Buying new computers, particularly laptops, can be a bit of a challenge for Linux users. Sure, you can just go buy any random computer, but you are not guaranteed compatibility. Yes, all the essential parts will almost certainly work, but you never know for sure without doing some research. The best option at the moment is probably to buy a computer from Dell, System76, or another vendor that offers your favorite distribution pre-installed. the problem is, that leaves you with one major name and a handful of decent smaller vendors.

Hardware support for Linux is already rapidly improving, but until it is perfect, that does nothing to assure people their computers will work with Linux out of the box. A better solution would be to set up a system where a certain number of computers, say three, are guaranteed to work with Linux every 6 months. This could be sponsored by a major distribution or by a separate group.

For example: the group would choose three computers that are well reviewed and popular. They would then assess how well those computers worked out of the box. If there were issues, they would fix those issues and insure that you could install Linux on any of the three computer models and know that it would work perfecty out of the box. During the next six month period, another three models would be chosen.

The idea is that there would always be a rotating list of popular models that you could confidently buy, in addition to the growing selection of computers with Linux already pre-installed. This would give any Linux user or perspective Linux user a good selection of models he/she can buy without worrying about compatibility.

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