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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Fanless linux laptop (lemdro.id)

submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I'm looking for an Apple MacBook Air M2 alternative that could run Linux.

I need something fanless, super lightweight with very long battery life. The only apps I use are Shotcut video editor, Chrome and Firefox.

Any advice?

Is it a good idea to get a MacBook Air m2 and use something like Asahi Linux or should I wait for arm linux laptops to become available.

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[–] [email protected] 32 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

The thinkpad-x13s-snapdragon is fanless and uses a qualcomm snapdragon processor, so an ARM like the macs use but lower performance. Batttery life is reputedly in the 20+ hour range.

Caveats:

kinda pricey, 1K
this arm chip is slow compared to macs.
out of the mainstream so better do your homework on whether linux is well supported.

Laptops based on the snapdragon elite processors will come out this year, and performance should be comparable to the Mx macs. So maybe better to wait. Although, those may be considerably more expensive, and who knows what linux support will be like, especially at first.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago (2 children)

It's tricky enough getting hardware video encode to work on Linux with "this is just an Intel IGP, the exact same thing as every other Intel IGP". Decode can even be tricky at times. I am very pessimistic about getting video editing software working on a system as far off the beaten path as a Snapdragon.

If you stick with more mainline hardware, you have fallback positions like "use linux Davinci" or "dual boot Windows and use one of the gazillion tools there", or "MacOS has its own cavalcade of media tools".

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

The gpu is fully supported to my knowledge.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Thanks for the points you brought up. Very helpful.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

1k? My last MacBook was 5k

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago

With the advent of the m3, m2's and m1's still in inventory can be a steal, particularly 'Air macs which can be sub-1k easy. My mbp m2pro 16g was 1500. I'm not impressed by real-life macos performance tho, a lot of it is impressive in parts (blender rendering for instance) but everyday life is just the same... Yes, the same hanging Color Wheel Of Doom.

I hope your 5k investment isn't having sound playback hiccups because dropbox is trying to log in and refresh in the background. I am actually furious with the 10% of the time I have to use macos on this machine.