[Info-vax] Linux power management (was: Re: Don't worry, HP's project...)

[Brad Hamilton]

On 2013-04-09, MG <marcogbNO at SPAMxs4all.nl> wrote:
> The overall Linux power management capabilities are poor, this is
> hardly a secret either.  That largely kills the experience on the
> laptop/notebook, well, for me anyway.
>

Can you quantify, "poor"?  I ask, because I use Linux Mint 13 on an older
Lenovo with 1st gen Intel Dual-Core.  XFCE, instead of Mate or Cinnamon,
allows me to use hibernate and sleep with few problems, as opposed to
Mate, Cinnamon, or Ubuntu Unity.

> As a matter of fact, even some big name Linux developers/contributors
> have been critical about this, even fairly recently.  (Remember, for
> instance, that article that was shared here, a while back, about the
> co-founder/creator of GNOME that spoke out?)
>
> I run Linux Mint x86-64 on an older Acer 5536.  It barely works, it
> feels more like a 'poorly cooled computer with a low-grade UPS'.
> I'm actually going to try FreeBSD on it soon, since I can then at
> least also use interesting things like ZFS and the "jails".
>

I avoided using FreeBSD years ago, because the wireless device drivers were
poor/nonexistent.  That experience may have changed by now, but I won't risk
an otherwise "stable" platform.  I may experiment on a "throwaway" laptop.
[...]