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I don't think they need their own full distribution, just a set of Razer drivers or enhancements. Hell, hire the Gallium OS guys to do the trackpad driver specific for the hardware. It is near perfection. By far and away the best Linux touchpad experience.

 

This is amaaaazing! I am going to start saving. Having a 14" or 15" screen and being able to dual boot between linux and Windows would be my biggest requests. I think an IPS screen is an obvious, and a matte screen would be great since development would be my main use with a machine like this, and it's nice to be able to see your screen without sunlight glare. (Although I honestly don't see much light of day.. LOL... Maybe I would if I had a matte display.. hmmm)

 

I am just purchasing a new laptop, and it's come down to either the Dell Precision 5520 (with Ubuntu pre-installed) or a Razer Blade.

Now it's definitely a Razer Blade. I'll be ordering one as soon as the FullHD/1TB option is back in stock, and looking forward to news on the Linux support front.

 

Question to the Razer team: Are you going to include Intel's binary blobs and Management Engine binaries with the Blade? Also would it be possible to get the Blade laptops Qubes-certified?

 

I second that.

Linux for simplicity. I haven't used windows in over a decade. I am still running the same software raid array. For me it's a choice between desktop workstation and portable laptop. It's time to move to a laptop, but it must run Linux, flawlessly. (and not have any BIOS back doors to security).

My Linux laptop wish list (which I would buy in a second if anyone made it):

- 14 inch touch screen 4k. (the Dell style thin bezel is great, but not a deal breaker if I get the rest of this list)
- Latest intel integrated graphics. (if you give me the rest of this list, I'll spring for the nvidia graphics)
- 32G - 64G RAM
- Three(3) PCIe slots:
-- Two m2 PCIe x4 slots for SSDs (I prefer my O/S on a different physical drive from my data.)
-- One m2 WIFI ac/BT 4.x and WIGIG latest intel (since it works with Linux)
- One USB 3.1, two USB 3.0
- One Display Port 1.4
- One HDMI 2.0b
- Replaceable battery
Say what you will, (for phone or computer) you can carry a transformer and power cable and then compete for a plug with the rest of the hordes at an airport, OR you can carry a spare battery or two. (Use the $130 you saved from not installing windows to make the battery removable from the outside.)

The first thing I will do with it is encrypt both SSDs.

 

Is linux OS good?

 

@Razer|Gwynbleidd - is there a plan to digest and summarise all this and give some feedback?

Not to start a flame war, but to contradict some of the posters above, I don't think your own distribution is the way to go - just perhaps maintaining key elements that can be pushed to whoever.

It looks like the two disk options and non-16:9 screen options look popular. They are more desirable hardware changes that OS compatibility changes though.

 

has there been any update on this? really dying to get my core working in ubuntu

 

The OS is good, especially for developers and technical types, but there are a lot of issues getting mainstream software and hardware support. For example, on my current Ubuntu 16.04 laptop, the nVidia Optimus auto-switching just flat out doesn't work; the nVidia GPU is either on for everything (killing the battery and boiling the lap) or off for everything (so anything GPU-focused runs awfully, including Chrome).

If Razer can get this right, with solid GPU support, it will be a huge deal, since the Razer Blade is already pretty much the MacBook replacement for developers who don't want a MacBook (like me).

 

If you target developers :

15 inch laptop with real quad core CPU (no those weak ulv series). Upgradable RAMand. Pcie SSD option. Nvidia or AMD GPU.

No glowing effect or tuning like gamers love. It is not professional. Make the design pure and clean.

Do not favors portability over usability. Do not remove interesting port to gain 1mm of thickness like apple did on mb pro...

Make it a mb pro killer!!!

Hi! And also... Make it available in Europe!!!!

The GPU switching limitation on Linux is due to XOrg. Forcing the adoption of Weyland or Mir on a Linux distribution will be hard for Razer alone...

 

One of the big problems with Linux support is Nvidia itself. They are not very friendly to the opensource community, as much as I believe that Nvidia makes superior high end cards, AMD might be the better route to go for a linux machine.

 

Besides adding this section, what is Razer actually doing to make the Blade "The best linux laptop"? I couldn't find any specifics on that.

Honestly, at that point you should just get a Dell XPS, since that's exactly what you described. The razer blade (at least the 14-inch) is designed for professionals who want to game once and a while IMO.

 

I've changed my mind about the zero bezel DELL style display after spending a day with one. A 14" frame with a zero bezel and a 4k display will provide the size and and portability combination that is a winner.

As @Abounding asked above, does Razer have any timing on this?

 

Please start selling Rather Blade without Windows!
And even better, if it'd be Ubuntu Linux pre-installed.

 

Please, just give us all USB Type C 3.1 ports, many of them and thunderbolt enabled. Get rid of all the legacy usb ports pls We want to move to the newest standards

 

It depends on what your target audience is. If it's Linux expert users who don't mind updates being pushed with relatively little QA, certainly never for their specific hardware configuration, then that's fine. It's a niche market, but it exists.

If it's to help Linux gaming to be a legitimate alternative to just running windows, a different approach will be necessary.

 

FWIW, I'm a big fan of Thunderbolt (writing this on a Razer Core!)
But I think at least one USB 2 port is needed for all those USB sticks, cell phone cables, and other random peripherals that show up.

Also, supporting the Linux ecosystem with kernel modules and application packages is much better than trying to roll your own distribution. And, quite likely, a lot less work, too! If you're smart about how you set up your build system, it should be a basically automatic process to generate appropriate rpms / debs / paks for most of the standard distros, and also provide a raw tarball for those that want to re-package.

Also, you'd probably want to start here, and do whatever improvements are needed to make it "all green": https://terrycain.github.io/razer-drivers/

I think nVIDIA GPUs are so much better than AMD for this form factor that it's worth the binary driver blobs. NVIDIA library support for all kinds of interesting features (machine learning, computer vision, etc) has placed them square in the middle of requirements for many modern professionals. They also run games well!

I think the existing Blades are already good MacBook Pro killers. If you could add more RAM, that'd be good -- I'm really sad that my 2016 upgrade could only get 16 GB (just like the MacBooks) -- this is a real limitation.
And, finally, I currently run Linux through VMWare Workstation. It's not as nice as bare metal, but it works, and I can switch out to Windows when needed. It's another $250 purchase on top, though ...

 

Please release a tool to upgrade Razer BIOS updates from inside Linux. This will help users of the Core/Razerblade Stealth with updating their systems. If possible please either pressure NVIDIA or work with them to get the Core working seamlessly with Linux and try to get the modifications to get it working pushed into upstream distribution repositories. Drivers should not require third party installers. If possible have them accepted into the kernel repository. (NVIDIA Drivers are an exception to this as NVIDIA is unlikely to open source their code).

 

I could not agree more... the only way this works on a large scale IMO is for relevant software or patches to be published in a way that can be adapted to any distribution... and, again IMO, this *needs* to work on a large scale

 

YES! And thank you I have been a Mac user (business and creative work) for 15 years and I bought their highest spec laptop every two years. No more. I'm officially leaving the Apple ecosystem. For all the obvious reasons.

The Razer Blade Pro will be my next machine because it's beautiful and powerful. I'm not going back to Windows. Ever. So Razer plus Linux is where I am committing my money and energy.

I'm definitely from the "I just want it to work" school. While I have a degree in computer science and can get off on tinkering and customizing on the odd day, the work that I do is far more interesting to me and I just want to get on with it with a VERY high degree of productivity and efficiency.

And I think there are MANY once-loyal Mac users in a similar position to me. Not serious gamers necessarily, but serious creative professionals looking for a new home with a company that gets it with regard to power, functionality and aesthetics.

I think you have your hardware down, so not much to add about that. Keep the port selection rich and functional as you go forward is all I can say! I love the dual SSD but would like the option to set this up as RAID 1 at inception as my data is more valuable to me than raw speed (for the most part). And always the option for a matte screen please. I often work in well-lit areas, even outside, and this is crucial. And 17" (or even bigger) would also be my first choice. My laptop does not need to fit in my backpack, just on my car seat.

I think the idea that has been floated in a few posts above that you create your own RAZER Linux distro is an awesome one! I'm not too concerned with which platform you base this off, but it will allow you to create a beautiful and seamless hardware/software integration - and thus the kind of simple and functional user experience that I, and many others (especially ex Apple users), are looking for.

That said, there are many in the Linux community who are committed to their particular favorite distro, and would want to stay with that. And they want to tweak it just the way they want. And so the Razer Linux distro would not be interesting to them.

So my suggestion is to release your machines in three configuration options:

1. Windows as you currently do. (Most of your current user base.)

2. Razer Linux fully installed, configured and working perfectly right out of the box - so we can be up and running immediately and get on with doing whatever amazing shit we're doing. (The Mac ecosystem demographic who are coming over to you - get ready!)

3. Blank for those who want to set up Linux how they want it. (Most Linux enthusiasts.)

If you do all three of these, you will clean up, no question.

I think it is very important that people who want to run Linux have the option to not pay for Windows - that is critical. And personally I would be fine to pay for Razer Linux if you wanted to structure it that way to cover your dev costs. We just don't want to pay for stuff we don't want. But paying for stuff we do want is fine.

If you do create a Razer Linux distro and therefore get all drivers and integration perfectly sorted (including Nvidia et al) then that will be a machine to contend with! I look forward

I have started a new thread here https://insider.razerzone.com/index.php?threads/razer-linux-distro.21758/ about this - if you want to weigh in on this idea please do so...