What do I do if the laptop my grandfather gifts me isn't compatible with Linux?

What do I do if the laptop my grandfather gifts me isn't compatible with Linux?

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github.com/jbruchon/elks
cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/unofficial/non-free/cd-including-firmware/
twitter.com/AnonBabble

model?

I won't know until I get it, that's why I'm worried.

most laptops are
even if it isnt you can just try to return it or sell it and buy another one

get a better grandfather

Flush his meds

I don't want to recompile my GNU/grandfather

make it compatible yourself

I think he has a history of buying Toshibas, should I be worried?

Well, just sell it and buy a refurbished "enterprise" laptop.

I have a laptop (Dell Inspiron 7352) which isn't compatible with FreeBSD. I got a HP EliteBook 2570p (and later a 9470m) so that I can run FreeBSD. I still use the Inspiron for school work.

user, relax. Every laptop I've installed Linux on has worked fine.

Use the superior closed-source operating system that came with it.

The word you're looking for is botnet.

After fucking with it for a week straight, amirite?

Toshiba C55-5241 here no issue except for broadcom-wl packages and the bluetooth being a bitch and not working.

the worst thing that can happen is no wifi drivers

How do I fix that?

buy a usb wifi adapter for $10

>ostensibly free
>10 dollars to use a feature as essential as a wireless connection
hmm... really makes me think...

Isn't that fixable by buying a compatible PCI wireless card?

Unless it's a fucking T3200 you'll be fine.

why?

T3200s excrete mustard gas if you try to disable readyboot

There are versions of linux that will run in anything down to a 486. I have a pentium 4 next to me with linux on it. You'll be fine.

I got a couple of Intel Atom (Cedarview) laptops that only have video drivers for Windows 7 32-bit for some obtuse reason

It's only a joke user, gas plasma 80286 lappy

Linux-ELKS will run on a 286: github.com/jbruchon/elks

It's a project where they've been porting the Linux kernel to very limited processors; and supporting ancient hardware came as a side effect.

>the laptop my grandfather gifts me
the laptop my grandfather gives me

does your grandpa know anything about computers?
fucking tell him that computer hardware is very specific and you need one suitable for your needs, and you'd appreciate if you could pick one out based on his pricing.
if you aren't too autistic to fucking tell him this, you'll be alright. stop being a faggot though you underage fuck

There's a debian site with non-free drivers:
cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/unofficial/non-free/cd-including-firmware/

>What do I do if the laptop my grandfather gifts me isn't compatible with Linux?

Thank him earnestly. Do not open it. Take it home and sell it on eBay, use the money to buy what you actually want.

Shut the fuck up.

I don't know when I last saw a laptop that wasn't compatible. I wouldn't even worry about it.

I can't think on any incompatibility, maybe if it has a gpu you will have to use the open drivers

Grandpas can lĪµarn about FOSS too you know

You're an ignorant dickhead.

OPs grammar is perfectly fine and is, in fact, better than the drivel you wrote. Retard.

Just ask for the money and buy a laptop for yourself

>I'm obviously destitute and dependent on the hardware others give me, and the drivers for my otherwise 100% free software don't work!
>solutions are: solve my problem with a device that is well within even my pathetic budget
>or
>or
>or
>whine on a Zoroastrian numerical Ouija enthusiasts IRC

Say thanks gramps and stop being a cunt

The worst you'll encounter is a wireless card that needs non-free drivers. I've never had a Toshiba that give me problems with alternative operating systems. However, I have had problems with ANUS laptops and secureboot.

>use rufus in windows to make a bootable debian flash drive
>go to distro website
>get zip of non-free drivers
>extract it
>take contents of extracted folder and move them into the "firmware" folder on the flash drive
The installer will detect the firmware automatically. Even my MacBook Pro that I put Debian on only needed one command to install Broadcomm drivers.

>tfw op gets a macbook

How old are you? If you're being gifted a computer I assume you are not working. What stage are you at in your studies?

I'm about to graduate high school.

Why?

I'll be honest, I was suspecting you were a mid-20s basement-dwelling neckbeard NEET complaining about his free laptop. But you're a high school kid and it's still perfectly reasonable for you to be getting free tech, so that kind of backfired on me.

Don't worry too much about the OS you run. It will almost certainly work with Linux just fine and if it doesn't you can still program and do everything else you might want to do when running Windows.

not him. A mid 20's basement dwelling neckbeard neet would probably not be given anything and would probably have the skills and if/not or the time to make linux work on anything.

Autism.