[PLUG] Linux-compatible laptops

John Jason Jordan johnxj at comcast.net
Wed Jul 15 03:15:48 UTC 2009


On Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:44:28 -0700
Keith Lofstrom <keithl at kl-ic.com> dijo:

> Lastly, for security purposes I want the wifi to be OFF when I
> unplug the USB or PCMCIA card;  without a direct power switch I
> am relying on corruptable software and firmware to take internal
> Wifi offline.  Sometimes you just want to raise the drawbridge,
> rather than trust the guards.

When I was shopping for my current Thinkpad T61 I was given to
understand that the switch on the front of the case physically
turned the power to the bluetooth and wireless devices on or off.

I have never inspected the wiring diagrams for the T61 to see if this
is really true. But if a business traveler turns off the switch and
then powers on the laptop during a flight, and as a result of the
radios not really being turned off the plane crashes, the bill that
Lenovo will receive will not be trivial.

I feel comfortable in assuming that corporations quake in fear of the
unbounded greed of ambulance chasing attorneys.

As for Linux software, I don't know. I do know that if I flick the
switch off while running Jaunty I instantly lose my bluetooth mouse and
my wireless connectivity via the internal Intel 4965agn.



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