> The real problem here is that Intel do very little to ensure that free operating systems work well on their consumer hardware

This seems a little extreme. As hardware vendors go, Intel do more to get their hardware supported upstream than a lot of others. Sure, there are areas they could do better, but still.

Lenovo's decision to disable the standard BIOS/UEFI options that allow changing the disk controller mode is the real blocker to having the hardware work. Few people would want to use fakeraid on Linux given the choice anyway.