this post was submitted on 10 Feb 2024
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Linux
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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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This is the wrong question. The question is "Does Linux have support for this laptop (wifi, gpu, mux if it exists, etc.).
The difference between distributions is generally not that significant[1] when it comes to hardware support. They're just "re-bundling the same things in different ways". But the Linux kernel is the Linux kernel on all of them. If it doesn't support your WiFi chip on Ubuntu then it likely won't support it on Debian. And if it does support it on Ubuntu then it likely supports it on Debian/Fedora/immutable-flavor-of-the-week.
That said - Dell is not "all about Ubuntu" - they support Linux on select products. And they also support RedHat. With systems not in their list of supported ones you'll want to google the make/model as well as "support Linux" to see if you can find whether anyone else has run into issues with something not working and what you might be in for if it doesn't.
[1] I await the army of pedants telling me about that one thing on their distribution that is different.
Yes. The installed kernel version is what defines your general compatibility with hardware, not the actual distribution you choose.
That's a good clarification - different distributions may have different versions of the Linux kernel. So you may see "It works on Ubuntu but not Fedora" due to them shipping different versions of the kernel. But typically that would be due to recently added support (the distribution using a newer kernel works). Eventually things homogenize.
@atzanteol @just_another_person i have run into issues like 'almalinux doesn't work on this machine but centos does'
some distributions i think have started to remove support for some older hardware assuming nobody is using it (thats my theory)
That's the problem with providing "general guidelines". 😀
There can be differences in which modules are enabled that vary by distro as well. Maybe the alma folks are more picky. But If it's an issue you can always compile your own kernel and enable whatever you want. The Gentoo folks know what I'm talking about. Used to be more common "back in the day" to get support for something bleeding edge.