An inexpensive 10" laptop to run Linux.
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I really just want small and light, and Cheap. 11" is fine. I have a 15" right now. If I decide to give up on Timberborn (I rarely play it and it is the only thing that keeps a windows machine on hand) then this could get re-installed with probably debian with no GUI... I play it rarely, but I still play it. I wish I could get it to run under Debian 12 on my main machine.
Timberborn is awesome. I play on the stable release (non-experimental branch) through Proton experimental and it runs about as well as it did under Windows. I'm running Bazzite (Fedora) though so my system is much more up to date than Debian, but I bet one of the awesome nerds here could help you get it running on Debian.
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Firstly, yes, what OP wants is absolutely feasible in principle. I've used fanless low-powered laptops as my only device for years now, for same use case as OP - terminal plus browser. First was an 11in Asus netbook, right now a Celeron-powered model with fully 8GB ram. Neither have been "slow" at all, in fact probably faster than some of the Windows machines I've used in the past for work. HD video runs flawlessly, which is as much as I'll ever need. For both of them I paid as little as you'd expect - in the low hundreds, new. To be honest I often get the feeling many people are buying super overpowered laptops. If you're on Linux and not gaming or doing CAD it's a complete waste of money to spend 1000 bucks on a laptop. That's my opinion, backed by very deep experience.
In response to the question, the problem is that the netbook niche is now occupied by Chromebooks. Which are a PITA to get working with Linux due to the bootloader lockdown - although OP seems to have the secret for making that easy. Otherwise you need to go up to around 350 bucks for the lowest-end Wintel devices which are not bulky with horrible fans, or else buy second-hand as others are recommending.
Old MacBook Airs have fans but they rarely come on. I got a 2013 for $70 last summer and use it everyday.
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Thinkpad made 10" models?
... I found the Thinkpad 10, which is a tablet computer and a bit ridiculous for OPs intentions (or mine, for that matter, I'm looking for me too, lol).
there's the Thinkpad Mini 10 but like uhhh uhhhhhhhhhhh i wouldn't recommend it
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I would not be running a gui - this is strictly for text stuff unless I can do pixel/plot graphics in some BASIC or other language (a framebuffer?)
Anything sold after 2008 will do that. Before that too but you probably want 64 bit.
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The hard part is tiny: 10" diagonal screen and really cheap: like milk money cheap - - Perhaps a netbook would work, some of them were Linux based right?
The Asus EeePC 1000H that I bought back in 2009 is a 10 inch monitor netbook. 160 GB HDD because I didn't go with SSD, only came with 1 GB of RAM and cruicially was offered in both Windows XP and Linux flavor which was a bit niche at the time.
Its 32-bit single core (hyperthreading) atom processor is very slow at 1.6GHz, but it can still be used with antiX for my usecase.
If you manage to get hold of one of these old dinosaurs, I'd probably opt for an SSD solution, that's a pretty big bottleneck. -
This will be used in CLI mode to do some tiny programming and text file note-taking. Having WiFi would be nice. The price has got to be CHEAP. ARM is ok.
If you can accept 11” the old intel macbook airs are what you’re asking for.
They’re in the free - $50 price range now.
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This will be used in CLI mode to do some tiny programming and text file note-taking. Having WiFi would be nice. The price has got to be CHEAP. ARM is ok.
Ok I finally bit the bullet - Windows is blown away. I have not played Timberborn in over 2 months and having a windows machine on my network has always kinda made me feel like I had a spy in the house. Unfortunatly the wife works from home so there are still two windows machines I can't do anything about. My ASUS Vivobook i7 15" laptop is getting Debian but no GUI installed. I don't need a GUI to setup tailscale do I? Anyone know of a good settlement or city building game that is free and runs under Linux?
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For programming?!
Op didn't say what she wants to do. I maintain my server with my phone. If I really wanted to, I could also work on it efficidntly
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Ok I finally bit the bullet - Windows is blown away. I have not played Timberborn in over 2 months and having a windows machine on my network has always kinda made me feel like I had a spy in the house. Unfortunatly the wife works from home so there are still two windows machines I can't do anything about. My ASUS Vivobook i7 15" laptop is getting Debian but no GUI installed. I don't need a GUI to setup tailscale do I? Anyone know of a good settlement or city building game that is free and runs under Linux?
FYI, Timberborn plays just fine on Linux.
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FYI, Timberborn plays just fine on Linux.
The issue so far is that I bought the Windows version of Timberborn on Steam, so it won't install on my Linux box. Do you suppose since I own the Windows version, the makers of Timberborn would allow me to download the appropriate files for Linux? I thought I had gotten it working last night, but instead I was just streaming it from the windows box.
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The issue so far is that I bought the Windows version of Timberborn on Steam, so it won't install on my Linux box. Do you suppose since I own the Windows version, the makers of Timberborn would allow me to download the appropriate files for Linux? I thought I had gotten it working last night, but instead I was just streaming it from the windows box.
You can enable Steam Play in your Linux steam client through the settings, and you should be able to install and run any Windows game you have in Steam
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The issue so far is that I bought the Windows version of Timberborn on Steam, so it won't install on my Linux box. Do you suppose since I own the Windows version, the makers of Timberborn would allow me to download the appropriate files for Linux? I thought I had gotten it working last night, but instead I was just streaming it from the windows box.
As others have said, it'll work on Linux. Right click on the game in your library, go to Properties, then Compatibility. Tick the box to Force use of Steam Play, then pick a Proton version, like Proton Experimental. This will work for most games. Check out the Proton DB website to check for any exceptions or specific settings.
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The issue so far is that I bought the Windows version of Timberborn on Steam, so it won't install on my Linux box. Do you suppose since I own the Windows version, the makers of Timberborn would allow me to download the appropriate files for Linux? I thought I had gotten it working last night, but instead I was just streaming it from the windows box.
If you bought it on Steam, you get it in every "version" (for each OS) that the game was released on. If there's a Linux runtime, then you'd have both the Windows version, and the Linux version.
Most games don't have a Linux runtime, and that's fine. All you need to do is go to "compatibility" in the game settings in Steam, and check the box. Then click the drop-down and select a Proton version (best bet for you is prob "experimental"), and most of the time that's all you need to do. Protondb.com will tell you if there's any tweaking needed, or if a specific version of Proton is called for.
This is exactly how the Steam Deck works.
Proton is actually incredible. I've found that I've often gotten better results with running the Windows version of a game with Proton than the actual Linux runtime.
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If you bought it on Steam, you get it in every "version" (for each OS) that the game was released on. If there's a Linux runtime, then you'd have both the Windows version, and the Linux version.
Most games don't have a Linux runtime, and that's fine. All you need to do is go to "compatibility" in the game settings in Steam, and check the box. Then click the drop-down and select a Proton version (best bet for you is prob "experimental"), and most of the time that's all you need to do. Protondb.com will tell you if there's any tweaking needed, or if a specific version of Proton is called for.
This is exactly how the Steam Deck works.
Proton is actually incredible. I've found that I've often gotten better results with running the Windows version of a game with Proton than the actual Linux runtime.
I have loaded the laptop i7 laptop up with Debian 12, next is Steam so I will try it there. The machine I was going to run it on would not complete a launch and just sat there with the fans going full blast and a black screen...
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If you bought it on Steam, you get it in every "version" (for each OS) that the game was released on. If there's a Linux runtime, then you'd have both the Windows version, and the Linux version.
Most games don't have a Linux runtime, and that's fine. All you need to do is go to "compatibility" in the game settings in Steam, and check the box. Then click the drop-down and select a Proton version (best bet for you is prob "experimental"), and most of the time that's all you need to do. Protondb.com will tell you if there's any tweaking needed, or if a specific version of Proton is called for.
This is exactly how the Steam Deck works.
Proton is actually incredible. I've found that I've often gotten better results with running the Windows version of a game with Proton than the actual Linux runtime.
the i7 was originally mean to be a my take away bridge over tailscale when I am away from home, and a programming machine (or perhaps a look up machine while I program on the i5 desktop)
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Op didn't say what she wants to do. I maintain my server with my phone. If I really wanted to, I could also work on it efficidntly
btw, I am a he/him : ^ ) But thanks for being inclusive.
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I have loaded the laptop i7 laptop up with Debian 12, next is Steam so I will try it there. The machine I was going to run it on would not complete a launch and just sat there with the fans going full blast and a black screen...
Ok, currently, Timberborn will launch but will hang hard after a short time. I used the wrong engine (?) so I will try "Experimental" and report back.
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Ok, currently, Timberborn will launch but will hang hard after a short time. I used the wrong engine (?) so I will try "Experimental" and report back.
Even with experimental it hangs...
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Even with experimental it hangs...
https://www.protondb.com/app/1062090?device=pc
Try any of the launch commands there? Pretty simple, usually just have to copy/paste.
I have Timberborn, btw, and it runs fine out of the box for me on Bazzite. Though I do have AMD
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Zoomers takes notes on their phones, bet they do programming as well
Nonsense. Doing anything beyond minimal scripting in any device other than a full-blown keyboard is painful.
