2 days ago
- The author switched to Arch Linux on a Surface Book 1 after Microsoft deemed it obsolete, motivated by defiance and Windows decay.
- Debian was tried first but rejected due to sleep issues, desire for full disk encryption including /boot, and a preference for latest software versions.
- Arch Linux installed successfully with KDE, offering a snappy, lightweight experience and good high-DPI display support.
- Battery life is similar to Windows (~4-5 hours), touchpad and touchscreen work, and hibernation was enabled with a large swapfile.
- Major issues include lack of S0ix sleep states (5% battery drain per hour while closed), no working dedicated GPU, and janky camera setup requiring kernel module fiddling.
- Power states were initially missing but resolved by installing power-profiles-daemon, offering eco, normal, and performance modes.
- A critical bug filled /tmp with crash dumps, causing a non-bootable system after pacman update; this was resolved by switching to BTRFS with snapshots.
- Overall, the author is satisfied with Arch and KDE, appreciating the latest software and hoping to never reinstall.