Currently Linuxless
Back in mid-November I decided to try using a Linux laptop as my daily driver for at least the rest of the year. Things were going pretty well until the laptop stopped booting into Pop!_OS.
It actually stopped recognizing the SSD altogether. So I thought maybe the SSD went bad and I bought a replacement. It wouldn't recognize the new one, either. The RAM tested ok, so I suspect it was a motherboard issue. I didn't have the time or patience to fiddle with it any longer, so I abandoned the experiment. It was a free laptop – one that its previous owner basically threw away. I guess I know why, now.
There is still a future for Linux among my personal computers. The only working laptop I personally own at present is a 2017 MacBook Air. It's usable, but struggles. I have an old HP desktop that I use for streaming on Twitch, light gaming, ripping CDs and DVDs, and other things. It's still running Windows 10 and I refuse to put Windows 11 on it. It's getting extended updates from Microsoft through October 13 of this year. I'll probably put Linux on it before then.
But I'll need a new laptop before the end of the year, and I keep waffling back and forth between getting a newer MacBook and sourcing a good laptop to put Linux on.
The reason a MacBook is in the running is because my wife gave me an iPhone 17 for Christmas, which I use for work, church, and travel. And a MacBook would play the nicest with that phone and all the Apple things.
But I also have a second phone – a Motorola One 5G Ace running a de-Googled version of Android – /e/OS. For the sake of privacy, I use that phone instead of the iPhone when I can. I'd like to have a laptop or desktop running Linux for the same reason.
I'm leaning towards getting a Linux laptop and trying to make that work. If necessary, I can always get an iPad for the Apple-y things I might need to do.
I'm going to have to wait a few months before I make any big purchases, though. Money is always tight this time of year and who knows what tax season will bring.
#100DaysToOffload (No. 127) #tech #Linux #laptop