(Solved) 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.
OP decided to kill windows on the Timberborn machine and go with Debian.
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Define cheap. 11" Dell 3140’s in like new condition with Intel N200 processors, 8GB RAM, wifi, SSD and a decent keyboard have been coming up on Ebay and Woot every few weeks for $170 or so. Debian 12 detects all hardware immediately on installation.
Find an old chrome book that has an x86 cpu and can do core boot. I got mine for $10.
Is coreboot that system where the machine basically boots into a FORTH interpreter that has vocabulary words to read and boot from various media. That would be sweet - Forth is a hoot once you get used to it.
For those needs, an old used thinkpad off ebay would be pretty ideal. Affordable, well built and reliable. Only downside is I think the smallest model is a 12"
Perhaps a Chromebook known for being compatible with being flashed with Linux?
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).
Edit: the comment I’m replying to didn’t mention size when I replied.
there’s the Thinkpad Mini 10 but like uhhh uhhhhhhhhhhh i wouldn’t recommend it
No one is making 10" models. You’d need to buy a used netbook from 2010 to get a 10" screen. Get a normal laptop please.
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. Most games do these days.
Check out ProtonDB.com. You don’t necessarily need Steam either, so you could probably do it just CLI if you really wanted.
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. Try a gaming-centric distro like Bazzite if you want an even more seamless experience (based on immutable Fedora Silverblue with a bunch of tools and presets focused on gaming. Great for everyday, non-gaming use as well).
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)
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.
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. Though I don’t think Intel CPU should matter… Nvidia GPU, maybe. But Intel shouldn’t cause any issues with gaming.
Maybe try ge-proton. This is a slightly modified version by some dude named “GloriousEggroll” who basically releases modified versions of the newest Proton that are sometimes better with respect to compatibility. It’s what I use as my default (though I do have to update it manually. Experimental will update automatically). Discover store has “ProtonUp qt” or something like that, that makes it easy to download and when you do it automatically adds it as an option in the compatibility menu.
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. (You’ve bought a Steam licence for the game, rather than a version for a particular platform.)
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
Is there some reason why it needs to be 10" specifically? 10" is a pretty uncommon size, and may needlessly limit your options to ancient netbooks from 15 years ago.
If something like a used 11-13" business laptop would be acceptable for your use case then there are a whole slew of options in the $50-70 range on ebay, maybe less if you find a good deal. I think there is also something to be said for getting something with a halfway reasonable keyboard which will not be agonizing to type on.
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.
I think an 11" laptop would probably be a better bet. Taking a quick look on Ebay, I am seeing things like Dell 3190s, 3180s and Lenovo Yoga 11e laptops for around $50 or so. I see some chromebooks with x86 processors for as little as $35, but I do not have much experience with installing Linux on chromebooks and so you may want to double-check how to do that before buying anything.
Maybe check your local Craigslist or e-waste recycler? Someone on Craigslist near-ish me has a 10" Dell Inspiron laptop for $25. There’s also a HP mini 110 that the seller is asking way too much for, lol.
That size of laptop/netbook has kind of fallen out of fashion and it seems to be touchscreen tablet-likes in that size now. You’ll want to keep build quality in mind with the older machines because a lot of stuff is soldered together at that size and age, I had a HP Stream 11 and the hardware recently failed - it was e-waste when I bought it but it ran Linux well until it died.
Yeah, This sounds like the thing… I really have to limit the cost to “Recycle cans and bottles” money because we (wife and I) recently bought me parts for a mini-ATX workstation ~$500.00 i5 8gb memory and an SSD I already had.
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.
I have a 1st Gen Surface Go running Kubuntu and it works pretty well. Oddly, the Stylus works better using Wayland than X11. I don’t use it for much other than note taking and remote access to my main computer, and they’re available on ebay for around $100-150.
I use a 2013 macbook air for this kind of thing. It works great!
@waspentalive theres some cheap intel n100 devices that you can get…
Lenovo Flex 3 Chromebook
