pages tagged WindowsTaxhroy.euhttps://hroy.eu/tags/WindowsTax/hroy.euikiwiki2023-10-30T21:06:31Zhttps://hroy.eu/posts/dell_ubuntu_wireless/2023-10-30T21:06:31Z2013-10-30T23:00:00Z
<h3 id="the-windows-tax-problem-and-free-software">The Windows Tax
problem and free software</h3>
<p>At this point, you must have figured this out. I am a free software
advocate. I think it’s both painful and wrong when I’m not in control at
all of the software that I use on my computers.</p>
<p>As many users of GNU/Linux systems know, it’s incredibly difficult to
buy a decent laptop without being forced into buying Microsoft Windows,
even if you don’t want to use it. This is what we usually refer to as
“the Windows tax.” This has two consequences:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>we have to <em>pay</em> indirectly for a Microsoft Windows
license fee through the manufacturer, and we do not even know how much
it really costs us,</p></li>
<li><p>we get hardware that <em>may or may not</em> be supported by the
Linux kernel out-of-the-box, which results in a waste of time in
settings adjustment (or worse).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>If you’re looking for information on where to get hardware free of
pre-installed proprietary software, FSFE volunteers maintain a <a
href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/Hardware%20Vendors">list of Hardware
Vendors</a>.</p>
<p>If you already bought a machine with Windows and want to get your
money back, there’s also tons of information on how to get a <a
href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/WindowsTaxRefund">Windows Tax Refund</a>
(make sure to look at information <a
href="https://wiki.fsfe.org/WindowsTaxRefund#Information_for_specific_countries">specific
to your country</a>).</p>
<p>But getting your money back does not fully fix the problem and takes
a lot of time (sometimes met with deception). Indeed, it does not
resolve the hardware support issue in any way because it does not impact
the manufacturers’ sale, and it sure does not help to make demand of
GNU/Linux grow on the market of pre-installed laptops.</p>
<p>So obviously, one of the best strategy is to reward manufacturers
that meet our demands and supply laptops with GNU/Linux pre-installed
and good hardware support. By good hardware support, I mean that it
should work without requiring non-free software.</p>
<p>And here comes the Dell XPS 13.</p>
<h3
id="dell-xps-13-ubuntu-wireless-issues-with-qualcomm-atheros-ar9462">Dell
XPS 13 Ubuntu: wireless issues with Qualcomm Atheros AR9462</h3>
<p><a href="https://hroy.eu/posts/dell_ubuntu_wireless/logo-wt-bl.png"><img src="https://hroy.eu/posts/dell_ubuntu_wireless/logo-wt-bl.png" width="49" height="49" alt="Dell logo" class="pull-right" /></a></p>
<p>Dell has launched a project to provide developers with a good laptop.
I am not really a developer in my day-to-day life, but I could certainly
enjoy a good laptop as well ☺</p>
<p>Especially, the <a
href="http://www.ubuntu.com/partners/dell/dellxps">XPS 13 comes with
Ubuntu</a>. I have been told by Otto Kekäläinen (FSFE head in Finland!)
there’s even a custom linux kernel and all that. I could have a look at
his XPS 13 while <a href="https://hroy.eu/posts/fsfe_ecm/"
title="Coming back from the first FSFE Coordinators Meeting">in Berlin
last month</a> and it looked amazing.</p>
<p>So I decided to get one, as I was <a
href="http://blogs.fsfe.org/hugo/2013/01/im-looking-for-a-new-laptop-suggestions/">looking
to replace</a> the Thinkpad Edge that has been around me for the last 3
years (which I have not been very pleased with because of several
hardware issues and not so helpful Lenovo customer relations). The only
thing that was holding me on from buying the XPS 13 was the price. It’s
50% more expensive than the budget I usually put into a laptop.</p>
<p>About two weeks ago, I made up my mind and bought one. I got my hands
on it today. And surprise! the wireless connection drops off momentarily
here and then, something like every 10 minutes. And when I deactivate
bluetooth using the Ubuntu menu in the top-right hand corner, the wifi
drops as well (and it’s super strange to get it back, I have not found
the exact pattern that works).</p>
<p>At this point, I was kind of surprised. But well, I go on with the
setup process, hoping that the wireless connectivity does not drop too
often, because the laptop is too thin to have an RJ45 port as
backup!</p>
<p><small>One thing that did not go well during the setup process, even
though Ubuntu asked me for the keyboard layout, it sticked to QWERTY
afterwards, making it quite painful to enter passwords and
stuff.</small></p>
<p>After the setup (which went very quickly), I decided to upgrade
everything. Maybe that’ll solve it… It didn’t. Of course.</p>
<p>So I opened the terminal, and</p>
<pre class="terminal">
<code>$ lspci
Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR9462 Wireless Network Adapter</code>
</pre>
<p>Why. Oh, why Dell? Why are you doing this to me? The <a
href="http://www.dell.com/fr/entreprise/p/xps-13-linux/pd">original
page</a> where I bought the laptop from states quite clearly:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6230 802.11 a/g/n</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Having a quick look around and searching, I see that I’m not the only
one who got a different wireless chipset than the one announced by Dell.
I wouldn’t care so much if it were working out-of-the-box after
updating. But it doesn’t!</p>
<p>And No, I don’t want to fix it myself. The reason why I’m buying a
pre-installed GNU/Linux computer in the first place is to make sure
everything is perfectly supported!</p>
<p>I’m now trying to get mine exchanged for the Intel Centrino wireless
card… But of course, tomorrow is a holiday.</p>
<p>Well, maybe it’s for the best. I am not supposed to tweak my laptop
these days: the bar exam orals are approaching!</p>