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Re: Linux on a Chromebook (was: thirty years ago)

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In comp.os.linux.misc, Andreas Kohlbach  <ank@spamfence.net> wrote:
> Btw. I might need a new laptop after 9 years hacking on this one in front
> of me and thought about a Chromebook, because they are cheap (no Windows
> OEM license?). But don't want to give up on Linux. There are a lot of
> Howtos in the internet, and some reporting of messing all up. Anyone
> successfully installed Linux - preferably next to Chrome OS - on a
> Chromebook here?

Probably yes. Chromebooks seem to have pushed out all of the netbooks
that I so loved, but seem slightly more difficult to re-OS and never
seem to have great hard drive or RAM offerings. So I personally have
avoided them.

My method for picking a new laptop is generally:

1. Come up with some rough specs for what I want, to narrow the field
2. From the offerings in that narrowed field, search for "How to install
   Linux on XYZ"
3. Discard any offerings with no promising results
4. If nothing left, readjust specs in restart, otherwise buy one of
   the offerings

My most recent purchase was a Microsoft Surface Go 2, which met my
criteria of ~11" screen, 8GB RAM, slot for sd or microsd card, USB-C,
and Linux works. I was in a rush, so limited my search to Surface
offerings because I had heard they mostly work well with Linux already.

It was more costly than my usual budget, and the keyboard is a bit
soft. Linux was difficult to install, but doable, and has been pretty
solid since. I _have_ noticed that the trackpad seems to have a config
race condition during boot, so sometimes it works great and sometimes
it works terribly. One of the fast to reproduce "works terribly" signs
is "middle button emulation not present". Rebooting can help by rolling
the dice again on that race condition. Then when it works, avoid
rebooting for a while.

Elijah
------
not enamored enough to enthusiastically recommend the Surface Go

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thirty years ago Eli the Bearded <*@eli.users.panix.com> - 2021-08-25 17:44 +0000
  Re: thirty years ago John McCue <jmccue@jmcw541.hsd1.ma.comcast.net> - 2021-08-25 19:10 +0000
    Re: thirty years ago Bobbie Sellers <bliss@mouse-potato.com> - 2021-08-25 16:47 -0700
      Re: thirty years ago The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-08-26 09:51 +0100
      Re: thirty years ago Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2021-08-26 12:14 -0400
  Re: thirty years ago doctor@doctor.nl2k.ab.ca (The Doctor) - 2021-08-25 22:25 +0000
  Re: thirty years ago SixOverFive <hae274b.net> - 2021-08-26 00:12 -0400
    Re: thirty years ago The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-08-26 10:02 +0100
      Linux on a Chromebook (was: thirty years ago) Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2021-08-26 12:21 -0400
        Re: Linux on a Chromebook (was: thirty years ago) Joerg Lorenz <hugybear@gmx.ch> - 2021-08-26 18:27 +0200
          Re: Linux on a Chromebook The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-08-26 17:49 +0100
          Re: Linux on a Chromebook Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2021-08-26 12:50 -0400
            Re: Linux on a Chromebook Joerg Lorenz <hugybear@gmx.ch> - 2021-08-26 19:35 +0200
              Re: Linux on a Chromebook Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2021-08-26 14:07 -0400
                Re: Linux on a Chromebook Eli the Bearded <*@eli.users.panix.com> - 2021-08-26 18:17 +0000
                Re: Linux on a Chromebook Joerg Lorenz <hugybear@gmx.ch> - 2021-08-26 22:36 +0200
                Re: Linux on a Chromebook The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-08-27 02:06 +0100
        Re: Linux on a Chromebook The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-08-26 17:48 +0100
        Re: Linux on a Chromebook (was: thirty years ago) Eli the Bearded <*@eli.users.panix.com> - 2021-08-26 17:19 +0000
          Re: Linux on a Chromebook (was: thirty years ago) Joerg Lorenz <hugybear@gmx.ch> - 2021-08-26 19:45 +0200
          Re: Linux on a Chromebook The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-08-26 20:20 +0100
        Re: Linux on a Chromebook SixOverFive <hae274b.net> - 2021-08-26 21:38 -0400
          Re: Linux on a Chromebook The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-08-27 03:34 +0100
            Re: Linux on a Chromebook Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2021-08-27 13:32 +0000
            Re: Linux on a Chromebook Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2021-08-27 13:30 -0400
              Re: Linux on a Chromebook The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-08-28 09:34 +0100
                Re: Linux on a Chromebook Andreas Kohlbach <ank@spamfence.net> - 2021-08-28 12:42 -0400
                Re: Linux on a Chromebook The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-08-28 20:18 +0100
          Re: Linux on a Chromebook Bobbie Sellers <bliss@mouse-potato.com> - 2021-08-26 21:06 -0700
      Re: thirty years ago SixOverFive <hae274b.net> - 2021-08-26 21:26 -0400
        Re: thirty years ago The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> - 2021-08-27 02:49 +0100
  Re: thirty years ago "Andrei Z." <no-email@invalid.invalid> - 2021-08-30 08:29 +0300
  Re: thirty years ago Solbu <solbu@solbu.net> - 2021-09-04 17:10 +0200
  Re: thirty years ago "Andrei Z." <no-email@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-19 17:34 +0300
    Re: thirty years ago "Andrei Z." <no-email@invalid.invalid> - 2021-09-20 08:23 +0300

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