this post was submitted on 20 Dec 2024
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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One thing you probably need to figure out first: how are the dgpu and igpu connected to each other, and then which ports are connected to which gpu.
Everyone does funky shit with this, and you'll sometimes have dgpus that require the igpu to do anything, or cases where the internal panel is only hooked up to the igpu (or only the dgpu), and the hdmi and display port and so on can be any damn thing.
So uh, before you get too deep in planning what gets which gpu, you probably need to see if the outputs you need support what you want to do.
Yes, that's a good point, I think the thunderbolt out only works on the iGPU, so I'm assuming that to get dual external monitors (HDMI and usb-c) the bare metal OS (Linux) will have to be running at least the iGPU.
I guess that also begs the question: X or Wayland in this scenario?
I'll admit to having no opinion on windowing systems.
If the distro ships with X, I use X, and if it ships with Wayland, I use Wayland.
I'd honestly probably not be able tell you which systems I've been using use one or the other, and that's a good thing: if you can't tell, then it probably doesn't matter anymore.
He's referring to a hardware mux. Essentially, it's hardware that will bypass your iGPU and directly use your dGPU. It's more expensive to find laptops with hardware muxes, but they perform a bit better because output isn't being routed through the iGPU first.
The downside of a hardware mux is that you have to switch between the dGPU and iGPU in your UEFI. This means you need to restart the computer every time you want to change which GPU you're using. The dGPU will result in better performance at the cost of battery life.
Odds are your laptop does not have a hardware mux and you will need to go through the standard optimus setup for your distro. Some distros make this easy with their own tools, like Linux Mint and Manjaro.