No one really knows if this is a result of the ongoing trade feud between the United States and China, but it seems like a great step moving forward for the increase of Linux alternatives promoted by major OEMs like Dell and Lenovo. If you have been following tech news, you must have heard of Huawei, the Chinese multinational company in telecommunication and consumer electronics. The company is a prominent player in the telecom sector but has recently been warped by controversy. It’s been long seen as a questionable front by the Chinese government to spy on other countries through its massive telecom infrastructure. The US government even imposed a ban on Huawei earlier this year that sparked a trade war between China and United States of America. Google banned Huawei from using Android and other Google services like Play Store, Gmail etc on Huawei devices. Although it is still not clear if the ban will ever be discontinued as Huawei’s reprieve ends in November. Other reports also gave news that Microsoft may also ban Huawei from using Windows operating system on its laptops, and this could probably be what prompted Huawei to opt for Linux. A Reddit user shared this link of a Chinese website offering MateBook with Linux, proving that Huawei’s flagship MateBook laptop series is now available to purchase with Deepin Linux preinstalled on it. Deepin Linux which is also based in China has previously been accused of tracking user data. This is a charge that Deepin developers have denied repeatedly. Maybe one of the main draws for Huawei to Deepin is the recently added Cloud Sync feature allowing you to sync various system settings to the cloud. This covers network settings (such as VPN and WiFi), sound settings, mouse settings, update settings, power settings, corner settings, theme, wallpaper, launcher, and dock. Definitely useful for installing the OS on multiple machines, or easily regaining your customizations after a clean install. Disappointing but, right now these select Huawei laptops with Linux are only rolling out in China, via Huawei’s official e-commerce store VMall.com. The exact models available with Deepin Linux are the Huawei MateBook X Pro, Huawei MateBook 13 and Huawei MateBook 14. It’s also worth noting that all three of these Huawei laptops run any Linux distribution like a dream, and not just Deepin. Will we be seeing Linux option on Huawei MateBook in other countries soon? That is something we will keep you up to date on as there is no official announcement from Huawei in this regard so we can only guess at present. Although this could probably just be a precursor to Huawei offering Linux on select laptops globally. Or it’s possibly a trial run to gauge interest in alternatives to Windows 10, such as its own open-source HarmonyOS.
