Quite a few of my friends and colleagues are running Linux on their laptops, but it seems that each of them reports that something doesn’t work quite right – WiFi, or sleep mode, or power management. (And the Web seems to be filled with horror stories, hacks, and half-baked solutions.) I’m curious if this is a universal truth, or whether someone has managed to achieve The Perfect Linux Laptop configuration. I’m thinking of things like:

• sleep to RAM works
• everything works correctly after waking from sleep (even if you’ve unplugged a USB or FireWire device while sleeping)
• WiFi automatically connects to known and public networks, and reconnects after sleep
• power settings (screen brightness, CPU speed) automatically adjust when you unplug from the mains
• able to play, read and write CDs and DVDs
• automatically switch to mirrored or multiple screens if an external monitor or projector is plugged in
• etc.

I can’t believe it’s really that hard – is it? (And does the Tecra M2 on CAMS fit the bill?)