this post was submitted on 18 Oct 2023
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Don’t throw away your out-of-date Chromebook just yet as newly found evidence suggests Google may expand the availability of ChromeOS Flex to the old laptops.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 11 months ago (12 children)

The amount of Chromebooks that go to waste in K-12 schools is insane. So it is nice to see Google taking action on this, especially since its largest market are schools.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (9 children)

Even if they couldn't be used for whatever reason the schools could sell them or give them to students.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

That’s a potential solution but the problem is that IT departments in schools are replacing them when they reach EOL in regards to security patches (since testing software isn’t supported). While there may be people interested, I can’t see many wanting to buy chromebooks that won’t be getting security patches and are sluggish.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

The batteries are usually trash on these too because they're constantly cycling the battery. Sometimes multiple times a day. Anything that potentially keeps them out of a landfill is a win in my book.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Agreed. This and Googles announcement last month of supporting new chromebooks for 10 years is a step in the right direction.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

My Chromebook went EOL this summer. I can't decide if I want to get another Chromebook or a Windows laptop. Chromebooks are not as cheap as they used to be but I've been hearing Windows is considering a subscription model. In the vein of Adobe's subscription suite I imagine. 10 years of updates plus some kind of post-EOL Linux path might push me over the edge.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

what about Linux? you get a real OS plus security updates until your hardware lasts

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

In another comment I said that I tried putting Linux on a different EOL Chromebook and something went wrong, it's entirely possible I did something wrong, but it won't work now. I don't want to take the chance of killing this Chromebook too.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

well you were considering buying a windows laptop. just do that and put Linux on it. better and more varied hardware than Chromebooks, a OS with no EOL, no spyware, and if you've been using Chromebook you probably don't need nothing windows specific so it's a win.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'm not a Linux aficionado. I've been using Windows machines for a long time and I feel confident doing basic things like navigating control panel and updating drivers but I've never used a fully functional Linux OS. I wouldn't know how to do anything and while I might consider trying it on a backup netbook or something I don't want to spend money on something with a learning curve. Years ago I put OS/2 Warp on my machine and it was a nightmare trying to figure out how to do anything. I'm not interested in doing that all over again.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Okay if you want to dip your feet into Linux and see how you feel consider a live USB. It is a whole operating system on a flash drive. At this point you need a flash drive to install it anyway so you can play with it first and see how you like it. I would recommend Linux Mint. It is one of the most user friendly flavors out there. It comes with most of not all proprietary drives ready to go. Its goal is to make Linux the most user friendly experience. It can be installed with a few different desktop environments. If you are trying a light weight machine go for Xfce. Really at this point the difference between the user experience between mint and windows is almost zero. It is entirely possible that you could never open up a command line terminal.

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