Linux friendly hardware...

[red_Marvin]

Is there any good centered resource for checking if and how much a specific piece
of hardware supports Linux (=Ubuntu). I've been more or less planning to buy a new pc
for about a year now, but can never decide if I want to put the money on that etc...

...But maybe this christmas...

[frodon]

You should have a look to the wiki : https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupport?

[mstlyevil]

Just remember one thing in hardware selection when choosing hardware for a Linux PC.If it has the name Nvidia in it's chipset, it will probally play well with most Linux distros.

[Biased turkey]

That link will give you even more that what you asked for :)
http://www.linuxcompatible.org/

[imagine]

Just remember one thing in hardware selection when choosing hardware for a Linux PC.If it has the name Nvidia in it's chipset, it will probally play well with most Linux distros.
I disagree. Nvidia refuses to release free drivers and doesn't even give out enough information so others could develop them. Just because there are companys which are worse than Nvidia when it comes to driver support doesn't mean you should look out for Nvidia products.
If I had to name some hardware manufacturers I'd rather say Intel, Via, HP than Nvidia = )

[frodon]

Of course nvidia is not in the open source spirit but it's not the question here.
red_Marvin asked for compatible hardwares and nvidia products are some of those compatible hardwares.

[mstlyevil]

I disagree. Nvidia refuses to release free drivers and doesn't even give out enough information so others could develop them. Just because there are companys which are worse than Nvidia when it comes to driver support doesn't mean you should look out for Nvidia products.
If I had to name some hardware manufacturers I'd rather say Intel, Via, HP than Nvidia = )

Nvidia offers the best driver support for Linux for it's hardware. Just because you particularly do not like closed source drivers does not mean that most of us reject them. At leat Nvidia makes an effort to support the linux community unlike ATI who says that Linux is a niche market and they are not going to put many resources on Linux hardware support.

The original posters question was not what hardware best works with open drivers but what resources were available to him to find out what hardware is best supported by Linux. My response was to let him know if he was in doubt, at least he could always turn to products with Nvidia chipsets and know they most likely will be supported.

As for the other companies mentioned the only one that supports Linux and open standards is HP. If I am using an Intel processor I would probally go with an Intel chipset because they perform better together. Via chipsets just do not perform as well as Nvidia with AMD processors so why would I cripple my system with an inferior chipset. Also Via does not make a cutting edge graphics card and Intel graphics chipsets are absolutely terrible compared with Nvidia and ATI. If you want to use inferior products to make a political statement, then that is your loss not mine because I have no problems with propietary drivers and software if I believe that they perform superior to open source versions. Also Nvidia owns the patent to it's graphics cards and chipsets so if they wish to keep the drivers closed, that is their choice just as it was Torvaldis choice to open source his operating system. If you do not like their choices then you could start a company and develop a superior product and open source the drivers code. If what you make is superior to Nvidia, then I will use it instead.

[Sheinar]

just as it was Torvaldis choice to open source his operating system.
Umm, the only choice Linus had was when it came to the kernel. He had absolutely no choice concerning the rest of the operating system.

Though, your point is still valid. Nvidia can do whatever they want with their drivers. Still, I'm sure any gamer would prefer Nvidia to release a free driver, or at the very least better specifications so free software developers can create a working driver.

[mstlyevil]

Umm, the only choice Linus had was when it came to the kernel. He had absolutely no choice concerning the rest of the operating system.

Though, your point is still valid. Nvidia can do whatever they want with their drivers. Still, I'm sure any gamer would prefer Nvidia to release a free driver, or at the very least better specifications so free software developers can create a working driver.

I can agree with you on this point. Nvidia claims that if they open their drivers that it would divulge trade secrets on its hardware and it would also violate agreements with their partners by divulging their trade secrets. They also are afraid that it would give ATI an unfair advantage because now they would know all the specs to all of Nvidias products both existing and future. I don't know how much of this I believe but much of it is plausible.