Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 Series, its laptop-class processors, is gaining Linux support, letting devices built on the platform run the open-source operating system. Linux is the backbone of servers, embedded systems and a great deal of developer tooling, so support widens the range of machines the chips can power.
Until now these Arm-based laptop chips have been most at home on Windows; opening them to Linux invites a different, technical audience and a new class of use.
What it means: hardware becomes more useful the more software it can run. Broader operating-system support turns a consumer laptop chip into something developers and businesses can build servers, kiosks and appliances around, which extends its commercial life well beyond the laptop.