[PLUG] Chromebooks and Linux

[Keith Lofstrom]

On Thu, Jan 20, 2022 at 12:44:21PM -0800, John Jason Jordan wrote:
> I had read about the end period for Chrome OS updates, although I was
> unaware that 2029 was the end date for the Ideapad 5 13.3. I was
> concentrating on getting Linux installed on it, or on whatever else I
> ended up buying.

Offlist -

We have an inexpensive Chromebook - we use it for Zoom
and occasional videos.  We connect it only to the raw
internet beyond the firewall.  I don't trust a machine
controlled by "Don't; be evil!" Google /inside/ the
firewall.

Our Chromebook will reach its Chrome-OS end-of-update
period after millions of other Chromebooks do.  By that
time, I predict the open source community will find
MANY other uses those no-longer-supported devices.  

You are looking for a book reader device.  My problem with
ALL modern laptops is their evolution into "wide" screen,
the marketing term for screens with very small vertical
height.  I read "tall" books and magazines, typically
1.4 times taller than wide.  Also a hell of a lot of 
journal papers, often European "A4" sized, 1.42 times
taller than wide. 

A "0.5 tall" wide-screen is better suited for morons
with small brains and tiny attention spans. 

Because screens are sold by diagonal dimension, whereas
manufacturing cost is proportional to height times width,
a screen that is 30 inches wide and 1 inch high can be
called a "30 inch screen" for marketing purposes.

All that said, a TABLET computer (which can be rotated,
and connect to a USB keyboard with trackpoint) might be
a usable book reader.  

I will be interested in what you come up with.

Keith

-- 
Keith Lofstrom          keithl at keithl.com