Much appreciated tip, thanks. I've known some atheros chips had really good drivers, but this is more specific than my vague impressions.
I suppose a major cause of the situation is that hardly anyone buys a laptop with the wifi chip as the first concern. Most laptops for sale don't clearly show the wifi chip, unless you go into the online configurator where you might be able to pay for an upgrade (yes I'm one of the weird people who considers the wifi chip, having once worked at a wifi ap vendor). I also doubt it's possible to replace the wifi chip on a macbook air or retina. So it's rare to have "cult favorite" chips of this type that enthusiasts can gravitate to, usually we just deal with whatever we end up with.
It relates back to a real problem in the Linux ecosystem today - the assumption Windows Computer == Linux Computer. A false assumption, especially when you get into the realms of device support for specific motherboard features, wifi cards, expansion cards, etc.
If anything, the real problem is the lack of an easy to reference directory of Linux hardware from the buyers perspective, rather than from the owners perspective. IE, "I want to buy <insert part> (or <notebook>) that supports Linux, all the parts manufacturers provide open drivers or documentation, and all the parts are compatible.
The lack of such a resource probably turns a lot of potential Linux converts off.
thanks to previous comment i just ordered one card on ebay for under $10 to test my theory - any laptop with pcie wifi card can be "upgraded" to atheros card. and i might even get few bucks back, since usually laptop-specific cards cost more on ebay :))
in theory if pcie cards are completely interchangeable, i should be able just swap them in and out. will see if it work out.
I suppose a major cause of the situation is that hardly anyone buys a laptop with the wifi chip as the first concern. Most laptops for sale don't clearly show the wifi chip, unless you go into the online configurator where you might be able to pay for an upgrade (yes I'm one of the weird people who considers the wifi chip, having once worked at a wifi ap vendor). I also doubt it's possible to replace the wifi chip on a macbook air or retina. So it's rare to have "cult favorite" chips of this type that enthusiasts can gravitate to, usually we just deal with whatever we end up with.