4 ms·

If it's cheap, good and you can make a real PC out of it, why not?

arcanemachiner 3y ago
Gallium OS worked great... until it got abandoned. Then, those seeking updates were stuck finding a distro that worked well, with available drivers, had to deal with the stupid keyboard and remapping the keys, etc. I'm not going down that road again.
- thriftwy 3y ago
  If it's cheap (and shabby) enough to reason once in 3 years upgrade, that is no longer a problem. And that's exactly how long my Lenovo laptops tend to survive these days.
  - pjmlp 3y ago
    Just what the world needs right now, throw away hardware every 3 years.
    - jraph 3y ago
      Yeah, that's crazy. 3 years is barely what we ought to aim for phones, let alone laptops. If only software didn't get more and more heavy.
- jraph 3y ago
  A relative still uses an Asus C200 Chromebook. When GalliumOS was abandonned, we were able to successfully install Linux Mint. Mainline Linux now works correctly, we took some packages related to the keyboard from GalliumOS and pinned them. A bit annoying but workable. The sound has always been capricious though, but it was also the case on GalliumOS.* I think buying this machine was a good call at the time, almost 10 years ago. Very good battery life, lightweight, cheap and now we know, incredibly durable. But I'm with you. It definitely was a maintenance burden and it's good that this relative is patient with the flaws that it exhibits, and its slowness. Today, it would make more sense to just buy a refurbished pro laptop and put Linux on it and be done with it. It'll be as cheap, but the whole experience will be way better. That's what I do for me, and that's what we'll probably do with this relative when they or the machine gives up, which does not seem to want to happen. Good for the environment I guess.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- sdf4j 3y ago
  Debian12 works great out of the box
pjmlp 3y ago
Because you can also buy a real PC pre-loaded with GNU/Linux for about the same price, around 300 euros. And if one is going for the 1000 euros Chromebook variants, then there are certainly real PC deals much better than a Chrome kiosk OS.
- LAC-Tech 3y ago
  Because you can also buy a real PC pre-loaded with GNU/Linux for about the same price, around 300 euros. Not everyone lives in Europe.
  - pjmlp 3y ago
    Indeed, but they order online. Also I bet that there are similar offers on their continent.
    - LAC-Tech 3y ago
      Indeed, but they order online. And pay heavy import duties, or maybe their items seized by customs. Also I bet that there are similar offers on their continent. Based on what evidence?
      - quickthrower2 3y ago
        Oh come on. There is no way it is hard to get a Linux PC anywhere you can get a Chromebook anyway. I'll start: Australasia - https://arkpc.com.au/ https://arkpc.com.au/
        djbusby 3y ago
        $500 Lenovo in North America, flips all the way open, had to swap the WiFI ($25), drop that trash RealTek and add Intel. Big SDD, 8 cores. Runs Gentoo+Xfce. Multi touch, webcam, all work a treat. I prefer it to a similar sized Chromebook ($400) cause it's got more power.

Gallium OS worked great... until it got abandoned. Then, those seeking updates were stuck finding a distro that worked well, with available drivers, had to deal with the stupid keyboard and remapping the keys, etc. I'm not going down that road again.

thriftwy 3y ago
If it's cheap (and shabby) enough to reason once in 3 years upgrade, that is no longer a problem. And that's exactly how long my Lenovo laptops tend to survive these days.
- pjmlp 3y ago
  Just what the world needs right now, throw away hardware every 3 years.
  - jraph 3y ago
    Yeah, that's crazy. 3 years is barely what we ought to aim for phones, let alone laptops. If only software didn't get more and more heavy.
jraph 3y ago
A relative still uses an Asus C200 Chromebook. When GalliumOS was abandonned, we were able to successfully install Linux Mint. Mainline Linux now works correctly, we took some packages related to the keyboard from GalliumOS and pinned them. A bit annoying but workable. The sound has always been capricious though, but it was also the case on GalliumOS.* I think buying this machine was a good call at the time, almost 10 years ago. Very good battery life, lightweight, cheap and now we know, incredibly durable. But I'm with you. It definitely was a maintenance burden and it's good that this relative is patient with the flaws that it exhibits, and its slowness. Today, it would make more sense to just buy a refurbished pro laptop and put Linux on it and be done with it. It'll be as cheap, but the whole experience will be way better. That's what I do for me, and that's what we'll probably do with this relative when they or the machine gives up, which does not seem to want to happen. Good for the environment I guess.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
sdf4j 3y ago
Debian12 works great out of the box

pjmlp 3y ago

Because you can also buy a real PC pre-loaded with GNU/Linux for about the same price, around 300 euros. And if one is going for the 1000 euros Chromebook variants, then there are certainly real PC deals much better than a Chrome kiosk OS.

LAC-Tech 3y ago
Because you can also buy a real PC pre-loaded with GNU/Linux for about the same price, around 300 euros. Not everyone lives in Europe.
- pjmlp 3y ago
  Indeed, but they order online. Also I bet that there are similar offers on their continent.
  - LAC-Tech 3y ago
    Indeed, but they order online. And pay heavy import duties, or maybe their items seized by customs. Also I bet that there are similar offers on their continent. Based on what evidence?
    - quickthrower2 3y ago
      Oh come on. There is no way it is hard to get a Linux PC anywhere you can get a Chromebook anyway. I'll start: Australasia - https://arkpc.com.au/ https://arkpc.com.au/
      - djbusby 3y ago
        $500 Lenovo in North America, flips all the way open, had to swap the WiFI ($25), drop that trash RealTek and add Intel. Big SDD, 8 cores. Runs Gentoo+Xfce. Multi touch, webcam, all work a treat. I prefer it to a similar sized Chromebook ($400) cause it's got more power.