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I have a condition and I'm afraid it's not easily treatable. It's an urge somewhat stronger than myself to go against the flow when it comes to doing the most illogical thing, to the most ill suited subject, at an inappropriate time. Before you start calling 911, let me elaborate: It has to do with my fetish to Install copies of Linux on computers that were NOT made to run it at all. It's a moderate illness compared to the completely pathological condition of some of my fellow geeks who try to run a copy of Doom on their microwave timer, but it's a condition nonetheless.
I've been doing it for years. At first, the challenge consisted of reviving old discarded laptops that were 'doomed' (no pun intended, guys) to oblivion because they could no longer run Windows XP or Vista, and the tons of bloatware that came with it. I would spend hours in a Frankensteinan haze trying to bring those machines back to a productive life. I would hand them off to friends and family – only to have them frown at the strange “it’s-not-windows” operating system that I forcefully jabbed under their noses.
Preventing a mini Chernobyl
Later, it got worse. Seeing expensive macs lying by the wayside because the money-makers in Cupertino decided not to support them with the latest version of OSX. What started with spending hours to fight invisible bios settings to boot a different operating system, ended with desperate research on trying to activate cooling fans at the right moment to prevent the system going Chernobyl on me.
Sometimes, my endeavours were not out of masochism but sprung from necessity. When I bought the first version of the Surface Go laptop a couple of years ago, it was horribly frustratingly slow. The only alternative to smashing it to a gazillion pieces in a fit of pure liquid rage, was to find out if Linux might help. Behold: It did. An installation of Ubuntu on said system did boost performance, but I would have to live with poor battery life, and the absence of decent touchscreen support and the use of the internal webcam. Survivable in a pre-covid world.. unacceptable after the pandemic.
So how about the Surface laptop Go 2
So I should have known better when I started ogling the new Surface Go laptop 2 (yeah, what a name right?), but I was just smitten with the form-factor. A small non-cinematic sized 12-inch screen, a decent but un-backlit keyboard, 64 gigabytes of storage, 4GB of RAM, and an older I5 processor? At the price point, this laptop sounds like a baaaad idea, even if you run only Windows 11 retarded cousin “Windows S” on it. Perfect for Linux.. right?
With glee, I got my hands on one of these lovely devices, looking forward to hours of tinkering to get everything working. Supported with gallons of coffee, my friends from the interwebs and some hacker music, I could start the thrilling adventure to get the OS on there, try obscure drivers and scripts to unlock unworking hardware… only to arrive, elated, with a semblance of a somewhat working system. It was my version of a lego box: The joy of building it a goal in itself.
Like the whale asking captain Ahab for a belly rub
But this time around, I was Thoroughly disappointed because… everything… just… worked. A quick hop to the bios to change the boot order, and also allow UEFI booting from third parties, was all I needed to do. Afterwards, Ubuntu 22.10 booted flawlessly and installed without a hitch. It felt like I was doing this on a super-supported thinkpad. It wasn't supposed to be like this? Like the great whale scooting up to captain Ahab for a friendly belly rub, this system unlocked all its secrets and functionalities on the very, very first boot. Webcam, wireless, speakers, sleep-to-suspend… What took me hours to fiddle around with in previous adventures now.. just worked. But.. it gets worse.
Whoever expected the Surface laptop Go 2 to be a bleak facsimile of 'the real thing running Windows' is wrong. Without having to compromise down to a “Lightweight version” of Linux, 22.04 (running Gnome) proved to be an excellent companion for the Surface. Its app window (with large icons) provides a better interface than the native operating system the device ships with. It's easier on the frugal 4GB of RAM and even after installing a boatload of apps, I only used up 55% of the 64 Gig drive.
“It's wrong, it's just wrong” I keep mumbling like the deranged genius I am. I am welding a solar array to a jellyfish – only to find out I've created a superior creature? This road should be riddled with frustrations, compromises.. not smooth sailing to end up with a result that is actually BETTER than the original. But there you have it. For those of you who hate Disney-like happy endings, I do have one little paper cut to offer up. The battery performance isn't as good as it is on Windows. You might get a measly 6 hours out of it instead of the (promised but not proven) 9 hours Redmond swears by.
In conclusion
Here is what you geeks want to hear about installing Ubuntu on the Surface go laptop 2 (Base model with 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, without the fingerprint reader): • Boot from Ubuntu with UEFI Support: Works (just enter the bios, change the boot order and enable 3rd party support for Uefi systems) • Installation with full wifi support: Works out of the box • Non proprietary driver support: Works out of the box. Enter secure boot password once • Audio and webcam : Works out of the box • Touch support: Works out of the box (bonus if you put the Gnome app button in a convenient place) • Bluetooth: Works out of the box. • Function buttons on the keyboard : Supported out of the box. • Back-lit keyboard: Non supported (there is no spoon). • Suspend on lid-close : Works fine.
So there! Installing Ubuntu 22.04 on the Surface laptop Go 2 is the most uneventful project that you might endeavour on in 2023, and can be performed by a total noob. The shocking result is that, this time around, it might even transform the machine into a superior version of its 'out of the box' self. Proceed at your own peril, but understand the risk that your best Linux laptop might just be one that was made by Microsoft.