I guess there is some logic, in that refurbished Lenovo laptops are still one of the more popular vehicles for Linux. I just installed Fedora on a refurb T410, slapped in an SSD, and for my (rather light) workload I notice no disadvantage compared with desktop Win10.
Linux can’t be installed on a recent Lenovo laptop
281–290 of 494 posts
Re: Linux can’t be installed on a recent Lenovo laptop
#282Silly headline. In reality they're using a weird raid mode, no ones written a linux driver for yet.
It's not weird, it's put there deliberately to prevent people install other operation system.
Re: Linux can’t be installed on a recent Lenovo laptop
#283As much as I'd love to (hate to) see vintage 1990's Microsoft back in evil empire mode, this doesn't make sense. What is their motive here? The Windows vs. Linux battle is long settled, and Windows is not under thread from Linux. Why would they intentionally block Linux on one vendors laptops, gaining basically no profit/market share, and risking lawsuits and online outrage? Hanlon's razor applies; I assume this is a…
[deleted]
Re: Linux can’t be installed on a recent Lenovo laptop
#284Earlier quoted context omitted.
True - but as the other HN thread (that I can't seem to find anymore > will write one. On the other hand, Microsoft could have easily gotten a much more "robust" lockdown - by simply demanding mandatory, unchangeable Secure Boot like on the ARM tablets. But they didn't do that.
>On the other hand, Microsoft could have easily gotten a much more "robust" lockdown - by simply demanding mandatory, unchangeable Secure Boot like on the ARM tablets. But they didn't do that. Didn't you hear that Secure Boot is basically broken?
Those leaked provisioning certs can be blacklisted on new hardware
Re: Linux can’t be installed on a recent Lenovo laptop
#285Earlier quoted context omitted.
"of course Apple and Sun can sell computers, but not to the two most lucrative markets for computers, namely, the corporate desktop and the home computer." - Joel Spolsky, 2004
Well, with around 8-10% today (9.6% according to StatCounter), Apple which targets higher-end, higher-margins gets most of the profits from the home computer market, at least in the US. It is also doing quite well recently in the corporate desktop (see IBM adopting Macs, etc). Heck, they almost dominate the "startup founder/employee" desktop, as well as the "university student" desktop.
>gets most of the profits from the home computer market, at least in the US.
Do you have a source for this? I know it's the case with their phones, but they also have a much larger market share there. It's hard for me to believe they get "most of the profits" from the PC market with their minuscule share, especially when their computers are competitively priced.
Re: Linux can’t be installed on a recent Lenovo laptop
#286Well. Typical Chinese. If they can make a buck by screwing a customer over, they will make the buck.
You know Keizen? From Japan? The continuous improvement of products..
Chinese have something similar. Geizen. ("to be stingy").
Geizen, the continuous deterioration of product quality to increase profits. Same a millimeter in the thickness of the case. Use cheaper steal, make the cables shorter. The thing needs 6 screws? It will hold fine with 5. Will even hold with only 4. Maybe 3?
And if Microsoft gives a buck to lock the consumer in, why bother telling him? All part of Geizen.
Re: Linux can’t be installed on a recent Lenovo laptop
#287Just out of curiosity, what's the rationale for MS & Lenovo to do this, why to risk PR? The number of people wanting to install Linux is marginal and they are already "on the wrong side".
I guess they just wanted to lock out Windows 7/8. They don't gain anything by denying Linux to a few people. But preventing that the buyer can downgrade to Windows 7 fits exactly to their strategy and makes sense for Microsoft. Also, an agreement to lock out Linux might not be legal from an antitrust perspective, whereas an agreement to restrict usage to the current version of the OS is much less critical.
Anybody who buys or upgrades to a Pro version of Windows automatically gets downgrade rights.
Some organizations (including, I think, London police) are still rolling out Windows 8.1 with full Microsoft support.
Windows 7/8/8.1 are all supported for 10 years under Microsoft's standard published software lifecycle.
Re: Linux can’t be installed on a recent Lenovo laptop
#288This looks like a timely moment to bring up Cory Doctorow's The coming war on general computation talk:
> So today we have marketing departments who say things like "we don't need computers, we need... appliances. Make me a computer that doesn't run every program, just a program that does this specialized task, like streaming audio, or routing packets, or playing Xbox games, and make sure it doesn't run programs that I haven't authorized that might undermine our profits". And on the surface, this seems like a reasonable idea -- just a program that does one specialized task -- after all, we can put an electric motor in a blender, and we can install a motor in a dishwasher, and we don't worry if it's still possible to run a dishwashing program in a blender. But that's not what we do when we turn a computer into an appliance. We're not making a computer that runs only the "appliance" app; we're making a computer that can run every program, but which uses some combination of rootkits, spyware, and code-signing to prevent the user from knowing which processes are running, from installing her own software, and from terminating processes that she doesn't want. In other words, an appliance is not a stripped-down computer -- it is a fully functional computer with spyware on it out of the box.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUEvRyemKSg
Transcript: https://github.com/jwise/28c3-doctorow/blob/master/transcrip...
Re: Linux can’t be installed on a recent Lenovo laptop
#289First they came for the crapware license deals, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Windows User. Then they came for spammer license deals, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Windows User. Then they came to install back doors, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Windows User. Then they came for my ability to install Linux—and there was no one left to speak for me.
C'mon, have some class. You're really going to co-opt a quote decrying war crimes and genocide to complain about not being able to install an alternative OS on your hardware?
Seems reasonable to me. The core idea is relevant, even if it is about something much less serious.
Re: Linux can’t be installed on a recent Lenovo laptop
#290Timing couldn't be better to now announce the new MacBook Pro.
The issue doesn't affect Thinkpad line but sure does help people to make a buying decision between a MBP and a Thinkpad.