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canopic jug [soylentnews.org] writes:

Several sites are reporting on Qualcomm's increasing Linux support. The tide is turning and the Microsoft monopoly on OEMs, at least the non-x86 ones, might be weakening as full Linux support is now expected on the modern hardware architectures these days:

Here’s the thing. In the Linux world, ARM has had something like a 15-year head start over Microsoft’s own often anemic ARM efforts, thanks to the Raspberry Pi and single-board computers making the platform a good choice for more than just basic web-surfers.

Collectives like Pine64 have been building laptops with first-class citizen Linux support [tedium.co] for years. (They’re admittedly not fast but they offer a good ecosystem to develop on.)

And then, we got fast ARM laptops from Apple, which smoked what’s already out there [tedium.co] but come with the side effect of a Linux experience that is still somewhat immature, despite the strides already made.

— Tedium, The AI Laptops’ Secret Feature [tedium.co].

This may be a game-changer.

Qualcomm is making good progress on adapting its new Snapdragon X Elite laptop CPU for Linux use [qualcomm.com]. The mobile SoC manufacturer revealed that it has laid a lot of the groundwork already to get the Snapdragon X Elite [tomshardware.com] running the Linux operating systems. However, Qualcomm is far from done, as there's still a lot of development work needed to get the X Elite into a fully operational state in Linux. Upcoming Linux kernels should enable full support for all the chip's features.

Qualcomm prides itself on its Linux enablement work and has prioritized Linux enablement in all of its previous Snapdragon laptop CPUs, typically announcing Linux support one or two days after launch. The Snapdragon X Elite continues that pattern, with Linux enablement being announced the very next day after its original October 23, 2023 debut.

— Tom's Hardware, Qualcomm goes where Apple won't, readies official Linux support for Snapdragon X Elite [tomshardware.com].

It seems that the Asahi Linux project has also done great work on the M-series chips despite Apple. There, Apple still has to get up to speed.

Previously,
(2024) Desktop GNU/Linux Surpasses 4% Market Share [soylentnews.org]

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