
Best Linux development laptop advice - peter_retief
I looked at the article on the lenovo-thinkpad-t460 and i assume its a Microsoft machine that uses a Linux install.
What I am thinking of doing is building a laptop with raspberrypi3&#x27;s
Has anyone tried this?
What is the canonical choice for linux laptops for developers?
======
neilsimp1
I recently went for something inexpensive - Acer C720P Chromebook and
installed Ubuntu 16.04 on it. I couldn't be happier with it. If you're ok with
something smaller and want to keep the price down (I think I paid ~$270), I
recommend this!

Granted, getting the touchpad working the way I wanted took a little bit of
work, but there are guides all over the internet.

[https://samsclass.info/128/proj/chromebooks3.htm](https://samsclass.info/128/proj/chromebooks3.htm)

[https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2228539](https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2228539)

What finally got everything working for me was installing the kernel for
GalliumOS.

------
dbg31415
* Lenovo ThinkPad T460 – A Good Linux Laptop for Development | Hacker News || [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13299585](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13299585)

Or

[https://hn.algolia.com/?query=linux%20laptop&sort=byDate&pre...](https://hn.algolia.com/?query=linux%20laptop&sort=byDate&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=story)

This topic comes up a lot...

~~~
peter_retief
thanks will have a look, collecting thoughts and ideas

------
brudgers
It's possible to purchase a used ThinkPad for about the price of Rpi3, a
monitor, keyboard, batteries, clock, webcam, etc. It will be an ntegrated
system with meaningful RAM and a convenient form factor.

Raspberry Pi's are interesting but building a laptop out of them is not what I
would consider a sound step toward obtaining a computer for general software
development.

Good luck.

~~~
peter_retief
What i like about rpi3 is that I can install docker instances for various
development projects I am working on i already use the pi as an IOT gateway
and a access point router. There is also the option to use more than on rpi
per device. Look its WIP for now, lets see what i can come up with

~~~
brudgers
I'm a big fan of Raspberry Pi. For me it fills a significantly different role
than a laptop and therefore a laptop needs a different performance envelope.

~~~
copperx
The RPi for me is a dedicated framebuffer (no X) Emacs environment.

~~~
peter_retief
I also use it for a test web server and vim/nano. Docker opens up a host of
new opportunities like an ANPR instance or trained OCR/Identification/scanners
really unlimited options

------
partisan
If you want a little taste of a DIY experience with your Linux, you could
consider the Dell Chromebook 13 (i5, 8GB). Upgrade the SSD to whatever size
you would like and install GalliumOS or one of the other options. I am pretty
happy with the net result. There are plenty of articles online on how to
accomplish this along with the pros and cons.

