So here's a question. I wonder if there are laptops out there that are "largely compatible" with the rocky?
There's a real cybersecurity angle here, by the way. There are many organizations both in and out of governments that have concerns about proprietary binary-only BIOSes -- what's in there? Given the recent discovery that some proprietary BIOSes can be hacked by just changing the OEM logo, I think this concern is valid.
Esp. given this sort of thing: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/30/intel_bios_security_bug/ as seen on: http://invisiblethingslab.com/itl/Press.html
This has even led to proposals to move to ARM-based systems in some agencies, simply because the ARM is perceived as being an open "ecosystem", and increasingly most x86 platforms are not perceived the same way.
ron