[sf-lug] My latest NUC adventure

[Akkana Peck]

Rick Moen writes:
> Quoting Akkana Peck (akkana at shallowsky.com):
> > https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/95443/intel-core-i5-7200u-processor-3m-cache-up-to-3-10-ghz.html
> > are these the only flags I need to look for?
> >   Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x)
> >   Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)
> 
>   Boot a Linux live CD, then check the CPU flags line in /proc/cpuinfo.

I'll be mail ordering. I doubt there's a store in the whole state
of NM that has these machines in stock, though since I have to be in
Albuquerque on Saturday I'm going to check some stores there just
in case (thanks for the reminder to have a live boot USB in my pocket).

>   We're checking for two things:  (1) x86_64 support.  (2) virtualisation
>   support.
> 
>   The virtualisation information won't be accurate unless your kernel
>   revision is at least 2.6.15 for Intel CPUs,or 2.6.16 for AMD ones.
> 
>   o  Flag "lm" (long mode" proves that the CPU is x86_64-capable.
>   o  Flag "vmx" on Intel CPUs or "svm" on AMD CPus proves full
>   virtualisation.
> 
>   Full hardware support for (Xen, KVM) virtualisation requires that the
>   CPU support the "VT" instruction extensions on Intel, or the equivalent
>   "SVM" (aka "AMD-V") extensions on AMD.

That Intel page shows VT-x and "Intel 64" (I'm fairly confident
all the processors in the machines I'm considering will be 64-bit
capable), but I don't see anything that looks like VMX. Is that
different from VT-x? If so, is there a way to find out without
having access to a running machine? And do I not care about VT-d?

> One of the reasons I am a bit wary of Dell is that, when you least
> expect it, they switch a key component to a problematic and usually

Yeah. Dell used to be especially bad for that, but I thought they'd
gotten better. I guess not.

> Anyway, there's really no substitute for test-booting the specific unit
> you hope to buy on a live distro, and running 'lspci', etc., to make
> sure about the chipsets.

Wistful sigh ... I wish. I'm especially bothered that I can't
compare the keyboards beforehand, but that's life if I want to be
picky about laptops and not just take whatever Best Buy happens to
be pushing.

> Where that page is 'gone', it's gone because the individual who created
> and hosted it ceased using that hosting or moved/renamed the page and
> neither updated the www.linux-on-laptops.com entry nor made sure the old
> URL had an HTTP 302 referral handler.

Oh, certainly. I'm not blaming linux-on-laptops.com for the 404s!
Just noting that nobody seems to be adding links there any more, so
most links there are ancient and crumbling.

> > In theory I like the idea of buying from vendors that support Linux.
> 
> Call me a cynic, but I greatly question what 'support' means in this
> context.   (In IT, the term 'support' has decades of history having
> vague and doubtful meaning, generally.)
> 
> Does 'support Linux' merely mean 'made sure there is some driver for all
> the chipsets'?  If so, that arguably has some tiny amount of value,
> except that such vendors in the past have often claimed all the hardware
> 'has Linux support', but upon examination it turns out that some of the
> chipsets work at all, or work reasonably, only with a proprietary
> binary-only driver that's normally available only direct from
> manufacturer download, cannot be lawfully distributed by distros, and
> is prone to be broken by kernel upgrades.

Yep, that can happen. On the other hand, I suspect that if I bought
a laptop from ZaReason, installed Debian and had trouble getting,
say, the wi-fi driver to work, I could mail Cathy and say hey, I
bought this laptop from you, now I want to use Debian testing, how
do I get this dang wi-fi working? and that I'd get a useful answer.
Which is definitely not the case if I buy from lenovo.com or
bhphoto.com or (less likely) dell.com.

> For example (speak of the Devil), back around 2000, Dell used to
> 'support Linux' by offering Red Hat Linux preloads on specific models
[ ... ]
> Does 'support Linux' mean helping Linux in any way?  If so, I've never
> seen any giveback to Linux of any value from such a vendor.

Remember, the context was buying from small Linux-specific vendors
like ZaReason or System76. And I do think that at least some of them
support their Linux laptops. Dell, not so much.

> Last, the hardware from these Linux-specialty hardware OEMs tends not to
> be best of breed.  I.e., one can do substantially better, and for less
> money, from non-specialty vendors.

Yes, I agree there, and that's why I don't buy from those specialty
vendors even though I like them in theory. I did steer my mom toward
ZaReason when she was shopping for a Linux netbook, and that worked
out well, though admittedly it cost a little more than a netbook
at Fry's would have.

        ...Akkana