Why do people still recommend Thinkpads for Linux when there are Linux-oriented manufacturers now?
I've noticed in the Linux community whenever someone asks for a recommendation on a laptop that runs Linux the answer is always "Get a Thinkpad" yet Lenovo doesn't seem to be a big Linux contributor or ally. There's also at least six Linux/FOSS-oriented computer manufacturers now:
I don't like thinkpads anymore. They used to be great but Lenovo decided to kill off their best feature - the keyboards.
My fingers actually hurt when typing on a ThinkPad keyboard now. They are so shit.
I think people are nostalgic and they remember what the brand used to be. But I'm not impressed by them anymore. They keep scoring top marks at notebookcheck reviews however, but every new ThinkPad has disappointed me with bad screen or bad looks or feel.
To be honest, they also made them less serviceable. But in the not so long past they used to be really great. You can easily find replacement parts, upgrade them. If I have to buy a new one, I would buy Framework, if second hand is an option, ThinkPad is unbeatable, but you need to do a small research which model doesn't have soldered RAM and offers battery replacement.
Not that hard. Each ThinkPad model has a PSREF sheet you can download in 5 seconds, and check everything down to the screen brightness in nits, and all kinds of slots and ports on motherboard. This kind of standardised, easy to procure documentation does not exist for any laptop maker at all.