Buying hardware for Linux

Best practice

[encyclo]

As my ancient 500mhz Celeron is getting on a bit as a primary machine, I am planning on buying a new machine as a general-purpose workstation - running exclusively Linux, of course (or maybe FreeBSD).

My question is this: what's the best way of choosing hardware when you want to run Linux? Do you need to check every component against a list of supported hardware, or is it safe just to buy reasonably standard kit and assume it is supported? Are there any particular pieces of kit it's best to avoid (or specifically choose)?

Finally, what do you do about kit with pre-installed Windows XP? Has anyone succeeded in getting a reduction from big-name makers (HP, Dell, etc.), or is it better to go to a white-box manufacturer, or build your own? I absolutely refuse that Microsoft receives a penny for an OS that I will never use, and I would always expect a reduction in price if Windows is removed or never installed.

[bufferzone]

Use the different Linux hardware lists on the net. Depending on distribution you will find different lists. I have found a general one and one for Redhat and mandrake.
Drivers are always a problem. If you choose hardware from these list, you are more sure on finding drivers with support for your choices

[linuxhardware.org...]
[hardware.redhat.com...]
[linux-mandrake.com...]

[paybacksa]

or stick to a hardware vendor who knows Linux really well. VA-Linux used to be that (not sure how they have faired these past few years) and one of their guys left to start PenguinComputing which has sold reliable Linux boxes for many many years. I was very happy with PC Relions for many years.

[quebrada]

I just purchased a new web server and wanted to run FreeBSD. So prior to purchase I asked the vendor to install and test with the 4.10 Stable version. They did, and everything works fine.

[bakedjake]

or is it safe just to buy reasonably standard kit and assume it is supported?

Lately, yes. Stick to hardware that's been out 6-12 months, and you'll do fine. Linux has quite a broad range of hardware support, and they tend to move fast to support new hardware, especially popular hardware.

FreeBSD has a somewhat more limited support of hardware, but most popular hardware is supported just fine.

Of course, a Google Groups and GMane search for "hardware linux" where "hardware" is the name of your device tends to give you a very quick overview of whether the hardware will work or not. Remember to sort by date.

[hayseed]

On a side note, if you're looking for a Linux distro and you like a GUI, squishy, feel-good install and desktop, I recommend checking out White Box Linux [whiteboxlinux.org], which is based on RedHat Enterprise Linux.

I'm currently running it both standalone (on standard/run-of-the-mill PII and K7 hardware it installed with no gotchas) and under VMWare on a W2K box, and me likey. FYI, I cut my Linux teeth on a non-X Debian install so am accustomed to the command line, but IMHO this distro shows how far Linux has really come on the desktop.

Have fun with your new box :)