Perhaps it is because I have used Linux for quite a long time now, and it did not always work so well, but I still smile when I plug my laptop (Debian, Gnome, Wayland) into a Thunderbolt dock via USB-C shaped connector, and its display appears on multiple 4K monitors within a couple of seconds.
I unplug it, and it comes back to the laptop screen.
Screen rotation on my laptop works flawlessly.
Thank you - genuinely - to everyone who has worked on making this happen so seamlessly.
My 2026 Linux experience:
External display: just works
Screen rotation: just works
Webcam (internal, external): just works
Audio (internal, external, Bluetooth): just works
Bluetooth: just works
Wi-Fi: just works
Ethernet: just works
WWAN (integrated cellular modem): just works
Printing: just works
@neil I have a cutting edge ThinkPad P16 gen 3 from January. I do have minor issues with Thunderbolt 5, and I don't have WWAN or screen rotation, but Webcam, Audio, BlueTooth, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and Printing "just work" with no issues.
Printing is going a bit *too* well, since my laptop happily offers to print to an unreasonably large number of printers (50?) when I connect to the library WiFi.
Neil Brown
Shae Erisson