plan to sell the prebuilt systems with linux preinstalled (or with no OS)? I have no desire for my money to go to Microsoft, and no desire for Windows, but the prebuilt model is intriguing to me.

Preloading a Linux distro is something we may do in the future. We've made the DIY Edition super easy to set up though for folks who don't want Windows in the meantime.

preinstalled linux is a hard requirement for many users, even if they want to reinstall it themselves. It gives an assurance that CPU throttling, suspension, hibernation, will work correctly. Otherwise it feels like a lottery. Of course a linux install is easy and will always work; but will it work correctly? If you offer preinstalled linuxes we can be sure it does.

> If you offer preinstalled linuxes we can be sure it does.

With that one specific preinstalled kernel image.

> It gives an assurance that CPU throttling, suspension, hibernation, will work correctly.

For what it's worth, I had two XPS 13s in a row and the one that came with Ubuntu pre-installed had _way_ worse hardware compatibility problems.

I'd buy this in a heartbeat if I could get a guarantee that it would work well with Linux. Having Linux pre-installed is one way to signal confidence that it works well with Linux.

It sounds like they're internally running Linux on these, which also seems like a pretty good sign?

Doesn't mean that all of the peripherals work ideally, or that power management works ideally.

I will be on your wait list for the pro the moment I can order it with Linux preinstalled.

We? You helped with this? You guys rock!

Now there's a repairable, upgradable choice, it's going to be hard to get me to do anything else.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com