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Comment by sherr | Hacker News Reader

"Hardware support for Linux PCs is poor and lacks the manageable of Windows PCs with Active Directory and GPO, or JAMF for Macs. Enterprise software usually doesn't support Linux. Linux PCs are uncommon for personal use and corporations don't want to train users how to use Linux."

I would dispute the "hardware support" comment. Linux has pretty good hardware support nowadays. And "enterprise" software is a vague term here. For desktop Windows, of course Microsoft will have that covered every which way, but for things such as authentication, authorization and security, Linux has a place. A comment about adding "Redhat" to the mix is not talking about desktops (necessarily) but servers and security.

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There are still plenty of issues with bluetooth, batteries, microphones, gpus, touchpads etc when doing a clean install of Ubuntu on any random laptop.

Enterprise and government don't use random laptops.

True. But larger orgs don't buy "random laptops". The trick is to just buy laptops where you know everything works, and the company making them has a commitment to Linux.

Buy your linux laptop fleet from Framework, System76, Starlabs etc and you won't have any problems like that. You might have OTHER problems, but not that one.

None of those companies have a logistics chain which would at all be suitable for the US federal government.

Even in corporate, there's basically two vendors - Dell, and a distant second Lenovo, with Apple having a foothold in niche usecases.

You used to be able to buy Dells with Linux pre-installed, quite a while ago. Did they stop?

No, but it's not universal across their range.

Any corporation won't care if it comes with Linux pre-installed, as they'll want to image the machines themselves (CrowdStrike for instance).

Do these companies support Net 30/60/90 payment? Do they provide enterprise support?

There’s a reason why corporations use HP and Dell machines. And there’s a reason why HP/Dell/etc don’t have Linux OSes on their corporate client machines. Well, they do, but companies don’t care to order them for the other reasons people have listed here.

I work for a company with 1000+ people in RnD doing software development. 80% of those use Ubuntu and have one desktop and one laptop (HP EliteBooks) and that works fine.

You are right that not all devices don't work perfectly, but the Bluetooth headsets, Bluetooth mouses, conference rooms etc. that the company supports are tested for compatibility before being bought by our IT department.

Canonical and Red Hat have certified hardware. Most corporate workers aren’t software developers. They just want their productivity suite for email, scheduling, messaging, documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.

> A comment about adding "Redhat" to the mix is not talking about desktops (necessarily) but servers and security.

Why would you use RHEL to manage Windows client machines, when you could use Windows Server/Azure and get Microsoft support?

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