Totally agreed. It's a point that I think people (like and including myself) who are passionate about Linux tend to be fussy about the framing of. It's ‘not Linux's fault’, and it can be painful to hear people talk about shitty desktop Linux experiences when you know the incompatibilities would have simply been avoided. It often feels like an unfair ‘apples to oranges’ comparison to compare OEM hardware on an OS it ships with to attempting to retrofit a Linux desktop onto random hardware whose supplier never even gave a thought to Linux compatibility.
There are some vendors where (for a premium) you can defer hardware curation to them, but too few of them provide laptops comparable in quality to a MacBook Pro or an X1 Carbon. System76 has some really top-notch desktops of various form-factors, and their firmware work on their laptops is awesome, but the chassis and design aren't on par with those top brands imo. Maybe the HP Dev One is on a par with an X1 Carbon?
> On balance I still find Linux the best choice for my purposes.
It's the same for me. The freedom, flexibility, control, and predictability I get out of running a Linux system make using a computer feel really good to me. Using Windows or macOS feels chaotic, confining, unreliable, intrusive, and alienating to me. Consequently I find that overall, choosing Linux gives me the smoothest, highest quality experience.
There are some vendors where (for a premium) you can defer hardware curation to them, but too few of them provide laptops comparable in quality to a MacBook Pro or an X1 Carbon. System76 has some really top-notch desktops of various form-factors, and their firmware work on their laptops is awesome, but the chassis and design aren't on par with those top brands imo. Maybe the HP Dev One is on a par with an X1 Carbon?
> On balance I still find Linux the best choice for my purposes.
It's the same for me. The freedom, flexibility, control, and predictability I get out of running a Linux system make using a computer feel really good to me. Using Windows or macOS feels chaotic, confining, unreliable, intrusive, and alienating to me. Consequently I find that overall, choosing Linux gives me the smoothest, highest quality experience.