Pinebook $89 Linux Laptop

@djslack The drop in flat screen prices, and their increased size continues to amaze me.

@brhfl Most major Linux distros have ARM builds which are basically identical to their PC counterparts

@brhfl most are arch, debian, fedora, ubuntu and others are just a re-compile away…

@trisk Good to know, I kind of figured it was getting there, but again just haven’t had the need to look into it in a while. More concerned over packages, though.

@thismyusername Been there, done that, trying to avoid it these days… haha. Takes enough time to get a simple install functional and how I want it…

@brhfl all of the packages that make up the distros themselves are there (with the minor exception of some closed source or hardware-specific software). For distro maintainers, automated builds are kicked off with each package update for every platform.

Software that you download from third parties instead of the distro may run into spotty coverage, though if it’s open source and already packaged, it might be a case of just rebuilding the package the same way.

@DVDBZN Is something like this recommended for young kids who just play app and online games (low tech games) and web browsing?

@mfladd
For kids, I would recommend board games, or playing outside; but, yes, young kids don’t care much about specs, as long as the games work.

I’m not sure how Linux handles gaming, but most popular titles should work well.

@DVDBZN Haha, I agree with the outside and they get plenty of it. Unfortunately, it’s the age that we live in, and they are connected. They don’t need much, and I was going to get them a chromebook - but found this interesting for the price.

Thanks.

@mfladd This is bound to be more of a tinkerer’s dream than a kid’s, if only because you’ll most likely have to set up an install of Linux before you can do anything with it.

If it comes with an os preinstalled on it, then it will be easier for that purpose. It should be roughly equivalent to a lower end Chromebook, which means adequate to surf the Web and watch youtube with. Ubuntu, android, and chromium builds are available, so it could actually be a makeshift chromebook.

@djslack Thanks. And it will according to the site:
Pine A64+ Android Lollipop

@mfladd Just remember- this isn’t something you order today, and get next week. If you need the thing now, buy the Chromebook instead

@mfladd

For kids, I would recommend bored games, or playing outside;

indeed.

@DVDBZN good thoughts. that 2 gb could be an issue.

@meh 11.6 is also the one I am looking into

@connorbush I signed up, and considering there’s no down payment + I’ve lost a lot more to other projects, I’ll willing to wait this out to see if it ever happens.