Linux compatible spec?

[harsou]

I want to buy the machine specified below, but the pcspecialist website warns me that it might not be Linux compatible and advises me against it. Is there a good reason this spec wouldn't be compatible with Ubuntu 14.04?

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-6600 (3.3GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® H110M-D D3: Micro-ATX, LG1151, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
8GB Kingston DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 750 Ti - VGA, DVI, mHDMI - 3D Vision Ready

Many thanks,
Harry

 

[Stephen M]

I think the Linux warning may be a legal thing, unfortunately we live in a world where people complain and sue for next to nothing, often nothing, so all companies have to waste everyone’s time with disclaimers.
I cannot see why there should be problems with those parts and Ubuntu. I have had two PCS laptops, a basic Voyager, which I got two and a half years ago when I first started messing with Linux, I needed a new machine and PCS were the only people I could find who would sell me one without an OS. My second is an Octane I. I ran various distros on the Voyager and apart from the expected UEFI first up (PCS will test the machine with a trial version of Windows) there were no major issues, although if you try Debian you may have to load WiFi firmware during the install. My Octane started with Ubuntu 15.04 and everything worked out of the box once UEFI was shot. Had a slight GPU driver issue when I upgraded to 15.10 but that was soon solved. The X.org Linux driver was no good good for the GTX970M but it was just a visit to the Software and updates and switching to the Nvidia drivers an eveything was fine. That may be resolved now, the problem was on the first day 15.10 was released, I have not bothered to check.
I have also installed Ubuntu on many other PCs, including Acer Aspires, Compaq Presario, a couple of different HPs, Sony and Toshiba. So, going back to where I started, I think it is more of a legal thing than anything else.

 

[chateauferret]

Every spec I put into the website produces a warning to the effect that you're playing with fire if you try to install any kind of Linux on it. Then there's a nice message telling you why you should get Windoze.

Personally I'm of the view that installing Microsoft malware on any computer is asking for trouble, and I've got more than one bit of kit which works immediately when plugged into a Linux box and refuses to play at all on a Windoze one despite being festooned with Microsoft badges.

And it's not my experience that Linux users are as litigious as Microsoft users.

 

[Stephen M]

I don't think the warning is aimed at any group in particular, it is just companies are being forced to be more careful by the society we live in. I don't think Microsoft help either, they have certainly applied pressure in the past to try to force their products on to all machines (i will try to find a couple of good cases from German courts) and the idiot former CEO Steven Balmer who described the GNU licence as a cancer. I am glad to be rid of it.

 

[harsou]

Thanks

Thanks for your comments. I have similar opinions about Windoze and have used Ubuntu on many machines for many years, including at least 3 from PCS. I was being cautious because I once bought a custom machine from elsewhere and eventually gave up on it because of recurring problems with (I think) video drivers.

Thanks again,
Harry

 

[bbnck]

Only newer versions of the Linux kernel support the GTX 750 Ti properly. Linux kernel 4.1.x and newer has acceleration support for the GTX 750 Ti (and other NV117 cards), but how this compares in terms of performance to the proprietary NVIDIA drivers, I do not know. If you are using a distribution that uses an older kernel, like Debian 8 does (which uses 3.16.x), then you'll need to use the proprietary NVIDIA driver; using the free drivers means you'll be stuck at a dismal low resolution with no modesetting or acceleration support.

The only thing I can say with any kind of certainty is you can use the GTX 750 Ti on Linux with the proprietary driver, but I have only briefly tested my PC with the open source nouveau driver using Linux kernel 4.1.x and 4.2.x for a very short time and while I could tell modesetting and acceleration worked out-of-the-box, I was unable to test how well because I was unable to go past the login screen. I presume this is due to a GNOME 3.14.x bug or incompatibility, as I upgraded the kernel via backports on Debian 8.x without upgrading GNOME too.