[svlug] Light AMD laptop for linux?

[Scott Boyd]

My experience with Linux and laptops has caused me to choose Intel over 
AMD on that platform. Older Centrino laptops work fine with Linux and 
there are stable drivers available.  The newer CoreDuo and Core2Duo CPUs 
and supporting chip sets also work well. You can find laptops that meet 
4 lb requirement also.

I use AMD for servers almost always, but AMD in laptops has proved not 
worth the trouble given all the different supporting chip sets and 
various issues.

At A-Street Internet we've been asked to put Linux on a variety of 
laptops and Centrinos and Intel based ones are the easiest to get 
working. Cheaper laptops are also easier, because they usually have 
non-proprietary hardware that is more likely to have working Linux drivers.

S.


Daniel Gimpelevich wrote:
> On Wed, 14 Feb 2007 11:00:24 -0800, Greg Lindahl wrote:
>
>   
>> On Wed, Feb 14, 2007 at 07:49:27AM -0800, Daniel Gimpelevich wrote:
>>
>>     
>>> That's a very tall order indeed. It's a bit ironic that the FSF calls for
>>> a boycott of Intel in favor of AMD, since AMD-based systems tend to be far
>>> more Linux-hostile than Intel-based ones.
>>>       
>> Generalizations are hard -- AMD *server* platforms require no non-free
>> drivers, and my AMD laptop needs one (video). AMD's support of
>> LinuxBios is much, much better than Intel's. So people's opinions will
>> vary depending on what kind of computing they do.
>>     
>
> One's definition of "Linux-hostile" can also greatly vary. Server
> platforms were so far removed from Dave's question that I didn't consider
> them relevant enough to mention. LinuxBios support also greatly varies
> with the motherboard chipset for AMD. For example, LinuxBios support for
> VIA chipsets is nearly zilch. It is possible to use any chipset for AMD
> without non-free drivers of any kind, with markedly reduced functionality,
> except with VIA, which has no such requirements, and ATI, which requires
> them only for video over and above VESA. Only a masochist would try such a
> thing with a chipset from SiS or nVidia.
>
>   
>> I'm really looking forward to free ATI drivers.
>>
>> -- greg
>>     
>
> As I previously said, that is a powerful reason to go with ATI _right now_.
>
>
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