cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/24756689

Testing to see if this community is still functioning.

I'm a software developer with a platform-independent stack (java / postgre / mysql / intellij / docker), I use a Linux distro. I have a workstation, but would like to be able to work away from home. Good battery life, small size, staying cool under load are the priorities; I don't need a lot of power. So I thought maybe I should try ARM?

My first idea was to get a [refurbished] MacBook Air and learn how to use MacOS, although I'd love to support something... less proprietary and more open. I've never used an ARM Linux distro or ARM laptops, and I'm not sure how good they are for my application.

What is your experience?

Last time I needed to add rf to a desktop, Intel AX200 seemed like the chipset to get. But now there are various new standards and the BE200 apparently has issues with AMD systems? So is there something newish from Qualcomm or others that I should be aiming for or would I probably be better off just picking up an AX210?

Since the card might be kicking around a while I'm curious what has the best overall Linux support with as many significant 802.11 standards and Bluetooth codecs as possible for general future-proof-ness. Would also be nice if it had good support for AP mode as that's sometimes handy or I might repurpose it into a router at some point.

A small, efficient laptop

I am looking for a laptop which is as efficient as an android phone, small, fast, and cheap.

I would prefer a stripped down Fedora Kinoite, but tbh ChromeOS is a masterpiece of efficient and secure OS design.

Even on 4GB RAM it just works, boots in seconds, while still having encrypted storage.

The issue is of course, that it is based on Google Chrome, and even Chromium is completely full of Google (use googerteller with e.g. Fedora Chromium and you see it pings Google all the time).

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ARM Laptops with Linux support

The new Snapdragon laptops are extremely impressive, and will have real Linux support in a short time.

But they are damn expensive, and I am looking for something for light tasks, with the focus on:

• being light and small (11in or so?)
• being inexpensive
• long battery life (!)
  • very low standby battery use (like my GrapheneOS pixel, 1% over night)
  • reasonably big battery for use
• okay specs for light tasks
• open firmware

I watched a talk on getting Coreboot working on Chromebooks (ccc website) and while elly also got Fedora working on an ARM Chromebook, that sounded like way above my skills.

The x86 ones still have awesome batterylife (on ChromeOS), but using x86 in 2024 for an efficient machine... sounds like a waste of money.

Docs for Linux on ARM Chromebooks?

Neither chrultrabook nor mrchromebox touch ARM, at all. There are some small scripts and projects that do this, like this one.

Bottlenecks

Chromebooks have often nice chassis' and displays, but kinda bad keyboards with missing keys.

Also, too little RAM. Using Fedora with ZRAM in an aggressive mode (to compress all RAM) might be a workaround, but cause reasonable CPU overhead (it uses zstd for compression).

And then, too little storage. I find this hard to discover, are there ARM / modern x86 Chromebooks with upgradeable NVME or at least eMMC?

Using an SD card would be a workaround, which is btw. also not possible on Pixel Tablets (thanks Google).

The Problems with Chromebooks

Google uses a custom userspace, the boot (on ARM) is not really u-Boot anymore, they dont seem to test the mainline kernel and are slow with patches.

Personally I think you can clearly see how they often just do the least amount of work possible to comply with the GPL. Like, visiting their code repo is already privacy invasive.

Also a ton of firmware problems like broken audio, USB, sleep, input devices, which I couldn't fix.

Alternative: Pixel Tablet & GrapheneOS

Comment: I mean the new Pixel tablet, not the old "Pixel tablet C".

The good

A Google Pixel Tablet would be an alternative. It runs GrapheneOS, which (I know) has awesome battery life and efficiency.

GrapheneOS is also fully degoogled and runs all my FOSS apps, as well as having support for banking and stuff I might want.

GrapheneOS is extremely secure while also being extremely stable (in both ways). I know that I can rely on my phone when I managed to break my Laptop again.

The bad

The Tablet is the first edition, a MVP pretty much. For drawing, a standards-compliant pencil can be used, but it has quite some latency and no palm rejection (video source).

It is also very expensive, considering that it has no SD card slot, and 128GB of storage go for 300+€ on the used market.

There seem to be less people disappointed from it than I expected.

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You see, I also dont really know what I want XD

• a small appliance device, just for travelling and watching stuff there?
• Should it have a keyboard? I hope a 5-pin one, no garbage bluetooth
• Pen I think yes, as it is probably awesome for sketching things (I am tired of not being able to do that, and a drawing tablet is not portable)

It may be that a Pixel tablet is actually better here. But a ton of good Linux software is simply missing on Android. Like, a PDF editor that does it's job, Libreoffice, GIMP, Inkscape, a real Firefox (with addon support and sandboxing).

There is some progress in virtualization, I might be able to use Termux with VNC to some extent, but it would suck for batterylife and probably also UX.

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I guess a modern AMD or Intel Chromebook with supported, tested firmware, would be the best option for a compact, opensource, efficient laptop.

Meanwhile a Pixel Tablet would work 100%, be possibly way more energy efficient than a normal Linux distro could ever be, also more secure, mostly never have broken software.

I would like to test this though, tuned, stripped down KDE Plasma, power profiles, ... but at the level of firmware issues, this could stop being fun. But, fun is relative, right?

What do you do? Do you run ChromiumOS, or Linux on a Chromebook? Or do you use a Pixel Tablet as a Laptop replacement?

Cheers!

Result

I will get a Chromebook. It is just too tempting to hack with a corebooted device.

Framework Chromebook

The Framework Chromebook would be brilliant, poorly I guess there is no DIY edition (8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage are just too small) and I hope it could also remove the pain of the shitty keyboard on Chromebooks.

This would be a really fun way to workaround 1. The lack of coreboot support on Framework Laptops 2. All the downsides of Chromebooks.

Until then, I will get something with hopefully 8GB of RAM on Ebay.

Others

Honestly, this is pretty frustrating. A Thinkpad Yoga 11e sounds cool, upgradeable to 8GB (in theory, if the RAM you have works) and with an m.2 slot.

Using a very lightweight desktop could work? But batterylife was bad even back then, so yeah.

FydeTab + FydeOS

https://github.com/openFyde

I found a usable ChromiumOS fork!

This may work on regular Chromebooks, opening some options. Open firmware but still an efficient but open OS?

The FydeTab Duo is now released, a Tablet using FydeOS, so more a Chromebook than a Linux Tablet.

I dont know what components of which OS they use, and expect something ChromeOS like

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/19066645

My current mouse, a Logitech G600, is starting to double-click after a couple years of use. Apparently this has become a common issue for the mechanical switches of modern Logitech mice, and gives me an excuse to search for a new mouse that better suits me.

The G600 has 12 buttons on the side of it, which I thought would be useful in certain programs, but I hated using the mapping software on Windows, and ended up never mapping those extra buttons to anything.

So now, I'd like to focus on a simpler mouse that has good Linux support, or alternatively, doesn't require any form of additional software.

I'd also rather get something that won't become e-waste (I plan to solder a new switch into my old mouse and sell it on to fund the new mouse, to prevent it becoming e-waste as well), something that is highly repairable with plentiful replacement parts (aftermarket or OEM).

I'm good with either a wired or wireless mouse, but if it is wireless, Ideally it would use a AAA or AA battery, or a non-proprietary replaceable Lithium battery.

If you know of anything that fits those two bills, I'd certainly appreciate your recommendation! :)

I want try to install arch(artix) linux for my future t480, but I don't know if it needs linux-firmware package? for good work?

cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/18360519

It's the MinisForum V3

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Pros:

• Touchscreen (currently works best on KDE Plasma)
• AMD CPU (Ryzen 7 8840U) [8 cores, 16 threads] + GPU (Radeon 780M)
• Power button + Fingerprint reader (built into the tablet portion thankfully)
• 3.5mm audio jack
• 65W PD power adapter (likely to be GaN)
• Magnesium alloy body
• the inclusion of gyroscopes means display auto-rotation is supported
• 1x stylus pen included
  • [4096 level pressure, up to MPP 2.6 SLA]
    • (I have no idea what any of that means, hopefully it's useful to yall)
• Keyboard that is/has:
  • Detachable
  • Backlight LED lighting
  • Even-surface actuation pressure touchpad
  • an optional purchase (which can be deselected before checkout)

Alt text: An image of the purchase checkout options for the MinisForum V3 Tablet with the Magnetic Detachable Keyboard (both which are on sale for $999.00 and $149.00 USD respectively as of Aug 21, 2024)

Cons:

• Made in China: "Motherboard Manufacturer: Shenzhen"
• Supported storage: M.2 (2280) 2TB max
• cursed Microsoft Copilot button (thankfully on the detachable keyboard rather than on the tablet itself)
• Limited customization/configuration options in BIOS
• Weak magnets on kickstand
• Inaccessible user manual/BIOS(Windows users be damned)
• Ryzen AI (locked to Windows, personally I find this as a gimmic anyways)
• due to MinisForum disuading customers from opening up their devices I'm adding that the battery is not replaceable (void warranty at your own risk)
  • CPU is un-upgradeable (This is now a con due to Framework providing users the ability to upgrade even from Intel to AMD or vice-versa)
  • WIFI 6E (802.11ax) is soldered/un-upgradeable unlike Frameworks's laptops
  • RAM is confirmed to be soldered/un-upgradeable
    • only two configurations available as of Aug 21, 2024: [32GB max, 16GB]

Features/Specifications

• Weighs: 946g
• Battery: 50.82Wh
• Display: 14", 16:10 ratio, 2560*1600, 165Hz
• 2x [type c] USB-4 at 40Gbps max
• 1x [type c] USB VLink(DP-in)
• 1x SD card (UHS-II)
• Volume rocker button
• Bluetooth: BT5.3
• RAM (assumed both configurations are LPDDR5 with speed/frequency: 6400MHz)
• 2x cameras:
  • [Front]: 2M, Windows Hello, Dual D-mic, Face ID, ESS
  • [Rear]: 5M, Auto focus

Extra Info

VLink TL;DR:

• (on laptops) it's a special type of port that's primarily meant for extending ports with a USB-C hub or driving as a secondary monitor
  • VLink Tomshardware
  • VLink Anandtech