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by wasted_intel 2748 days ago
Counter-anecdote: I've been running an Arch install for 2+ years with zero problems. Picking hardware that has direct kernel support will save you a bunch of headaches.

Also, a rolling release distro, which you'd think would be less stable, provides better hardware support as the kernel and firmware packages are much more recent (not to mention libraries/build dependencies). Personally, I'd never go back to a fixed-release distro.
3 comments
badpun 2747 days ago
> Picking hardware that has direct kernel support will save you a bunch of headaches.

Yep, that seems key. I've just spend full 5 days (I'm in between contracts, so I have the time) trying to install Arch on my Early 2013 15" MacbookPro. I turned out that, due to buggy/nonstandard hardware, a fully functional dual boot with Windows is not possible (if your disk is GPT, you won't have sound on Windows and if it's MBR, the DisplayPort monitor won't come back from suspend on Arch). Just coming to that conclusion took around 4 days of experiments. I've spend one more day trying to set up wireless, and have just given up. There are more interesting things to do with computers than finding workarounds for a minefield of hardware/firmware/drivers bugs.

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wasted_intel 2747 days ago
I had a late 2013 MBP and went with the XPS 13 for that reason. The process to dual boot (or even wholesale replace) a MBP on Linux looked really scrappy. I get it, Apple's UEFI firmware is essentially a black box with zero configurability. If that's how the process starts, I can't imagine how painful the rest of it is.
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kevinherron 2747 days ago
Don't install Arch, install Antergos or some other Arch derivative that packages it up with an installer.

High school me would have loved installing Arch (I did LFS back then). Current me doesn't have time for that bullshit.

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tuananh 2746 days ago
> Picking hardware that has direct kernel support

that's headache for me

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bwat49 2748 days ago
Yeah I've got a dell xps 13 and I've never once had to fiddle with drivers
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wasted_intel 2748 days ago
The 2+ year machine is a desktop, but I also switched my laptop to an XPS 13 a month ago and I've had the same experience; runs beautifully.
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