On 10/06/2016 09:51 AM, Stephan Beck wrote:
Hi Hörmetjan, Hörmetjan Yiltiz:Hi all, I am aware of the h-node project, as well as the linux-desktop, and the Debian's hardware wiki page. However, they are not quite specific about Ultrabooks at all. Ultrabooks are arguably the trend in PCs (if not cellphones), and we all aim for lighter and better hardware. I would like to be able to: bull the ultrabook directly from within US (preferably through Internet), install (or pre-installed) Debian testing and all the necessary *free* hardware drivers and firmwares, and use every hardware that comes with it (wireless card, graphics, touch-screen, touchpad etc.) to the extent that the manufacturer supports (for other platforms). Is there such a ultrabook model yet? If so, what are our models that allow us to use (as much) free software to get the best user experience?something like that? Eveń if they don not run Debian (or maybe it's possible, but I don't know), but have a strong focus on libre hardware/software, maybe it's worth checking out https://shop.libiquity.com/product/taurinus-x200 (US) https://minifree.org/product/libreboot-x200/ (outside US) Cheers, Stephan
Hi,Dell is evidently still selling their ultrabook with Ubuntu pre-installed. Now this is not Debian, of course, but in my experience Dell's laptops that are designed with Ubuntu in mind also support Debian very well. Here's the link to their ultrabook:
http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/xps-13-9360-laptop/pdMy experience has not been with their ultrabook, but with their Inspiron line (specifically the Inspiron 15 3000) which is certainly not as thin and light as the XPS mentioned above, but it does work extremely well with Debian. The way I came across this model was that Dell was selling it with Ubuntu pre-installed for $279 in 2015 -- a price I certainly couldn't pass up, especially as I was looking for an experimental Linux laptop. However, after experiencing significant problems with upgrading Ubuntu, I installed Debian and it worked beautifully.
I'm currently on my second unit of this same model -- I had dropped the first one and broke the screen. Some of you may recall that I had reported screen-flickering issues a few weeks ago with my newly-purchased unit; well I returned that unit to Dell for a refund, after which I spent three weeks trying various other brands of laptops before I came back to this Dell! After returning the unit a few weeks ago, I was fortunate to find that Dell has now dropped their price by about $50, and when I went to Best Buy I found that they sell this model for the same price as on Dell's website, but with a 1TB hard drive instead of 500GB! So I'm very happy right now.
There are a couple of tweaks required to get up and running with the Dell Inspiron, which are: 1) While installing Debian it asks for the drivers for "iwlwifi" and a "rtl____" wifi driver... I found both of these on the Debian Wiki, thankfully in the "*.deb" format so I didn't have to compile anything. I just put these two files on a USB flash and inserted it when the installer asked for them, and everything went fine. 2) The mouse/touchpad does not work initially after the installation, so you'll need a wired mouse to get going. I found a fix for the touchpad on an Ubuntu forum, and it works perfectly with Debian.
Hope this helps. Harris