>Most things "just work", which you only appreciate after working with other linux laptops. For example, I can seamlessly plug this laptop in place of my work macbook with just one usb-c cable. That being said I think things have generally gotten better in the space so this may not be as much of a selling point anymore. Additionally this laptop doesn't have an nvidia gpu, which means its job is easier.

This might be your experience with System76, but it hasn't been mine. My Adder WS had infuriating software problems.

• It would regularly hang when disconnecting from AC. The only fix I ever found was a hard-boot.

• When disconnecting from AC, the CPU would sometimes get stuck at 800 MHz. The only procedure I found to reliably fix this was to reconnect to power, wait a few seconds, disconnect, wait a few seconds, and then reconnect.

• It would regularly fail to wake from sleep.

• The screen randomly flashed bright white when suspended, so I had to get in the habit of shutting the lid at night to keep it from waking me up.

• The fan would get stuck at 100% even when the temperatures were at 30°. Fixing this required sleeping and waking the machine.

Maybe some of the problems were caused by Nvidia, but I don't much care. The fact remains that I've been using Linux laptops since I was in high school and I've never had problems like these. Debian, Ubuntu, and Fedora all worked well on Dell, Framework, IBM, and Lenovo hardware (Yoga, not Thinkpad), as well as on my home-built desktops with Nvidia GPUs.

Also some hardware problems:

• The barrel connector was cheap and the power cable would regularly fall out. This exacerbated the software problems. The machine would get stuck at 800 MHz at least once a day and hang every few days.

• The machine was generally cheaply-built. The rubber feet fell off, the case creaked and flexed, several keys cracked, small plastic bits broke off, etc.

Credit where it is due, System76 support was responsive and replaced the mainboard promptly and free of charge. But that didn't fix the problems, so not all that much credit is due.

I wound up installing Windows on my System76 and giving it to my cousin as a gaming machine. I owned it less than two years.

>Moral points for supporting a small company that focuses on security (whether this is actually significant is up to the reader)

System76 rebadges Clevo machines and isn't very forthright about it. I find that questionable enough to outweigh my preference for small businesses.