[bjackman]

It's rather bleak that these special "Linux computers" require this much fiddling. None of my laptops are sold as running Linux but all of them were easier to set up than this (only the MacBook Air 2013 required anything at all other than running the Ubuntu installer and clicking "yes").

[antonvs]

The challenge here is installing NixOS. The ease of installing Linux on the laptops you've used is because someone else has already done this kind of work.

[bjackman]

I have installed NixOS on mainstream hardware and it doesn't involve any of the faffing discussed here. The HW-specific aspect of setup is normally completely automatic.

[antonvs]

Again, that's because the work has already been done to support mainstream hardware.

[smackeyacky]

My experience with Linux since the 1990s has been that bleeding edge hardware is never a great choice. I've had the best experience with slightly older laptops (typically bought 2nd hand).