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Lenovo ThinkPad T460 – A Good Linux Laptop for Development

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Re: Lenovo ThinkPad T460 – A Good Linux Laptop for Development

#271

Post by runn1ng »

mangecoeur wrote: post #190

As an ex-linux user and current mac user, I'm still frustrated by linux laptop hardware support. Ethernet ports that need to be re-plugged, suspend-to-disk not working... lots of glitches things that were already annoying 6-7 years ago but now are hard to justify compared with the polish you can expect from other systems. I could never go back from my macbook because I need everything to just work - no glitchy touchp…

I still run Linux despite all the challenges and all the hardware constantly breaking and working just-not-right, because I just love the openness and I don't understand how can Apple (and windows) users survive without "apt-get". Homebrew is a poor substitute for me.

I am basically using linux just for apt-get, the configurability and the ability to test server-side software in the same-ish environment as it will actually run in is a nice plus.

But yeah, people that argue that "there are no issues" are either lying or were incredibly lucky. I actually bought a laptop that had ubuntu pre-installed that stopped working immediately after doing a system update! (Because the laptop had a binary blob driver for a graphic card, and that stopped working with some new kernel or whatever.)

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad T460 – A Good Linux Laptop for Development

#273

Post by keithpeter »

blakeyrat wrote: post #262
keithpeter wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use whole drive encryption to protect data in the event I leave my old X220 (Fedora) on the bus. I don't mind boot times in the 20s range (X220/Fedora/cheapo SSD) too much, but I do need to close down/reboot a couple of times a day otherwise no point in encryption.

> but I do need to close down/reboot a couple of times a day otherwise no point in encryption. Given, I'm not a Linux user, but I don't understand this at all. On Windows, encrypted is encrypted-- the lock screen is exactly as secure as the login screen. Are you saying that in Linux the lock screen is easily-bypassed? So you have to keep your computer logged-out when you're in a place it might get stolen?

I believe that would be 'encrypt my home drive' on Linux, then you basically log out to protect files. Not sure though.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad T460 – A Good Linux Laptop for Development

#274

Post by ronjouch »

macinjosh wrote: post #270
ronjouch wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So which is it, they're spreading "Fear, uncertainty and doubt" or they're right? They're spreading the FUD that Linux laptop hardware support is frustrating, no questions asked. It's FUD because it's a fear-inducing oversimplification of the current state of things, which is that Linux laptop hardware support is enjoyable -if you do your homework- .

I think the point was that most would rather just have a machine that works out of the box so they can do their actual work instead of 'doing their homework' on how to get their machine to hibernate, connect to wifi reliably, etc...

You're re-framing the context of "doing their homework".

I agree you shouldn't be doing any homework to perform basic tasks such as "get [the] machine to hibernate, connect to wifi reliably, etc...". I'm not doing any of it on my Thinkpad, where these tasks work without messing around.

And in an ideal world, yes, I'd love not having to ever think about it too :) . But in the current Windows-dominated non-Mac consumer hardware world, what I say is that you should be doing homework prior to buying a machine you expect to install Linux on.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad T460 – A Good Linux Laptop for Development

#275

Post by michaelmior »

runn1ng wrote: post #271
mangecoeur wrote: post #190

As an ex-linux user and current mac user, I'm still frustrated by linux laptop hardware support. Ethernet ports that need to be re-plugged, suspend-to-disk not working... lots of glitches things that were already annoying 6-7 years ago but now are hard to justify compared with the polish you can expect from other systems. I could never go back from my macbook because I need everything to just work - no glitchy touchp…

I still run Linux despite all the challenges and all the hardware constantly breaking and working just-not-right, because I just love the openness and I don't understand how can Apple (and windows) users survive without "apt-get". Homebrew is a poor substitute for me. I am basically using linux just for apt-get, the configurability and the ability to test server-side software in the same-ish environment as it will ac…

Being a current Linux and former macOS user, I actually miss Homebrew sometimes. It's much easier to get recent versions of software and also easier to set up your own repository (tap).

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad T460 – A Good Linux Laptop for Development

#276

Post by bramblerose »

runn1ng wrote: post #271
mangecoeur wrote: post #190

As an ex-linux user and current mac user, I'm still frustrated by linux laptop hardware support. Ethernet ports that need to be re-plugged, suspend-to-disk not working... lots of glitches things that were already annoying 6-7 years ago but now are hard to justify compared with the polish you can expect from other systems. I could never go back from my macbook because I need everything to just work - no glitchy touchp…

I still run Linux despite all the challenges and all the hardware constantly breaking and working just-not-right, because I just love the openness and I don't understand how can Apple (and windows) users survive without "apt-get". Homebrew is a poor substitute for me. I am basically using linux just for apt-get, the configurability and the ability to test server-side software in the same-ish environment as it will ac…

Consider using a VM, and using either Windows or OS X as graphical user interface. You can then easily SSH into the VM, and do most of the development there. If you run a samba (or nfs) server on the VM, you can even easily use e.g. VS Code. Add an X server and you can run (albeit not very fast) run graphical programs (e.g. and IDE) as well.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad T460 – A Good Linux Laptop for Development

#277

Post by acd »

I can recommend switching Xorg Intel to the Xorg Modeset driver if you are using Linux with Intel based graphics. The stability of the modeset driver is much better than the Intel Xorg driver.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/intel_graphics https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-video-mode...

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad T460 – A Good Linux Laptop for Development

#278

Post by adrusi »

vegardx wrote: post #151

It would be so much easier to love my Thinkpad T460s if it wasn't for the touchpad. Coming to Thinkpad and Linux after many years as a Mac-user this was almost a deal breaker for me. The palm detection in synaptic driver is laughable. People installing Linux on the new Macbook Pros are going to have a blast with that gigantic touchpad. And I don't even think it's just a driver problem, as the touchpad can register a…

It sounds like you're using tap-to-click. If you don't want to get used to the trackpoint you could disable that and actually depress the touchpad when you want to click. Setting the synaptics parameter "ClickPad=0" makes that touchpad work a lot like the Apple defaults. I've been using this configuration for 3 years and I never have the cursor jump around or misbehave at all.

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad T460 – A Good Linux Laptop for Development

#279

Post by stephengillie »

keldaris wrote: post #256
stephengillie wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've used a T400 as my kitchen laptop for years, and recently put Win10 on it. I put my SSD in it, back with Win8. The laptop still works great, and it's my main PowerShell workstation - it's where I wrote my Arkdata player tracker static site. (Yes, I wrote it while standing in my kitchen.) The market is the same, really. What you're seeing is the end of Moore's law, with 10 year old laptops still being effective co…

When I said the market has regressed, I wasn't referring to the slowing advances in CPU performance, etc. Normally, such a slowdown would enable manufacturers to focus on creating better cases, improve peripherals, etc. Instead, the obsession with thinness and design fads has led to worse usability, much worse keyboards, fewer ports, etc., and maintainability is virtually gone as a concept. Obviously, this is largely…

The market for laptops and computing devices has traversed us like an ocean wave. Where we were once among the bleeding edge for such devices, our obsessions - with connections, with customizability, with function over form - have left us among the long tail of compute users.

To rephrase, for the meme generation: https://i.imgur.com/TvSgLr1.png

Re: Lenovo ThinkPad T460 – A Good Linux Laptop for Development

#280

Post by pmontra »

karussell wrote: post #125
pmontra wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to a comment in the post it fails when the swap partition is encrypted. However why enable swap with 16 GB of RAM? I've been running without swap for almost 3 years and never had any trouble. If I start approaching the limit I'll buy another 16 GB.

The comment also talks about suspend to disc.

Exactly, the comment in your blog is "suspension to disk does not work if your swap partition is encrypted. This is due to how Ubuntu encrypts your home (ecryptfs) but not due to Linux itself."

I was reporting that.

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