Lenovo Expects 30+ Platforms With Linux Support This Year, Both AMD & Intel Systems

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Lenovo Expects 30+ Platforms With Linux Support This Year, Both AMD & Intel Systems

At DebConf22 in Kosovo that recently wrapped up, Lenovo's Mark Pearson who leads the company's Linux initiatives talked in-person about their 2022 platform support for Linux and their progress over the past year. In 2022 they expect 30+ platforms with Linux support...

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Lenovo-Linux-2022-State

[pranav]

30+ devices is nice, but not intriguing because what's more important is:

1. Lenovo to learn some ideas which Framework laptop showed us. Give us 1 (15 inches) or maybe 2 (13 inch) device which has that level of modularity.
or,
2. At least don't soldered their RAM, Battery and SSD inside the motherboard.

[RussianNeuroMancer]

Mark, I guess you probably will read the comments, so I have to say -that was a great speech! Typing this on Yoga C630 WOS running Linux, so I was happy to hear that your team will be involved this time with X13s. Regarding Yoga C630 WOS - I understand that this is past-gen device, but since laptop is three commits away from upstream, only last significant problem* in getting it up and running with Linux is firmwares. Currently user have to fetch firmware files from Windows partition with special script or use special installer, because this (hw-revision specific) firmwares was not published in linux-firmware git, as there was no green light for this from both of Lenovo and Qualcomm. Is there any chance to change this for current Yoga C630 WOS and Yoga 5G owners? I will get X13s anyway due to superior specs, but still really would like to see Yoga C630 WOS fully supported by generic aarch64 installers.

* there is other issues of course, but other issues could be solved by community or mainters, while firmware issue can be solved only by Lenovo and/or Qualcomm (probably both)

[rabcor]

30+ devices is nice, but not intriguing because what's more important is:

1. Lenovo to learn some ideas which Framework laptop showed us. Give us 1 (15 inches) or maybe 2 (13 inch) device which has that level of modularity.
or,
2. At least don't soldered their RAM, Battery and SSD inside the motherboard.

If you like framework laptops,, get framework laptops ands stop doing business with lenovo, simple.

[brad0]

30+ devices is nice, but not intriguing because what's more important is:
1. Lenovo to learn some ideas which Framework laptop showed us. Give us 1 (15 inches) or maybe 2 (13 inch) device which has that level of modularity.
or,
2. At least don't soldered their RAM, Battery and SSD inside the motherboard.

That's a separate and completely unrelated issue.

[Raka555]

30+ devices and not a single one that will suit me as usual.

Seems what I want is weird and wonderful...

• Low power CPU, U-series, but fast single threaded performance. Does not need to have thousands of cores 2-4 high performance would be enough for me.
• No discrete GPU (just generates heat and noise and wastes power)
• 15"-16" screen 16:10 (or better vertical) ratio screen. High quality OLED 1920x1200. Don't want super high res because of power concerns. (I can settle for higher res, but not ideal).
• At least 1TB SSDs, 16G RAM (They should probably stop making things with lesser specs)
• at least 3 usb-c thunderbolt capable ports

They will make 30+ device and nothing like what I just described.

Apple makes only 3 models and one of them hits the nail on the head. (Macbooks -pro 16, except it has a high res, but I can live with it because scaling works well on MacOS and power usage is low)
I own the macbook-pro 16, but I do not like the OS and whole the Apple eco-system, so I end up using my 2014 Toshiba Tecra Z50 99% of the time. But there are now vertical streaks on the screen that are dead.

The only linux capable, non-Apple device that kind of come close is the DELL XPS-15, but then they don't offer it with a U-series CPU. And people already complain about heat and noise on those,so they are a non-starter.

If would really love it if any of DELL, HP, Lenovo (Or other brands that might be available in my country) would make just 1 model like I just described with good linux support.

[kylew77]

[*]15"-16" screen 16:10 (or better vertical) ratio screen. High quality OLED 1920x1200. Don't want super high res because of power concerns. (I can settle for higher res, but not ideal).

T16 gen 1 will cover this, it has a 16:10 IPS panel. First 16:10 model in a long time in the T series. Pretty sure it is 1920 x 1200. Don't know if it is OLED or not.
Current T series I believe have one SO-DIMM slot for expandable memory and 1 soldered RAM slot, it is a "Windows requirement for its sleep mode to have a soldered DIMM in each system" if I recall something like Intel EVO or something like that.

[kylew77]

Nice. I really like to see the Linux support by Lenovo on the ThinkPads. What about FreeBSD and OpenBSD support? I had read OpenBSD had a problem running on the newer T15 generations because of the TPM and such. Either ice lake or tiger lake I get the two confused. I would like to see Lenovo work on improved *BSD compatibility. I know over on /r/OpenBSD on Reddit that ThinkPads are touted as the best laptop for OpenBSD especially going back a few generations to like the T580 and T590 (T480 and T490 too). I know I personally want a T580 quad core!

[GeneralZod]

Typing this on Yoga C630 WOS running Linux, so I was happy to hear that your team will be involved this time with X13s. Regarding Yoga C630 WOS - I understand that this is past-gen device, but since laptop is

I've been eyeing one of these on eBay, but getting information on the specifics of Linux support is frustrating Would you mind answering a few questions?

1. Does mainline Linux support Suspend/ Resume on these devices?
2. If so, how reliably? Does it manage to Suspend/ Resume 100% of the time?
3. What's the approximate power drain during Suspend, in battery life percentage-points per hour?
4. What's the battery life like, in general? Under Windows, I believe it's something insane like 25 hours or so, screen-on time ... is it approximately the same under Linux?
5. Do you know if it hardware video decoding is supported under mainline Linux?

Many thanks in advance!

[CommunityMember]

30+ devices and not a single one that will suit me as usual.
If would really love it if any of DELL, HP, Lenovo (Or other brands that might be available in my country) would make just 1 model like I just described with good linux support.

The issue is perceived volume of sales for a positive ROI. Have your company commit to buying many tens of thousands of such units and the Dell's, HP's, Lenovo's, etc. will likely consider building it. For quantity one sales, no major company cares (or they will customize such a solution at the fully encumbered costs, so you can't afford it anyway).