I thought I’d share a bit more of my thought processes around the ongoing laptop selection process. Starting from the bottom – the chipset – the choices I’m looking at are x86, PPC, and less likely, AMD64 (unless I wait for the new Centrino-alternative chipset to make it into hardware).
Whatever the hardware, it has to run Linux and the basic UI and productivity applications I require (Gnome, Evolution, Firefox, Gaim, etc). Fortunately, all three of those architectures do. What’s been interesting to me has been how close the PPC support – at least on Gentoo – is to x86. It really is remarkable; AMD64, meanwhile, is a ways behind both platforms.
The easy choice here is x86: IBM’s Chiphopper program aside, x86 is far and away the most dominant platform for Linux applications, and just as important for a laptop, the Linux-compatible hardware options are excellent.
That said, I’m still intrigued by the possibility of running Linux on Apple’s hardware. As I mentioned previously, the main holdup is the lack of Linux support for the Broadcom chipset in the Airport Extreme card that’s embedded in the machine. What’s more, the 12″ model I was looking at lacks any PC card slot, which I belatedly realized would forbid me from picking up an EV-DO or UMTS card for broadband-over-mobile network connectivity down the line. So either way, the 12″ is out. But remarkably, I’m still considering the Apple hardware – even at a thin-and-light (as opposed to ultralight) form factor that’s not my preference.
As far as why, it’s not just that I like the Apple gear. No, it’s more because I’m interested to see what the Power architecture can do. Here’s how Linus put it:
“As to the why … Part of it is simply that I wanted to try something else, and I felt like there were enough people testing the x86 side that it certainly didn’t need me. Part of it is that I personally believe there are two main architectures out there: Power and x86-64 are what _I_ think are the two most relevant ones, and I decided that I had to at least check the other side of it out seriously if I really believed that,” said Torvalds.
That sums up my feelings nicely. For any number of reasons – hardware support, primarily – a decision in favor of an Apple platform would bring with it substantial issues, but I may go that route anyway. I’ll be thinking it over for a week or two – my Thinkpad should be good for another month or so at least – but in the meantime I’d love to hear any thoughts you guys have.
