4 ms·

Web browser and youtube. You know, what people mostly do on macbooks.

by ActorNightly 7mo ago

raw_anon_1111 7mo ago
But that’s all you can do on Chromebooks.
- ActorNightly 7mo ago
  Are you sure about that?
  - hodgehog11 7mo ago
    You can do more if you have a lot more RAM. Otherwise you really are that restricted. In the country I live in, there is no comparable Chromebook spec-wise on par with the Neo at a similar price point. You're basically stuck with 4GB RAM.
    - ActorNightly 7mo ago
      Justifying having 8gb as a good amount, while downplaying 4gb as not enough is pretty hilarious. Chromebooks run fine with 4gb of ram, especially if you install linux and use zram+swap. You can get a regular laptop and have even more ram with Linux. Not sure why you are stuck on the Chromebook.
- emilbratt 7mo ago
  In 2012, that would be true! :)
hodgehog11 7mo ago
Aside from gaming, I can do basically everything on Mac that I can on Linux or Windows. That's a hell of a lot more than a Chromebook. Take it from someone who has owned both a Chromebook and a Macbook; suggesting that they are in the same league is silly. Also, used != new. I'm surprised people need to be reminded of this.
- overfeed 7mo ago
  > That's a hell of a lot more than a Chromebook. It appears most people - even on Hacker News(!) - are unaware that Chromebooks have a one-click Linux VM (currently Debian Trixie is the default). It is well-integrated into the Chrome desktop/launcher, and any Linux app can even be pinned onto the taskbar, next to your browser. Any Linux package you can `apt get` or `curl | sh` can run on Chromebooks made in the last 5ish years.
  - ewoodrich 7mo ago
    Yep, I've been using ChromeOS/ built-in Debian VM for light VS Code, web dev and terminal stuff on a 150 dollar Lenovo ARM Chromebook with 4GB RAM for the last 2 years as my couch PC. I just disabled Android apps because that pushed it over the line. Gets about 10 hours battery life, touchpad is way better than my $799 Lenovo Ideapad (ChromeOS is weirdly good with even cheap touchpad hardware) and does an incredible job of suspending idle tabs without being noticeable. No rooting, jailbreaking, etc required and unlike my M1 Macbook I can actually install apps without the ridiculous click app->can't open unverified app->settings->security->open anyway->click app second time-> open anyway song and dance. Would I recommend it as your primary development device? Certainly not, and Neo would be a much better experience for sure but it also costs 4x as much so shrug. I bought it entirely because I wanted the cheapest modern ARM Chromebook I could find with good battery life since my m1 Macbook is pretty much always tied to a dock and but pleasantly surprised by how much it could actually do beyond just web browsing.
  - raw_anon_1111 7mo ago
    Yes because normal people want to run Linux just like normal people would rather “build such a system quite trivially by getting an FTP account, mounting it locally with curlftpfs, and then using SVN or CVS on the mounted filesystem. From Windows or Mac, this FTP account could be accessed through built-in software.” Instead of using iCloud
    - overfeed 7mo ago
      Nice strawman. Normal people won't even know there's a VM in the background, Linux apps launch and behave like any other ChromeOS app. The integration is very well done, and its evident you've never used it, or even seen how it works in practice and youre hallucinating non-existing complexity. All one has to enable a setting, and they can double-click a Linux app flatpak or AppImage to launch it.

Web browser and youtube. You know, what people mostly do on macbooks.

raw_anon_1111 7mo ago

But that’s all you can do on Chromebooks.

ActorNightly 7mo ago
Are you sure about that?
- hodgehog11 7mo ago
  You can do more if you have a lot more RAM. Otherwise you really are that restricted. In the country I live in, there is no comparable Chromebook spec-wise on par with the Neo at a similar price point. You're basically stuck with 4GB RAM.
  - ActorNightly 7mo ago
    Justifying having 8gb as a good amount, while downplaying 4gb as not enough is pretty hilarious. Chromebooks run fine with 4gb of ram, especially if you install linux and use zram+swap. You can get a regular laptop and have even more ram with Linux. Not sure why you are stuck on the Chromebook.
emilbratt 7mo ago
In 2012, that would be true! :)

hodgehog11 7mo ago

Aside from gaming, I can do basically everything on Mac that I can on Linux or Windows. That's a hell of a lot more than a Chromebook. Take it from someone who has owned both a Chromebook and a Macbook; suggesting that they are in the same league is silly. Also, used != new. I'm surprised people need to be reminded of this.

overfeed 7mo ago
> That's a hell of a lot more than a Chromebook. It appears most people - even on Hacker News(!) - are unaware that Chromebooks have a one-click Linux VM (currently Debian Trixie is the default). It is well-integrated into the Chrome desktop/launcher, and any Linux app can even be pinned onto the taskbar, next to your browser. Any Linux package you can `apt get` or `curl | sh` can run on Chromebooks made in the last 5ish years.
- ewoodrich 7mo ago
  Yep, I've been using ChromeOS/ built-in Debian VM for light VS Code, web dev and terminal stuff on a 150 dollar Lenovo ARM Chromebook with 4GB RAM for the last 2 years as my couch PC. I just disabled Android apps because that pushed it over the line. Gets about 10 hours battery life, touchpad is way better than my $799 Lenovo Ideapad (ChromeOS is weirdly good with even cheap touchpad hardware) and does an incredible job of suspending idle tabs without being noticeable. No rooting, jailbreaking, etc required and unlike my M1 Macbook I can actually install apps without the ridiculous click app->can't open unverified app->settings->security->open anyway->click app second time-> open anyway song and dance. Would I recommend it as your primary development device? Certainly not, and Neo would be a much better experience for sure but it also costs 4x as much so shrug. I bought it entirely because I wanted the cheapest modern ARM Chromebook I could find with good battery life since my m1 Macbook is pretty much always tied to a dock and but pleasantly surprised by how much it could actually do beyond just web browsing.
- raw_anon_1111 7mo ago
  Yes because normal people want to run Linux just like normal people would rather “build such a system quite trivially by getting an FTP account, mounting it locally with curlftpfs, and then using SVN or CVS on the mounted filesystem. From Windows or Mac, this FTP account could be accessed through built-in software.” Instead of using iCloud
  - overfeed 7mo ago
    Nice strawman. Normal people won't even know there's a VM in the background, Linux apps launch and behave like any other ChromeOS app. The integration is very well done, and its evident you've never used it, or even seen how it works in practice and youre hallucinating non-existing complexity. All one has to enable a setting, and they can double-click a Linux app flatpak or AppImage to launch it.