Privacy

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A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

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If I wanted to only choose between the two, are Dell or Lenovo laptops better for privacy if I install Linux? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 4 years ago* (last edited 4 years ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I know there are more privacy oriented companies in general, like Purism or System76, but I'm currently torn between Dell and Lenovo because they are the only two manufacturers that make good laptop/tablet hybrids (which I need for university) and whose devices are reasonably Linux friendly.

Of these, Lenovo is a Chinese company while Dell is an American company, both countries are pretty big on surveillance, but I legit don't know how much these factor into it if I install Linux, though manufacturer-provided Linux drivers and hardware backdoors are still concerns. There is also their histories, Levovo had that Superfish scandal while I wouldn't be surprised if Dell did something similar. Looking at the full pictures of these two companies, which do you think is better for privacy of I installed Linux on a laptop/tablet hybrid I bought from them?

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 years ago

AFAIK it doesn't make a difference. As long as you have a Linux distro installed, the threats to privacy comes from close-sourced hardware (things like Intel ME). So it doesn't make much difference even for Linux friendly brands like Purism or System76. That's why Purism are making that phone which is more freedom respecting in terms of hardware.

I don't have any experience with the tablet side of things. But in general it is a good idea to look at the individual hardware components and see how well-sipported they are in Linux. The last thing you want is your new laptop's WiFi chip not working well with Linux.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 years ago

I think Dell you can configure without Intel Management Engine(Intel vPro). Lenovo and Dell both use Intel WIFI which needs non-free firmware and the fingerprint scanner probably wont work at all (not that you should use it anyways). I trust neither company, but both make nice machines.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 years ago

Well HP also offers 2-in-1 convertible laptos, though not sure if detachable, neither how it compares with lenovo and dell ones, though you might be able to find pretty similar specs in them now a days, and there are comparisons around as well.

For gnu/linux compatibility though (no particular distro in mind, since one can move away to the distro of preference I'd guess), besides Purism and System76, I would also consider the kde slimbook, and actually the specs from the slimbook makes it look pretty competitive...

[–] [email protected] -1 points 4 years ago* (last edited 4 years ago)

Lenovo never had Superfish on ThinkPad or other business lineups. It is disinformation mainly spread by anti China potatos, who never like to dive into details of how it happened. Superfish only affected their consumer lineups like Essential, G series, IdeaPad, Yoga (not ThinkPad Yoga) series.

As for Dell, they shipped malicious eroot certificates once. Their cosiness with US government makes me uncomfortable, seeing how they are somehow the only mainstream manufacturer that can ship ME disabled special laptops.

ThinkPads are the most Linux friendly laptops (also mobile desktop replacements) out there with great user serviceability and cheap parts available. Lenovo officially supports Linux on them and even makes drivers. If you want Intel ME neutered, go for Purism or System76, but the laptop is not made of high grade materials and will not last as long. You can also pick an AMD ThinkPad.

Dell Latitude series is decent, but unsure how good their Linux support on it is, as they have a separate lineup for Ubuntu laptops.