The three best options for buying Linux computers

Buying Linux computers is much easier. Things have improved a lot in the last fifteen years. In 2006, as a Linux user, I had to buy a new computer, and the experience was quite complicated. Above all, in a country like Argentina that for some reason idolizes "the national industry." National industry is an Argentinism that means an importer from China that charges a high price for affixing a "Made in Argentina" label.

However not in the countries of Europe and the United States was it too easy get compatible hardware. Foxconn, a motherboard manufacturer, was denounced at the time because several of their products prevented Linux from running.

Luckily, we are in 2019, and the options to buy computers with Linux are enough to justify a compilation post.

In 2006 I wrote a post on the now-defunct Ubuntu forum called "The Odyssey of Buying a Computer." I may be exaggerating a bit, but not too much. I still remember the face of a salesperson when I told him that not all computers used Windows.

Interestingly, my previous computer had come with Linux. A distribution called XandrOS. I didn't know what that was, so I deleted it and installed Windows. When a few years later I installed Ubuntu, everything worked perfectly.

When it was delivered to me, I wanted to install Ubuntu 6.04, but it gave me a compatibility problem with the screen resolution. I had to pay to have Windows installed and wait until someone posted how to solve the problem.

In case you are interested, you had to start the system with the monitor off and then correct a parameter in the bootloader.

Advantages of buying a Linux computer

Buying a computer with pre-installed Linux gives us the following benefits

• You don't pay for the Windows license. I don't know if this is a general practice, as I have heard that in some cases Microsoft will discount the cost to the manufacturer, but you will almost certainly end up paying for it in some way.
• You avoid having to erase Windows and install Linux. In some cases, if you erase the operating system and the recovery partition, you lose the warranty. But even if it's not, you'll have the operating kit right out of the box. At most you will have to update.
• You have the guaranteed compatibility. Every so often the news of a model that does not work with Linux appears. It happened with Lenovo and Samsung computers. Buying a computer with a pre-installed distribution, you will know that everything will be fine.
• You contribute to increase the offer. Every computer sold with Linux allows you to document your increased market share. The higher the participation, the more software and hardware offer.
• Some distributions like KDE Neon or Manjaro have agreements with hardware manufacturers. When you buy their equipment you not only get compatibility, you also you collaborate financially with the development of your preferred distribution

Where to buy a Linux computer

Let's start with the option that most of you are closest to.

slim book

My companions always comment the news of this spanish manufacturer. Therefore, it will suffice to say that orIt offers a variety of desktop, laptop and all-in-one models. Even a water-cooled one. The price will vary according to the configuration options.

On their website they ensure the compatibility with Debian-derived distributions. It also works with Fedora and OpenSUSE. It says nothing about Archlinux, but so much Manjaro as Antergos they are on the list so it should work.

StationX

Just as Slimbook is KDE Neon's recommended manufacturer, StationX It is one of the two recommended by Manjaro. It's about un British manufacturer offering one desktop and three notebook computer models. You can choose between different configuration options.

The pre-installed Linux distributions are Debian, Ubuntu, KDE Neon, LinuxMint, Manjaro, Fedora, and OpenSuse.

ubuntushop.be

This Belgian company has no relationship with Canonical. It markets different hardware options assembled in the Netherlands.

Sell ​​desktops, notebooks and even a server to create our own cloud private. Within the line of notebooks it includes models for multimedia edition.

In addition to marketing computers with the most popular Linux operating systems, it also includes two focused on privacy. We can get teams with Tails and Kodachi