[Wylug-discuss] Fwd: Upgrading the netbook [Incident: 150205-000843]

[Andrew Lindley]

From: Paul Brook <paul at nowt.org>
Subject: Re: [Wylug-discuss] Fwd: Upgrading the netbook [Incident: 150205-000843]
Date: Mon, 09 Feb 2015 19:55:56 +0000

>> If you don't mind a slightly heavier and larger format (12.1" 1024x768
>> screen) then you can put 3GB in a Libreboot X60 from
>> Gluglug.org.uk[1].  Or up to 8GB in a Libreboot X200 (12.1" 1280x800)
>> from the same place, but they're not netbook prices like the X60.
>> They're both FSF RYF (Respect Your Freedom) certified too.
> 
> While I guess being FSF certified is nice, those really are *very* old 
> machines, substantially older than the AA1 that started the conversation.
> The X60 isn't even a 64-bit CPU, and the X200 is still an old Core2. Apart 
> from anything else the GPU performance is going to be pretty dismal. Not quite 
> as bad as the Atom, but probably an order of magnitude worse than any vaguely 
> current i-series core. Even if you're not gaming, a modern desktop benefits 
> from having a GPU that doesn't completely suck.
> 
> IMO a "new" machine with such antique hardware is just insane.
> Personally I wouldn't recommend anything new that isn't based on current 
> generation i-series chips (the power/efficiency savings really are that good). 
> 
> You also seem to be paying a pretty steep premium to have someone replace the 
> BIOS (market rate for those thinkpads looks like £50-100).  In fact I've 
> pulled comparable machines out of skips recently.

Not all of them are Libreboot compatible.

I'm writing this on a 3GB/320GB HDD Libreboot X60s which came with a
Intel dual-core 1400 1.6GHz CPU.  It significantly out performs any
Atom netbook I've tried (including dual core ones).  True it has
significant problems with HD video, but it does handle all the modern
GNU/Linux desktops perfectly well (Gnome3 & KDE inc).  Plus, because
Gluglug is effectively a bunch of devs you get *real* dealer support.
If you want something more powerful, then yes there are other
suppliers (Stateside) for newer guaranteed GNU/Linux compatible
preloaded machines.

I bought mine before RYF certification and before Francis Rowe had
decided to start the Libreboot project so it was ~£100 cheaper than
the current price.  Which if you allow for new RAM, HDD, any-GNU/Linux
compatible WiFi, labour and shipping in the price I paid is
reasonable.

The new extra £100 goes toward Libreboot development and has paid for
the reverse engineering of Intel ME and AMT and so the X200 port.
Thus it 'financially bootstraps' FLOSS 'BIOS' development.  And the
subject of paying for [GNU/]Linux has been covered in a recent GNUPG
thread here.  Either you get that FLOSS users stop paying W$ Tax and
start buying naked, secondhand, or GNU/Linux pre-installed machines so
as to create an 'economy' for FLOSS software and not give money to the
enemy or you don't.  But IMO it really does boil down to putting your
money where your mouth is.

Finally the last industry figures I saw (~2009) were the then mean
lifetime for a home W$ laptop was 18 months.  The primary causes being
the O/S (W$) and the proprietary software bloat drive toward
obsolescence.  So yes, with FLOSS being more resource efficient you
really can get most netbook use cases out of a 10 year old ultrabook,
and help the planet to boot.  

But Anne should try Mageia LXDE or one of the other lite distros on
her AA1 beforehand.  My old AA1 ZG5 that came with Linpus Linux Lite
preinstalled (now Trisquel Mini [LXDE]) does perfectly well for my
netbook use cases, but then with it I rarely leave Emacs, Shell,
Browser.

Leny