data1701d
Reminds me of how my SSDs (both literally brand new) kept spitting out error messages in smartctl. As it turned out, this was a smartctl bug and I was able to install the Debian backports version to get a version with the fix.
Yeh, I think it has to do with some CPU topology crap. I have it working pretty well, luckily - I once had an old Virtualbox VM with MacOS that I needed, and I was able to boot it in my Windows VM.
With Lightroom, you're right on that. Honestly, the state of FOSS image editors is a bit ridiculous, especially considering how good FOSS vector editors like Inkscape are these days compared to their commercial, proprietary counterparts.
I can see that. I nuked my Windows partition years ago, though. Honestly, if I find a software is jerk enough to block virtualization, I don't find it worth using.
I personally use LUKS + clevis with a TPM on my Thinkpad.
Something like that. In my setup, I passthrough my RX 580 (my nicer card) and have my RX 550 (a dirt cheap one I got for ~$85 on sale) stay connected to the host.
I would almost recommend GPU passthrough if you have a dual GPU system and can figure it out. It definitely takes a bit of tinkering, but I like the results: I now have both a Windows 10 (maybe will become 11, maybe 11 LTSC) and a Hackintosh VM. It's not as good if you only have one graphics card, through. If you're up for it, I used this tutorial. If it's an AMD card, though, make sure to check my issue for any steps relating to that.
As for dual boot, get a second drive if you can. I find it helps me avoid a lot of the misery, although I very rarely actually boot up Windows anymore - just a VM if I really have to (which I do for MATLAB because my university is ridiculous and I figure if I'm going to use an evil programming language, I might as well use it in an isolated, evil environment).
My parents had that same worry when I tried to get a used laptop. If it’s what you have to do to convince them, then maybe look into a newer Thinkpad. I have an E16 AMD with a Ryzen 5 7000 series. I initially had some minor issues with the Wi-Fi modem, but I found some kernel parameters that fixed it. Otherwise, it’s been very smooth-sailing.
But when do we get Xkcd at 1024x1 in Netscape Navigator 3.0 on a Pentium III+-1 emulated in JavaScript on an Apple IIGS?
You’ll probably notice very little difference, especially if you go with one of the default partition layouts. If you were to manually lay it out, you’d need to make sure you have an EFI partition on a GPT partition table, but otherwise it should be normal.
Like others have said, Secure Boot can be miserable, but in my experience, it works automagically with Debian so long as you stick to official kernel packages. The only hiccup I’ve had before (assuming a normal kernel package) is that on my shiny new Thinkpad E16, I had to go into the UEFI settings and enable non-Microsoft certificates (it was a single toggle). After that, my experience with Debian was pretty smooth (I had a minor issue with Wi-Fi, but it’s not relevant to your question).
I'm guessing that other 0.7% is the Makefile.