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Not at all. Chrome OS would be a better fit there. Unless you're teaching your kids & grandparents how to sysadmin linux and don't think they want to watch any

Not at all. Chrome OS would be a better fit there. Unless you're teaching your kids & grandparents how to sysadmin linux and don't think they want to watch any videos online (browser support for accelerated video decoding remains a giant disaster on linux), then sure? And also that they want a desktop instead of a laptop.

nelaboras 6y ago
Ubuntu with chrome and chromium tends to work fine, except for a bunch of copyright blocked Netflix shows.
- kllrnohj 6y ago
  Chrome doesn't support hardware acceleration video decode on Linux at all. There's some unofficial patches for VaAPI support if you want to carry those around, but the Pi 4 also changed decoder support and it's generally all just a messy disaster. Low-res video can be software decoded fine, but once you start pushing 1080p or 4k it's not going to go well at all.
VLM 6y ago
Of course a "ASUS CHROMEBOX 3-N018U" runs over four times the price, so you could just buy three pi and toss them as the flash card fails and still save money.
- kllrnohj 6y ago
  There's no shortage of chromebooks in the $250-300 range which then also include a display, narrowing the price difference drastically. Of course there's also used options, which is also a good option for ipads and such that would still be a much better option than this for a non-techy user. The Rpi 400 looks fun, but it's a tech toy for hobbiest electronics usage or general hackery. Not a generally good computing appliance for the masses.
kuon 6y ago
It works with firefox under wayland, but there are still many issues with wayland (like drag & drop often not working).
- kllrnohj 6y ago
  Still behind an experimental flag, though, isn't it? I don't think https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Firefox#Hardware_video_acceleration https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Firefox#Hardware_video_... really qualifies as something I'd want to send a non-technical person through. Fun if you're into it, incredibly confusing if you're not. Which also means amazingly ~7 years later this XKCD is still relevant https://xkcd.com/619/ https://xkcd.com/619/

nelaboras 6y ago

Ubuntu with chrome and chromium tends to work fine, except for a bunch of copyright blocked Netflix shows.

kllrnohj 6y ago
Chrome doesn't support hardware acceleration video decode on Linux at all. There's some unofficial patches for VaAPI support if you want to carry those around, but the Pi 4 also changed decoder support and it's generally all just a messy disaster. Low-res video can be software decoded fine, but once you start pushing 1080p or 4k it's not going to go well at all.

VLM 6y ago

Of course a "ASUS CHROMEBOX 3-N018U" runs over four times the price, so you could just buy three pi and toss them as the flash card fails and still save money.

kllrnohj 6y ago
There's no shortage of chromebooks in the $250-300 range which then also include a display, narrowing the price difference drastically. Of course there's also used options, which is also a good option for ipads and such that would still be a much better option than this for a non-techy user. The Rpi 400 looks fun, but it's a tech toy for hobbiest electronics usage or general hackery. Not a generally good computing appliance for the masses.

kuon 6y ago

It works with firefox under wayland, but there are still many issues with wayland (like drag & drop often not working).

kllrnohj 6y ago
Still behind an experimental flag, though, isn't it? I don't think https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Firefox#Hardware_video_acceleration https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Firefox#Hardware_video_... really qualifies as something I'd want to send a non-technical person through. Fun if you're into it, incredibly confusing if you're not. Which also means amazingly ~7 years later this XKCD is still relevant https://xkcd.com/619/ https://xkcd.com/619/