Free and Open Source Software

Disclaimer I've never done it myself but I've looked into it in the past. It doesn't seem like its too overly complicated. Just be sure to check out their features per device when deciding which surface to go with: https://github.com/linux-surface/linux-surface/wiki/Supported-Devices-and-Features#feature-matrix

I've done it on a Surface Go and while the install can be a bit more of a pain, once it's done it's a great little Linux unit.

Two PITA points are it doesn't have a normal BIOS so sometimes it won't boot from USB normally and you have to go into Windows and use it's Advanced Startup process to make it work. That then means you might have to keep Windows on dual boot.

The other PITA this can cause is you might also need to install a boot manager like rEFInd to get it to boot into your distro properly. I found I needed this with Kubuntu but not Manjaro, for whatever reason.

Both issues are a pain, but not difficult, just annoying. And once it's done you don't have to think about it again.

Don’t get a surface book! I know it’s a laptop not a tablet but using Linux on it has been a nighthmare.

I’ve done it across a handful of surface products I’d say that if you’re comfortable using Linux it’ll be just fine

Yes, the only difference really is installing their custom kernel afterwards to enable missing features like touchscreen support.

It works pretty well, the only big thing still missing is camera support which will probably get solved soon.

You install Linux normally first and then install the surface kernel after. Until then you can't use the pen and touch is limited. You'll probably need at least 2 free usb slots on the surface though, one for the isntallation medium and one for an external keyboard. If you don't have a usb c dock, you'll need to figure out how to get a linux iso on a usb that includes the surface kernel, which is possible but fairly compicated compared to the usual installation.

Sexual compatibility. Chromebooks are known prudes

Software can be hit or miss on ARM processors, but it's getting much better. If you stick to mainstream distros/apps, you're not going to run into many problems. I'm writing this from a 2014 Acer C720 running Debian, and it does it beautifully. This old thing still gets 10 hours of battery life, and I paid less than $100 for it.

Yes, I guess @Apostato@beehaw.org is right though that software compatibility for arm is improving, so it really depends on your use-case and workflow. I don't remember exactly what I was doing at the time I just remember the program I wanted couldn't run on arm.

Wait, I have a yoga too. It can run Linux?

I have a Yoga 530, running KDE 5.24.4. The touch functionality is really broken, basically unusable. Try Gnome, anything is better than this.