Why isn't there a Dell XPS Linux community, similar to the ThinkPad one.
Posted by 19darion91@reddit | linux | View on Reddit | 23 comments
Posted by 19darion91@reddit | linux | View on Reddit | 23 comments
KnowZeroX@reddit
Thinkpads include a whole line of laptops, desktops and etc making up over a dozen different models. xps is only like 2 models?
Not to mention many thinkpads keep things consistent between models, you can still get thinkpads with phyiscal buttons and trackpoint. Meanwhile xps keeps changing stuff too often which isn't good at retaining fans who need a laptop for work, not for fashion.
natermer@reddit
This is part of the issue. Where you have laptops that "just work" there isn't a community around them because they just work. People just use them without thinking about it or putting much effort.
Like I have a Asus gaming laptop. There is a "asus-linux" project around it because things like controlling the keyboard lights and fan speeds need special userspace support. Things that are automatic on most laptops are not automatic on these.
The second part of the answer is that there is a cult following of Thinkpads. They used to be pretty special and better quality then laptops you'd get from other manufacturers. Plus it had a middle mouse button.
Nowadays that is far less true it used to be, but things tend to persist.
Turbulent_Fig_9354@reddit
Honestly some of y'all really need to hear this: buying and posting pictures of shit on the internet isn't a community.
bingblangblong@reddit
And owning 15 mechanical keyboards makes you an idiot, not an enthusiast.
-Googlrr@reddit
I've been thinking about this a lot recently. A lot of reddit now has devolved into 'look at this thing I'm one of you" now posts. You see it a lot in Fantasy book reddits. "Just started this book for the first time anything I should know!". People talking without saying anything. Maybe read the book first and then have something to say about it?? A lot of a deep seated desire to form community but not to actually engage in the community past a surface level. Half of online communities now are "question that could be a google search" with everyone giving nicer answers to the post than it deserves because internet rules say you can't tell someone they're being a goober anymore.
That was mostly a side rant about how online communities have been run to shit ironically by people trying too hard to form community
Turbulent_Fig_9354@reddit
Yeah, I think a lot of this is driven by attention economy metrics and being on railroaded platforms like Reddit definitely promotes this type of behavior.
I’m not even one of those people who definitionally describe a community as offline, I think you can definitely have online community spaces, but a lot of what you see today on Reddit specifically is consumerism masquerading as interaction.
Big part of this is that our society has injected consumerism into everything to the point that now it’s impossible to engage with most things without spending money in some way. Along with the generalized atomization of all people, we are desperate for some type of interaction but we just don’t know how to do it without engaging in consumerism.
Not even really a knock on OP or anyone in particular at this point I’m not trying to lay blame anywhere just something I’ve observed lately.
GildSkiss@reddit
The internet has ruined the word "community" forever by diluting it to the point of meaninglessness.
SweatyKeith69@reddit
Don't tell reddit
arkanux@reddit
BC a Thinkpad lasts a lot longer than an XPS, everyone says they are good until they suddenly die either from heat or a chip gets fried. I still love the XPS design specially the older models (2009)
wingsfortheirsmiles@reddit
I suspect that the popularity Thinkpads have had for their own strong hardware, at least at one point being able to switch out RAM/HDDs/etc, modding as well as Linux means that there's a lot more of an impetus behind forming communities and groups around them vs XPS devices
kennyminigun@reddit
I don't know about modern XPSes but that 9560 is pretty repairable/upgradable.
IIRC Dell also has/had XPS 13 line which came with Ubuntu pre-installed.
wingsfortheirsmiles@reddit
Sure, I was addressing why Thinkpads have a following and XPS does not, not that that laptop in particular isn't repairable nor that Dell doesn't offer Linux on some of their products
No_One_4659@reddit
No nipple or something
MelioraXI@reddit
Community for what?
julioqc@reddit
to circlekjerk, what else!?
mykesx@reddit
I have a Dell XPS 13 9300, 32G RAM, with 4K screen - running CachyOS. It works great compared to Windows which made the machine feel slow. It’s ultra portable.
I have my wife’s old Dell XPS laptop and it is made of plastic and the screen doesn’t work right. I wouldn’t consider trying to fix it like I would with a ThinkPad (I have em of those).
Wonderful-Citron-678@reddit
I’ll also say modern laptops are almost identical. So who cares about a specific brand? Lenovo doesn’t make any chipsets.
Run-OpenBSD@reddit
OpenBSD pushed Thinkpads to where they are now.
kansetsupanikku@reddit
Because there is more variety to ThinkPads, more lines of different use case scenarios, and despite the stereotype, only some of them have perfect Linux support. "Dell XPS" is a much more precise term.
I have HP ZBook workstation that came with Linux preinstalled. And even if it was more popular, I don't see what the community would talk about. Things work, all of them. Hardware is reliable and requires no further discussion after that point.
EmployerMore8685@reddit
Honestly just the pool of devices is smaller. RAM is soldered so you have to find a unit upfront that has how much you need, which already excludes quite a few models. Not to mention “thinkpad” is Lenovo’s entire business line of laptops, where Dell has latitude, XPS, precision and others. So yeah the pool of XPS devices suitable for your average Linux user is a lot smaller than the pool of thinkpads. They’re great laptops (that infinity edge display admittedly puts every other manufacturer to shame)
Pretend-Web-3679@reddit
Why don't you create one if you feel so strongly about it? Don't wait for someone else to create it. Own it!
untrained9823@reddit
I just think Thinkpads look better personally than other business laptops you can buy used. And they tend to work really well with Linux. I can't really say if Dell's support is on the same level or not.
Apprehensive_Milk520@reddit
I've had really good luck across the years with Dell laptops and GNU/Linux - mostly minor glitches that were easily resolved with a quick search. Haven't bought any in recent years. Dell servers and workstations seem to last forever as well, laptops, too. I mostly would by business workstations and laptops, but have had some consumer ones as well. Good experience with both - nothing insurmountable.