Hi everyone.

Can anyone guide me into choosing a Linux distro for this laptop (or laptops in general)?

I want to get it for my dad as a general browsing machine that can maybe also play some very old games. (think 2010 era)

How do I pick a distro? I tried checking the drivers page but it seems, at least from this page, that there are almost no drivers available on linux for this machine.

The same seems to be the case for many other laptops I looked at…I also have a ThinkBook 16 G7 IML as a work machine that I could not find proper drivers for (keyboard, camera, graphics card - I get artifacting very often)

Help? How do I research this?

EDIT: Thanks for the overwhelming support! What I took away is:

  • Most drivers are packaged in the kernel in Linux so no dedicated drivers are needed most of the time
  • Proprietary drivers are an issue (camera on the 16 G7 IML, Nvidia drivers)
  • The 940MX may not have Linux support, I’ll check
  • It’s a good laptop overall
  • Consider Mint, Tuxedo OS, Zorin (for mac users), Ubuntu
  • Consider A485 (AMD version of T480 with Vega 8), T470 (non-P - no nvidia driver issues), T480 (faster low power CPU than T470 high power CPU)
  • Resources: DistroWatch.com DistroChooser Linux Hardware

Yes I’ve considered desktops and would build one in a heartbeat if it would be useful for my dad, but he 100% needs the portability. Thanks for the heads up.

This thread proves 100% that the linux community really is friendly as hell. I don’t know where people get the impression that noobs are treated badly.

I just checked compatibility between Mint and the 940MX and it seems good. Here are some links. The ones with “computer” in the link are specifically T470 or T470P models. The site is very slow for some reason but it will load eventually. If you get a gateway timeout it’s likely to succeed if you retry.

  • owenfromcanada@lemmy.caEnglish
    15·
    11 days ago

    Most Linux distros will have you create a bootable USB, and with that you can try out the distro before installing it. I just did this with my wife’s laptop to see which ones had the best support.

    That PC is new enough that you won’t have any particular limitations, so pick whatever looks and feels good.

    If you’re not sure, go with Linux Mint. If you dad is more familiar with using a Mac, go with Zorin OS.

  • Hellfire103@lemmy.caEnglish
    11·
    11 days ago

    Here are three sites that will make your life a whole lot easier:

    • DistroWatch.com - This is basically a database of various Linux distros, BSDs, Unices, and other similar OSes. It’s a good way of looking into a distro before installing it.
    • DistroChooser - This is a basic quiz that suggests Linux distros for you.
    • Linux Hardware - This is a database of hardware. I use it to check driver support before buying a new machine. It is hosted in Russia, though, so be careful.

    If you or your dad are new to Linux, don’t bother with DistroWatch or DistroChooser just yet; go for Linux Mint.

    I started my Linux journey with Mint on a ThinkPad T400 back in 2019, and now I’m one of the few people in my university writing Bash scripts without using ChatGPT. This shouldn’t be a flex, but it is; and I owe it to starting with Mint.

    • 87Six@lemmy.zipOPEnglish
      5·
      11 days ago

      Man you just linked a whole gold mine, thanks, those are a lot of resources

      And yea, if you code / script without using AI you have my damn full respect because I’m 100% tired of dealing with bugs written by AI.

    • Jumuta@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      3·
      11 days ago

      looks pretty good, just keep in mind that nvidia drivers can be more finicky and less reliable than Intel/amd

      • 87Six@lemmy.zipOPEnglish
        1·
        11 days ago

        Yea here’s hoping they work. I’ve dealt with drivers for a 1650 before but good point, I should check driver support for that GPU.

  • Tuukka R@piefed.eeEnglish
    4·
    11 days ago

    Ubuntu is the distro with the widest userbase, and because of that, it’s directly supported by most programs. It’s also got a huge community, which means you can find help easily if you run into problems.

    I personally prefer Mint over Ubuntu. It is Ubuntu based, so some 95 % of any Ubuntu help you find also directly applies to Linux Mint.

    Then, everybody is talking about Arch Linux. Linux Mint and Ubuntu are examples of trying to make everything work out of the box and having a button you can click with your mouse to get almost anything done that you might want.

    Arch, then again, seems to take the approach that it is not very user friendly out of the box but has such support materials that it teaches you to understand the innards of your linux installation, so in the long run you will learn more and have it easier than using a dumbed-down distro such as Mint.

    Currently I’m running an Ubuntu installation because my Thinkpad came preinstalled with it, and I haven’t bothered installing Mint or Arch or anything. This runs all the programs I need and doesn’t hiccup, so whatever. “If it works, don’t fix it.”

    • 87Six@lemmy.zipOPEnglish
      2·
      11 days ago

      Yea I’m an Ubuntu user myself and had no issues with it, really. I’m definitely considering that one and will try it as well if Mint fails.

      I definitely won’t put Arch on his PC haha. Even I’m not knowledgeable enough for that one.

      If I do try Ubuntu, is there a reason I should go with 22.04 instead of 24? I’m on 22.04 at work right now.

      • Tuukka R@piefed.eeEnglish
        2·
        11 days ago

        I’d say the only reason to go for 22.04 is that you already run it and do not want to upgrade to 24.04.

        So, in a new installation 22.04 makes no sense. 24.04 is the choice if you want an LTS version. If not, then you can just go for 25.10.

    • 87Six@lemmy.zipOPEnglish
      3·
      11 days ago

      Right? I want to see how long it takes dad to realize lol. I’ll get it running nicely for him so he doesn’t need to fiddle with anything.

  • Jumuta@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    41·
    11 days ago

    There aren’t any drivers because they’re already in the Linux kernel, preinstalled. if you don’t know much about Linux, you won’t know the reasons for choosing one distro over another. the best way to figure it out is to try a few out.

    • 87Six@lemmy.zipOPEnglish
      1·
      11 days ago

      I see. So whereas on Windows the drivers are separate, on Linux they’re pretty much always packaged together, I take it?

      I guess then the only problems can arise from proprietary stuff that NEED proprietary drivers. In the case of that Thinkbook I mentioned, their camera is a sort of custom model. If you don’t get the official Windows-only driver, it uses the “basic” driver (whatever that means), and that one can’t create video higher than 480p with massive smearing :-/

  • BennyCHill [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    2·
    11 days ago

    There are no drivers available because they are not needed, vast majority of hardware drivers are included in the Linux kernel, sometimes proprietary firmwares are needed but most distros tend to include them.

    One of the big exceptions to this rule is the Nvidia driver, more recent cards now have an open source driver, but the 940mx included in the T470p is old and unsupported and wont do you much good on Linux.

    i saw on the shop you linked they have a T480 with 8th gen i5 available for slightly more: https://www.pchouse.ro/lenovo-thinkpad-t480-14-fhd-i5-8350u-8gb-ddr4-256gb-ssd-nvme-windows-optional-laptop-refurbished-grad-a.html
    This is one of the most popular Thinkpads currently because 8th gen intel made a large leap in performance (so the T480 low power CPU is almost as fast as the T470p high power one) and it also has pretty much perfect Linux support.

    Otherwise the A485 would be my secret recommendation although kinda hard to find. its the same exact laptop as the T480 but with an AMD cpu which is pretty much the same speed as the intel one, but its integrated graphics are much faster, in fact almost matching the 940mx performance.

    • 87Six@lemmy.zipOPEnglish
      1·
      11 days ago

      I saw that A485 too and wanted to get it myself but couldn’t find it :-/ Might wait more for it. It uses the Vega 8 I think and that iGPU impressed me greatly. I saw it play Battlefield 1 on 720p low at 50 FPS and was immediately impressed.

  • brucethemoose@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    11 days ago

    I’m struggling to navigate the site, but have you considered a desktop workstation?

    They tend to be well built, and not have so many linux compatibility issues (especially from laptop hybrid graphics setups). This one for instance, is a similar price but comes with a straight up more powerful GPU: https://www.pchouse.ro/hp-z440-tower-xeon-e5-1660-v3-32gb-ddr4-reg-256gb-ssd-quadro-m2000-windows-10-pro-workstation-refurbished.html

    • 87Six@lemmy.zipOPEnglish
      1·
      11 days ago

      Oh yea I’d definitely do that but he needs to carry it around Germany where he works in construction. Not really viable sadly, otherwise he’d get a desktop for sure. I’m very much against laptops myself.

      I have the laptop I mentioned for work and I dread it. I also had a FX505DT and hated that one too. The bloody chassis cracked on that one, man, in like 5 or 6 places. I thought I damaged it while opening it at first…then pieces kept coming off by themselves for no reason. Never in my life am I ever buying a laptop marketed for gaming. That was some of the worst build quality I’ve ever seen in my whole life, and it’s marketed as being tough (“TUF”)…

      I still can’t believe I sold that FX505DT piece of shit to a poor sod. The keyboard was dying, the chassis was destroyed, the thing ran on fans full blast all the time because the cooling was trash and the fan curve was ridiculous…told the guy everything upfront and he still bought it for 300 euro…I wouldn’t have touched that thing with a 10 meter pole.

      I actually already have a motherboard, CPU, CPU cooler, and 2 GPU’s that I could use. I’d definitely do that if I could. but alas, it is what it is. I’d love to build him a PC at some point though, it’s very fun. I never bought a prebuilt and never will.

      I tried finding something that’s comparably repairable to a desktop and the best I could find was this laptop that I linked. In the meantime I found out Thinkpads are fucking amazing.

      • brucethemoose@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        11 days ago

        Ah. Makes sense.

        That was some of the worst build quality I’ve ever seen in my whole life, and it’s marketed as being tough (“TUF”)…

        The Asus Zephyrus laptops are quite good. Yeah, TUF is another story, I would not touch those either…

        I tried finding something that’s comparably repairable to a desktop and the best I could find was this laptop that I linked.

        And yeah, probably no used Framework 13s there? Thinkpads do seem like a good second choice (at the right price), though obviously the GPUs are not the best.

        • 87Six@lemmy.zipOPEnglish
          2·
          11 days ago

          Yea no frameworks up for grabs around here and even still, they would be expensive as hell.

          And yup. The TUF line is definitely the worst from Asus. Had no idea when I bought it.

          Also edited some more in there - what a lightning reply my dude haha.

  • iconic_admin@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    11 days ago

    For what it’s worth, I’ve been running Ubuntu LTS on a Lenovo t470s for a couple of years with no problems at all.