> And I don't mean what Dell does - I'm grateful for what they do, but I really want unmodified Linux to work as well on my laptop as it does on nearly any desktop I've built
While I'm very happy to see the work System76 are doing, I don't think this characterization of Dell is quite right. I'm typing this comment on a Precision 5510 that runs Arch flawlessly. It runs Arch flawlessly because it's not burdened with NVidia graphics -- I can well imagine that would be a nightmare, as I have to deal with NVidia's terrible hardware on several workstations.
While I'm very happy to see the work System76 are doing, I don't think this characterization of Dell is quite right. I'm typing this comment on a Precision 5510 that runs Arch flawlessly. It runs Arch flawlessly because it's not burdened with NVidia graphics -- I can well imagine that would be a nightmare, as I have to deal with NVidia's terrible hardware on several workstations.