this post was submitted on 05 Dec 2023
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Anecdotally, I'm running Kubuntu on a Dell 7280 with a 4 cell battery as my personal computer, which gets an hour or two of websurfing and home network experimentation per day, and I'm having to charge up once or twice a week. I dunno how that stacks up to other devices or distros, but I really barely think about my battery.
My laptop can last a solid 8 hours or more web browsing with windows.
when I put linux (ubuntu for the record) on it, it got a whopping 30 minutes before it needed charging. and it royally fucked my battery health to the point it wouldnt work without being plugged in to the power supply constantly (edit. after a week of use, to be clear, not instantly). Thankfully Dell replaced my laptop for unrelated warranty issue and I got a new one with a fresh new unfucked battery.
You sure it wasn't the adapter? Dell has a proprietary chip for their OEM adapters to try to force people to use only Dell OEM adapters. When those adapters' chips shit the bed, the laptop will no longer charge the battery on purpose, just like using a regular adapter that doesn't use the chip (or a knock-off one spoofing it).
An OS isn't going to destroy battery cells or anything.
Ubuntu's official docs do tell you to fully charge the battery and let it run low through a few cycles before it figures it out, though I know people do complain it still gets it wrong. Personally I use Fedora and do not see those kinds of issues over the course of different laptops but as always YMMV.
Considering I have no problems with windows with the same one i've had from the beginning, yes.
No, but bad built in battery management in the OS absolutely can and will.
and did.
Well I mean you were there but from your post it sounds like you're saying Ubuntu damaged your battery so it doesn't charge anymore. Are you saying it worked in Windows afterwards anyway?
Nah, even if it started overheating the battery from charging, the battery should just stop before it actually damages it. If it doesn't that's problematic and definitely a hardware defect.