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I Finally Found a Solid Debian Tablet: The Surface Go 2

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Re: I Finally Found a Solid Debian Tablet: The Surface Go 2

#211

Post by chopin »

chopin wrote: post #210
idle_zealot wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You lose the spyware if you use AOSP (except any that’s baked into your OEM’s kernel blobs), but you also lose a lot of functionality. You can regain some by using a community-maintained AOSP-based OS like Lineage, but chances are that a bunch of device-specific hardware/software features will still be missing.

I am writing this from a Fairphone 4 with e/OS installed (AOSP based) and don't miss anything so far.

To add: my wife has a Samsung and can't add a shortcut for locking the phone on the lock screen (needed to enforce PIN) which the Fairphone enables.

Re: I Finally Found a Solid Debian Tablet: The Surface Go 2

#212

Post by rollcat »

rovr138 wrote: post #162
rollcat wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is better served by a laptop for the majority of people, though as someone that uses an unconventional keyboard anyway, a laptop is somewhat less compelling (since it occupies a lot of space with a keyboard that I actively avoid using), I can certainly see the appeal of a tablet for that purpose. I've switched to an Ergodox in early 2019 and I couldn't use a laptop since. MNT[1] is the only laptop manufacturer…

I've been using a Advantage Pro for over 10 years now and it's great. But I still travel and use my MBP's and now my Surface Pro's keyboard. Besides shortcuts between Windows and Mac, I can type on any of them. Of course, I prefer my Kinesis, but, it's not an issue really switching.

Well I'm using my Thinkpad X230 now and then (still in my top 3 best laptop keyboards), and my wrists regret it.

Re: I Finally Found a Solid Debian Tablet: The Surface Go 2

#213

Post by idonotknowwhy »

zac23or wrote: post #141

It's a "Solid Debian Tablet" because it boots. Linux religionists ignore all problems after booting. Linux and Oss in general are religions like Apple is. "Apple has NEVER done anything wrong," an Apple cleric told me about Antennagate. I've been using Linux for programming work for ten years now, but every time I buy a new machine I try to use Linux natively. In the last attempt, Linux stopped working after I tried…

I've been using Linux as my daily driver since windows 8 was released.

Never had a single issue on Lenovo think pads or Dell xps.

Desktop had an issue when I bought a ryzen 3700x processor at launch, due to a bug in the cpu. A patch was released within a week iirc.

Re: I Finally Found a Solid Debian Tablet: The Surface Go 2

#214

Post by smoldesu »

npteljes wrote: post #207
smoldesu wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My friend who uses a USB dongle for Wifi says the same thing! I reckon you may have not tried a recent Linux kernel. Network hardware support is definitely better than MacOS at this point, and is creeping up on Windows in the consumer segment. I've used 5 different devices from 5 different manufacturers on Linux. Only one of them had a WiFi issue, which was only because the distro I was testing didn't ship with the…

It's not guaranteed to be an out of box experience unfortunately, and I say unfortunately, because of how the human mind works. For regular, pragmatic usage, Linux doesn't really have any upsides. So if someone changes, and everything works as it did before, yay, maybe we scored some privacy points, or one-upped a corporation? Great. But if someone changes and is facing issues, and sees no upsides, the conclusion wil…

I don't think Linux's goal is to eat the world (or should be), which seems to be a common misconception in and outside of the community. Linux does not make a good desktop operating system in an age of smartphones and iPads, and I think that's perfectly fine. Linux effectively has 2 communities to cater to:

- Developers, sysadmins and power-users who intend to exploit the depth of it's featureset

or

- Crypto nerds, privacy advocates, free-software puritans, and other alt-software niches

To that end, I think it holds down both bases quite well. Linux is the #1 server operating system in the world by an insurmountable margin, and the alt-software crusaders are fat and happy. Linux isn't a panacea, it's a piece of software that was made to solve a problem. To this day, it continues to solve that problem (and people still misconstrue it's goals).

Re: I Finally Found a Solid Debian Tablet: The Surface Go 2

#215

Post by breakfastduck »

csdvrx wrote: post #172
nicbou wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By tablet stuff, I mean reading, taking notes and sketching. No app ecosystem does it like iPad OS'. The problem with the Surface Go isn't the hardware, but the fact that it runs Windows, a system that just isn't made for these things. The most ridiculous part was being forced to "save or discard" drawings before I could close an app. I had to painstakingly pick a location and name for each file. It felt like using P…

I've got an ipad in a drawer somewhere. Also work has been trying to push a macbook on me. After trying it I said no: I stick to my Fold, because I like it better, both for the hardware and the software. It's smaller and does everything multiple separate device would be needed for. > I had to painstakingly pick a location and name for each file. First world problem lol!! For old apps, I have an AHK shortcut to save f…

Everything here is a compromise or a workaround.

Onenote particularly is a hard no for any sketching in terms of actual artistic output.

Re: I Finally Found a Solid Debian Tablet: The Surface Go 2

#216

Post by ajsnigrutin »

linmob wrote: post #145
highwaylights wrote: post #46

It doesn’t sound solid reading the author’s post. - EFI didn’t work. - The camera doesn’t work. - The SSD is too small so needed to be topped up with a MicroSD (awful). - Not lap-friendly for travelling (type cover). - Windows 11 needed to be kept around despite not being used (and sometimes rewrote the boot menu, if I’m reading this correctly). This sounds like a downright painful experience. I’m not sure why you’d…

You can have a similarly bad experience with Linux on a laptop; all these issues (except for virtual keyboard related ones) also occur there: - EFI is a bit difficult with distributions when Secure Boot is enabled. Ubuntu and Fedora support it, if you choose a different distribution you may have to tinker, as evidenced in the post; - camera: Well, Microsoft was doing fancy stuff here; and most distributions just don'…

> You can have a similarly bad experience with Linux on a laptop

Yes, but not with a laptop mentioned in an article called "I Finally Found a Solid Debian Laptop".

This is not a solid debian tablet, it's a shitty unsupported tablet. Thinkpads (t series) are solid linux laptops, with occasional mini quirks, this tablet is far from anything "solid".

Re: I Finally Found a Solid Debian Tablet: The Surface Go 2

#217

Post by yencabulator »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #107
EnKopVand wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever had anything that resembled the experience or a MacBook Air with a M1? I have a windows running Lenovo t14 for work, and it’s a decent enough laptop but it’s sort of like the stone ages compared to my personal MacBook. It has a terrible mousepad, it’s bulky, it runs out of battery after a two hours even though its factory new (developer specs in non-tech enterprise), the screen isn’t very nice and it’s…

I'm personally expecting Apple Silicon machines to become really good Linux devices within the next year. A killer team is working on it, and they can benefit from the game console effect—ie, Apple sells a limited number of models in large quantities.

Apple has no incentive to pick e.g. wifi chips with reasonably open specs. And history has pretty much proven that no amount of volunteer effort without specs will make Broadcom chips behave well.

Future Apple hardware being usable with Linux is not a bet I would make. I used to run Linux on a PowerPC iBook, and it's been downhill from there.

Re: I Finally Found a Solid Debian Tablet: The Surface Go 2

#218

Post by bitwize »

This story inspired me to revive my Acer Switch 5 tablet. When I booted it last (before today), the display was glitchy. I don't know if it's faulty hardware or Linux, but I do know the glitches never appeared in the Windows recovery environment. Recent (5.13.x and later) kernels seem to have ameliorated the glitch problem, which would cause the display to flash off for a split second from time to time. Very distracting. Small glitches still appear, but very infrequently.

Anyway, with a fresh Void install and EFI fuckery-duckery, it somewhat resembles a working tablet now. I'll have to get a new battery for the pen but that's a minor detail.

Re: I Finally Found a Solid Debian Tablet: The Surface Go 2

#219

Post by 29athrowaway »

vanviegen wrote: post #90
29athrowaway wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes these issues can be fixed by adjusting process priorities. Try giving Pulseaudio a higher priority.

Giving pulseaudio a higher priority to avoid it bringing the system down... ?

No... if videoconferencing software runs slow, with choppy audio and low framerates, try prioritizing the sound daemon and whatever videoconferencing software you use so that the scheduler makes sure those processes run in a timely manner.

Re: I Finally Found a Solid Debian Tablet: The Surface Go 2

#220

Post by [deleted] »

yencabulator wrote: post #217
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm personally expecting Apple Silicon machines to become really good Linux devices within the next year. A killer team is working on it, and they can benefit from the game console effect—ie, Apple sells a limited number of models in large quantities.

Apple has no incentive to pick e.g. wifi chips with reasonably open specs. And history has pretty much proven that no amount of volunteer effort without specs will make Broadcom chips behave well. Future Apple hardware being usable with Linux is not a bet I would make. I used to run Linux on a PowerPC iBook, and it's been downhill from there.

[deleted]
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