Typically linux users (like myself) enable S3 sleep mode, which does exactly what most folks expect it to (sleep until a user action is taken). It's rock solid and I've never had a problem with it in ~8 years.
While there is a BIOS hack to supposedly do that on an XPS 9500/9510, I've yet to see anyone get it to work. I am typing this comment on a 9500 that is mostly great with Linux. Its battery life is subpar though. I'm limited to S2 Idle or deep sleep.
What are you referring to in particular? I've never had anything be broken, in 15 years of exclusive Linux use.
Though I don't share the confidence half this thread has that my experiences are universal, so I'm curious what you're referring to that I've managed to avoid.
Are you possibly referring to something that isn't automatic detection of hardware features? I've been on Linux laptops for 13 years but almost always on something shipped by the vendor, and I've never had these problems of going to sleep or bad power management that I hear about from HN comments.
The ability to configure the options and not have every interaction tracked does make Linux the best option. However unpopular that may be.
The Dell with Linux out of the box had cooling issues and a high-pitched fan. Sure the cores would be disabled to deal with the power issues, which supports your point.
