Lenovo To Begin Shipping ThinkPad Laptops With Fedora Pre-Installed

[fuzz]

Will there be AMD options?

[pal666]

Always great to hear though I would prefer a notebook shipped without anything pre-installed since I'm going to wipe it anyways.

if nothing is preinstalled then most of hardware can be broken and still all shipped functionality works. what use will you have for broken notebook?

[pal666]

To be honest, no sane person who values his privacy is going to leave a preinstalled os intact. The first thing you do, is remove everything entirely and install from your own safe image

i wonder how many such "you" people among lenovo customers? one per million?

[kpedersen]

i wonder how many such "you" people among lenovo customers? one per million?

Honestly I think there is many! Ever heard of a "corporate install"...

Now I am not saying these things are good. Usually they consist of a ratty Windows image that the IT admins have created (or more likely "evolved" over time) full of bugs and driver / software incompatibilities. And the worst thing is that they install this image on every machine regardless of hardware. It just hurts XD

I would almost prefer the preinstalled (potentially insecure) image over that!

[ChristianSchaller]

Will there be AMD options?

I am not entitled to make Lenovo product announcements, but it is certainly something we brought up with them as something we would like to see.

[Davidovitch]

Will there be AMD options?

I have no clue about the Fedora version, but at least I have seen there are announcements regarding the forthcoming Ryzen 4000 Thinkpad options of Levovo:

https://news.lenovo.com/pressroom/press-releases/updated-thinkpad-laptop-portfolio-empowers-choice-and-business-freedom/

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/02/lenovo-refreshes-its-thinkpad-lineup-with-amd-ryzen-pro-4000/

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T14-Ryzen-4000-version-does-have-RJ45-upgradable-RAM.454869.0.html

[andyprough]

This is just nonsense. IBM was not involved here at all.

The idea that not a single person at IBM/RedHat had a single word to say with anyone at IBM-spinoff Lenovo regarding the placement of an IBM/RedHat sponsored distro onto a Lenovo consumer laptop stretches credulity.

[Britoid]

The idea that not a single person at IBM/RedHat had a single word to say with anyone at IBM-spinoff Lenovo regarding the placement of an IBM/RedHat sponsored distro onto a Lenovo consumer laptop stretches credulity.

IBM and Red Hat still function very independently from eachother.

[stormcrow]

I think the important part to remember for experienced users like yourself is that having to install and support your own OS is a barrier to adoption for a lot of potential Linux users and even if you will re-install yourself Lenovo doing this means they will work to ensure there are upstream drivers for all parts of their hardware so no matter what you run it makes things work better.

I think a lot of Linux or Unix DIY hands forget about something incredibly important to many people: contractual technical support. With Lenovo doing this consumer Linux users won't be getting blown off if they call the Lenovo tech support if they aren't using Windows. I'm definitely agreeing with you here.

[kcrudup]

Always great to hear though I would prefer a notebook shipped without anything pre-installed since I'm going to wipe it anyways.

Ditto- but that being said, I just discovered (probably the last one here to) that the Digital Windows License that comes with modern hardware can be transferred to a VM Image created from a MS Win .ISO download (provided you boot it into Windows at least once (which I do to ensure the manufacturer's peripheral firmware updates happen before I lose WIndows) then sign into your MSLive account). As I need to run Windows very occasionally, it's not a total waste of an install license.