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Ask HN: Best Developer Linux Laptop in 2012

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Ask HN: Best Developer Linux Laptop in 2012

#1

Post by linx »

I'm looking to buy a new machine for work. I've found some old threads discussing laptops for Ubuntu, but now it's 2012, the world has changed, there are even Macbooks with retina display... I really don't want to use OS X, I've been using it for about two years, but since I've installed Ubuntu on my MacBook Air I'm happier than ever.

So I'm looking for a powerful laptop around 13" and fully Ubuntu compatible. And the most important thing is that it shouldn't be heavy brick; I used to work with a MBA and really liked the ease of it.

Re: Ask HN: Best Developer Linux Laptop in 2012

#5

Post by linx »

Toph wrote: post #4

May I ask what's wrong with using Ubuntu on the Air that doesn't fit your criteria. It appears it does.

It's getting too slow, since it's one of the earliest MBAs and I'm doing a lot of developing work which requires running virtual machines. I had a look at the latest MBAs, but I don't know if they are as Ubuntu compatible as my current MBA.

Re: Ask HN: Best Developer Linux Laptop in 2012

#6

Post by Toph »

linx wrote: post #5
Toph wrote: post #4

May I ask what's wrong with using Ubuntu on the Air that doesn't fit your criteria. It appears it does.

It's getting too slow, since it's one of the earliest MBAs and I'm doing a lot of developing work which requires running virtual machines. I had a look at the latest MBAs, but I don't know if they are as Ubuntu compatible as my current MBA.

If you're running VM, it should be perfectly fine. I read about some dual boot issues but I think that can be resolved.

Re: Ask HN: Best Developer Linux Laptop in 2012

#7

Post by linx »

Toph wrote: post #6
linx wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's getting too slow, since it's one of the earliest MBAs and I'm doing a lot of developing work which requires running virtual machines. I had a look at the latest MBAs, but I don't know if they are as Ubuntu compatible as my current MBA.

If you're running VM, it should be perfectly fine. I read about some dual boot issues but I think that can be resolved.

I'm not running Ubuntu inside a VM, I'm running Ubuntu currently as dual boot. Just keeping a ~10GB OS X partition for eventually firmware updates. I want to do the same with the new MBA (if I buy one).
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