I would like to share with you a very cool project that develops drivers for correct operation of Microsoft Surface devices on Linux. I myself use Surface Pro 6 with these drivers and everything works like a charm (battery life is good, cameras work, stylus, keyboard, touchscreen, screen). The developers are gods. From myself, I would recommend using Fedora Linux distribution, as I got the best battery life on it and didn’t experience any additional bugs. If you don’t like GNOME, you can try spins.

Links to project resources:

Awesome additional resources:

  • privsecfoss@feddit.dk
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    Agree on privacy. And why bother when Intel/AMD have their Management Engine (ME) and AMD their equivalent.

    But why support a company like Microsoft when they have a long history of prioritizing profit over user freedom (FOSS/EEE), security and privacy?

    • FarLine99@lemm.eeOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      Because there is no such well made 2-in-1 device from System76, Tuxedo or some another good manufacturer.

      • privsecfoss@feddit.dk
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        By all means use it if it suits your needs 🙂 My point is that there are alternatives, like fx Lenovo Yoga or similar, where you dont support Microsoft and their history of bad behavior.

        We all got different priorities and if it isn’t something on your radar, that’s fine. For me I would rather be without than buy a Surface for the mentioned reasons.

        • russjr08@outpost.zeuslink.net
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          I don’t know the current state of Lenovo, but I do remember not so long ago they were shipping some pretty bad software on their laptops… so I find it a tad ironic to mention Microsoft’s bad behavior, but then recommend Lenovo 😅

          I don’t really use laptops, I have an old 2015(?) MacBook that runs Fedora on it for whenever I need something portable on the rare occasion, so I don’t know whose good vs bad these days.

          • privsecfoss@feddit.dk
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            edit-2
            1 year ago

            I know Lenovo is no angel but still a single piece of sand compared to the vast desert of Microsoft in terms of bad bahaviour.

            We deserve System76, Tuxedo, Framework, PineBook etc. And if that doesn’t suit the use case a used Thinkpad, Macbook (a sandbox in the analogy) or Dell is OK options. There’s IMHO plenty of options that’s better than the desert of Microsoft 🙂

            • russjr08@outpost.zeuslink.net
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              1 year ago

              That’s completely fair on all accounts! I’d love to be able to try the offerings from the better companies some day, but money has been very tight and they’re definitely on the pricier side (for good reason of course) at least on my own scale of what I have available - the MacBook was given to me second hand so I didn’t find it myself or else I would’ve definitely spent the money on a really nice System76 laptop!

              • privsecfoss@feddit.dk
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                2
                ·
                1 year ago

                Same here! Rolling old Thinkpads because of the Linux compatibility, price and reparability is hard to beat. Would like to support the good companies more, but like the tinkering.

                Our talk made me think about the ethics of tech companies in general. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a ‘Tech Companies Ethics Index’ kinda like Phoronix/Toms Hardware Guide is for hardware, but which documents and compare tech on fx the following consumer relevant parameters:

                • Privacy
                • Security
                • Openness / FOSS / EEE
                • User friendliness
                • Reparability
                • Other?

                Sources could be: privacyguides, EFF, FSF, iFixit usere own experience and so on.

                It could be run by users who also contribute to a git something and site something.

        • BraveSirZaphod@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          For sure, and to be clear, I do agree with you. Ultimately, we’ve all got our own priorities, and I can absolutely understand why someone might be reluctant to throw money at Microsoft; I’m certainly one of those people myself (obligatory “I use Arch”). My only point is that some people may simply think the devices are good and don’t have any qualms about supporting Microsoft, as is their right too.