Blog by Sumana Harihareswara, Changeset founder
Lazyweb
Hi, reader. I wrote this in 2010 and it's now more than five years old. So it may be very out of date; the world, and I, have changed a lot since I wrote it! I'm keeping this up for historical archive purposes, but the me of today may 100% disagree with what I said then. I rarely edit posts after publishing them, but if I do, I usually leave a note in italics to mark the edit and the reason. If this post is particularly offensive or breaches someone's privacy, please contact me.
I'm thinking about buying a new laptop computer to aid in my volunteering and consulting. I'd run some flavor of Linux on it, probably Debian, Ubuntu, or Fedora. I welcome suggestions for laptops with the following characteristics:
- Come without Windows pre-installed (I'm sick of paying the Windows tax)
- Most or all components ethically sourced
- Manufactured/assembled someplace with real labor standards
- General laptop desiderata (sturdiness, battery life, thinner is better)
I don't really care about its weight or looks. Thoughts?
Update: Ended up choosing ZaReason (reasons here).
Comments
Stuart
http://stuartsierra.com/
15 Feb 2010, 10:51 a.m.
Sumana Harihareswara
http://brainwane.net
16 Feb 2010, 16:24 p.m.
Noting hypatia's tweet: "zareason.com ... though not sure about sweatshop-free-ness. Maybe Dell's USGOV line?"
Dunno what they have available right now, but I've bought laptops with Linux pre-installed from EmperorLinux.com: nicely configured, everything works out-of-the-box.