this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2023
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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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Basic features wouldn’t work properly if not at all.
I just installed Debian 12 on my Surface Go 2. The camera isn’t working, touch is broken, casting screen not working, on screen keyboard isn’t working.
Mind you I’m a full stack developer and i have a linux server at home so I have decent technical knowledge and a little bit of time.
Afaik most distros don't support surface computers by default. You should check out https://github.com/linux-surface/linux-surface
I didn’t know different distros supports different hardware.
I thought it’s sorta baked theme.
Very much so. Unless there are in kernel drivers, support is all over the map, particularly for newer or “non standard” hardware with proprietary drivers
This is the case for all operating systems. With the Linux kernel, support for a great deal of hardware is included, but not everything makes it into the mainline kernel, which is where specialized distros come in.
This is only something that happens when you purchase from a vendor that actively chooses not to play nice with Linux, i.e. Macs or Surfaces. They don't offer Linux drivers in the kernel, so people have to write them on their own. They'll usually eventually get into the kernel, but it takes time since creating drivers for a black box (proprietary hardware) is hard.
Also note, more stable distros will be on older kernels, meaning older and fewer drivers. It's possible that the drivers you need are in the kernel, but not the one Debian is shipping.
I see.
Ill look for the best distro that supports surface hardware better.
To be honest, even with all of these issues, linux is far ahead in terms of speed and reliability.
I would recommend following the installation guide from the Linux Surface repo. NixOS seems to have very good support because of it's modules system, but you'll probably run into other problems using it. They provide instructions for most major distros fortunately.
Thanks!!
I just installed it
There isn't a best distro that supports surface hardware. You have a to install a distro of your choosing for which there is a guide on the linux-surface github and then follow the guide.
Thank you.
I followed the instructions and the camera showed up.
Also Gnome 43 supports touch out of the box.
Now my setup looks great!
This is the result after 2 installs and days of tinkering.
@deleted @leninmummy have you tried other distros with better proprietary driver support? Debian is known to stick with FOSS.
Also touchscreen is not a very common feature even in laptops let alone linux. The more your hardware deviates the higher the chances of breakage. Try live booting a bunch of distros and try if the same breaks everywhere.
No, I’ve only tried Debian. I’ve installed linux firmware packages and added non-free in sources. Also, installed surface firmware from github.
The touch is working, however, it’ll behave differently with each element. Sometimes would scroll and sometimes select.
I spent 2 days making intel iGPU hardware acceleration working btw.
Even though Windows works flawlessly, Id prefer broken Linux over it.
I think you'd do yourself a favour by trying some other distro.
Sure.
Any recommendations?
It’ll be a tablet for school stuff like ms teams and light browsing.
Touch friendly GUI is a plus.
I'm biased to immutable distros ever since I tried Fedora Silverblue. It's stable with rolling release. I have used the rollback feature once when gnome kinda got messed up in an update. I think gnome is touch friendly but never tried it myself in a touch device. There's also vanilla os, another immutable distro which based on Ubuntu atm. They're supposedly rebasing to Debian in the future.
From what I've heard Debian is rock solid on the servers. Not so much for a desktop use. Since you're on a unusual device i might have suggested manjaro, endeavour and the other arch based oses. But that's close to playing with fire. It's easy to break but you'll get the latest software on the edge. Manjaro even seemed to check for the proper drivers when I used it long ago. Pop os is great for nvidia users.
There was a GitHub link somewhere above. Check your device. See what works with the mainline kernel and what doesn't. You could hopefully look for patches for stuff that someone have put out there. If not you're out of luck for that feature with your device. Ideally, you'd be the one working on it. But if you don't have the expertise, you could raise issues and hope someone finds it important enough to work on. Using a rolling distro, you'd get the feature as soon as it is mainlined to the kernel.
I installed linux-surface and gnome 43. everything now works.
Agree. An engineer I know bounced off when he found out and a screen resolution issue on multiple monitors. My laptop has a 4k resolution, but my monitor is 1080p. The monitor will look zoomed in and I had to adjust scaling until it look fine on the monitor.
Mann .. screen scaling irritates me. I installed KDE plasma since it’s supporing fraction scaling.
However, its a 10” screen so 100% is too small 200% is too big. So I compromised and choose KDE 125% and now somethings are small some are big.
Afaik Debian doesn't support proprietary drivers out of the box.
Maybe you have a better experience with other distros as Fedora (or its daughter Nobara) or Linux Mint (based on Ubuntu but imo better).
EDIT: What are your spec? I'm sure the problems you're experiencing are related to your hardware and their drivers being closed source.
This is the result after 2 installs and days of tinkering.
No, I’ve only tried Debian. I’ve installed linux firmware packages and added non-free in sources. Also, installed surface firmware from github.
I spent 2 days making intel iGPU hardware acceleration working btw.
Are you willing to try another distro?
I just installed linux-surface and gnome 43. everything now works.
I got familiar with Debian and it's terminal commands so I think I might stick with Debian for now.