Thinkpads Forum

Hello everybody,

Currently, I'm using my X220 with Windows 7 because was the OS by default, but I want to change it to some Linux distribution.
I know that for laptops having a Linux distribution is a little "complicated" because not all the hardware will work and also, the power managament system isn't the best, so my questions are:

Do you have Linux in your X220?
What distribution?
What hardware doesn't work?
What about battery duration and power consumption?
Any recommendation for a distribution?

Thanks in advance.
Best regards.

I run the following in a multiboot setup on my X220 (in addition to Windows 7 and Windows '8'). Just an OS junkie I guess.

* Arch Linux XFCE with Compiz 8.8
* Fedora 18 Gnome (Fedora 19 is out, but I haven't had the bandwidth to download it yet).
* Mageia 3 KDE
* Bodhi Enlightenment 17 (a version of Ubuntu)

Arch works great, but there is a learning curve. I would not recommend this to a new linux user.

Fedora Gnome works pretty well. Kinda similar to Windows 8.

Mageia KDE is very nice and easy to use. Kinda similar to Windows 7. Great for someone getting their feet wet in linux.

Bodhi E17 has some neat features. A little harder to describe than the others. You might like it.

All the distros have their own forums for getting tips and asking questions. I have been active on all the forums except Bodhi.

> Do you have Linux in your X220?
> What distribution?

Yep, Gentoo x86_64 / Enlightenment 17 (x220 i7 16gb ram)

> What hardware doesn't work?

My company builds hardened laptops for the private sector and i havent had a problem with getting anything to work on the x220's..

> What about battery duration and power consumption?

There was a slight issue with regression / system "running hot" after suspend, im still playing around with acpid and a new kernel. I actually havent tested how long the battery life is, sorry..

> Any recommendation for a distribution?

Gentoo is Arch Linux's Big Brother and even more of a learning curve. Since ultimately you are going to have to tweak something from the shell, i would start wirh Archlinux, you wont regret it later, their documentation is much better as well..

I would recommend installing a base linux distro, getting trim up and working on your sytem (providing you have a SSD). installing virtualbox and running other distros ontop of that (windows / OSX / unix vm's..)

but thats just me

I'd second the recommendation to run linux as a base OS and then install VirtualBox and leveraging it to execute the other OS's, that's exactly what I do for my local development servers.

I'd go with Arch Linux. You have a rather tiny base on which to build exactly the experience you want. Their wiki has excellent documentation as well. For example: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Le ... nkPad_X200

I suggest trying each distro which interests you from a live USB key. After you find one you want to install to hard disk, save the key for rescue and recovery (on any OS).

Hello,

Thanks for all your answers.
I forgot to say that I'm not an inexperienced user with linux.
I have Opensuse 12.1 in my desktop and Opensuse 12.3 in a Dell Laptop, but I want to try a different distribution for my X220.
I was thinking in Linux Mint but I think I will try with Arch as you recommend it to me.

Again, thank you.

Best regards.
M.