Razer's Blade Stealth Multi-Touch To Be Supported By Linux 4.17

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Razer's Blade Stealth Multi-Touch To Be Supported By Linux 4.17

The HID subsystem updates have been submitted for the Linux 4.17 merge window and that set of driver updates includes a variety of new product support...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Linux-4.17-HID-Razer-Wacom

[kaprikawn]

Why is this in the kernel, can't it live in libinput?

[numacross]

Why is this in the kernel, can't it live in libinput?

If the kernel is missing bits to even detect the device or is detecting it incorrectly (for example a multi-touch device being detected as single-) then it needs to be fixed there. Libinput works with what the kernel gives it.

[starshipeleven]

Why is this in the kernel, can't it live in libinput?

FYI: Drivers in Linux are usually divided in one kernel component and one (or more) userspace components.

The kernel driver exposes the actual hardware to the userspace, the userspace part does the actual payload logic or hooks that to more abstracted userspace interfaces.

[Creak]

> while we still wait to see how Razer's Linux laptop play will eventually pan out.

I'm definitely waiting for this. It's hard to find powerful laptops on Linux, since the vast majority are low-cost ones with integrated GPUs.
Ever since Razer announced that they were interested in bringing their laptops to Linux, I'm closely following every move they make

Alas, I have some colleagues with a Razer laptop, but they're not rolling Linux. So (phoronix, Michael) I would be very interested in an article showing how well the best Razer laptop runs on Linux, how out-of-the-box it is, and if not, what are the flaws.

Most of the Linux users I talk to are satisfied even if they had to tinker with their machine for days just in order to make it work properly. But I think, in order to become relevant in the desktop business, we need both Linux and the manufacturers to bring a high-end, out-of-the-box, turnkey solution, and I sure hope Razer will be this manufacturer!

[IreMinMon]

I'd rather know whether it's possible to have linux compatible WWAN on Thinkpads.

[boltronics]

I was very tempted to get one of those, but in the end I decided on a HP Spectre with almost identical specs. Glad I did because my HP has everything work on Debian Stretch just fine, including the touch screen. Well, there is one thing... the LED on the mute button that's supposed to light up when speakers are muted doesn't work, but the actual mute function does work fine. I can live with that.

[Creak]

boltronics How well does it work with the dedicated GPU? From what I understand, it's the whole Linux OS graphics stack that is not ready for switching seamlessly between the integrated and dedicated GPUs.

[boltronics]

It doesn't have dedicated graphics. You mean over Thunderbolt? I don't have a dGPU enclosure for it so haven't tested one. I was considering such a purchase, but they're quite expensive, not terribly portable, and I have a much more powerful desktop for that.

[Creak]

Seeing the specs I thought it had a dGPU, but there are different HP Spectre, so it's probable I've not looked at the right one.