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Artix Linux on Chromebooks, possible other netbooks.

Hey guys! So I have finally decided to buy a new netbook since mine is getting old & 32-bit will soon be deprecated completely.

I'm currently looking at two different Acer Chromebooks - they both come with an Intel N2840 x86_64 though, so I was thinking I could install Artix Linux onto it!  What do you guys think, will Artix work on a Acer chromebook that's x86_64?
Is 16GB even enough to install Artix & all the programs/etc I need? :|

http://www.factorydirect.ca/acer-cb3-131-c3qf-chromebook-cel2g16gb-116
http://www.factorydirect.ca/acer-cb3-131-c5ra-chromebook-cel-4g16gb-116

I'm probably gonna get the 4GB one. What does everyone think? I thought they were ARM64 but it would appear they are x86_64. If I'm wrong about that please point it out, because from what I read they are x86_64.

Apparently they only have built-in storage, does this mean they don't take SATA harddrives or anything? Meaning I have to fit everything onto 16GB? I just need it to play videos & some old-school emulator games for when I'm on the bus/at appointments.

Do you guys see any reason why I should buy the 2GB RAM one over the 4GB RAM one?

And finally, if anyone has any other recommendations for good netbooks(laptops with 10-12 inch screens) please let me know!
They have to be within $250 CAD though, because I don't have much, Thank you!

Re: Artix Linux on Chromebooks, possible other netbooks.

Reply #1 –
Quote from: kenny_w – on
Hey guys! So I have finally decided to buy a new netbook since mine is getting old & 32-bit will soon be deprecated completely.

I'm currently looking at two different Acer Chromebooks - they both come with an Intel N2840 x86_64 though, so I was thinking I could install Artix Linux onto it!  What do you guys think, will Artix work on a Acer chromebook that's x86_64?
Is 16GB even enough to install Artix & all the programs/etc I need? :|

http://www.factorydirect.ca/acer-cb3-131-c3qf-chromebook-cel2g16gb-116
http://www.factorydirect.ca/acer-cb3-131-c5ra-chromebook-cel-4g16gb-116

I'm probably gonna get the 4GB one. What does everyone think? I thought they were ARM64 but it would appear they are x86_64. If I'm wrong about that please point it out, because from what I read they are x86_64.

Apparently they only have built-in storage, does this mean they don't take SATA harddrives or anything? Meaning I have to fit everything onto 16GB? I just need it to play videos & some old-school emulator games for when I'm on the bus/at appointments.

Do you guys see any reason why I should buy the 2GB RAM one over the 4GB RAM one?

And finally, if anyone has any other recommendations for good netbooks(laptops with 10-12 inch screens) please let me know!
They have to be within $250 CAD though, because I don't have much, Thank you!
If it works on Arch, it should probably also work under Artix. We have the same drivers, firmware, etc.
But it might not be so easy. Please read these:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Chrome_OS_devices/Chromebook
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Chrome_OS_devices
Chris Cromer

Re: Artix Linux on Chromebooks, possible other netbooks.

Reply #2 –
Thanks Chris. I took a look at those links, it looks like the one I wanna buy is supported, I think. what does "upgradable" mean? O.o
 

Re: Artix Linux on Chromebooks, possible other netbooks.

Reply #3 –
It means you cannot put a bigger hard drive in it. The ones that are not upgradeable have emmc memory. That is the same memory used in android cellphones and is directly connected to the mother board making it so that it cannot be upgraded or changed. So if it only has 32GB space on the hard drive, you can't put any more, you are stuck with 32GB.
Chris Cromer

Re: Artix Linux on Chromebooks, possible other netbooks.

Reply #4 –
Quote from: Chris Cromer – on
It means you cannot put a bigger hard drive in it. The ones that are not upgradeable have emmc memory. That is the same memory used in android cellphones and is directly connected to the mother board making it so that it cannot be upgraded or changed. So if it only has 32GB space on the hard drive, you can't put any more, you are stuck with 32GB.


I thought they were SOCs.  For the cost, those things don't pay when you can usually pick up an older model laptop freshout of the box for $200.00

Re: Artix Linux on Chromebooks, possible other netbooks.

Reply #5 –
Quote from: mrbrklyn – on

I thought they were SOCs.  For the cost, those things don't pay when you can usually pick up an older model laptop freshout of the box for $200.00
You're missing the whole point. He doesn't want a notebook, he wants a netbook. Small, light, thin, and lots of battery.
Chris Cromer

Re: Artix Linux on Chromebooks, possible other netbooks.

Reply #6 –
Quote from: Chris Cromer – on
You're missing the whole point. He doesn't want a notebook, he wants a netbook. Small, light, thin, and lots of battery.

Precisely Chris.  A small laptop with a minimum of 3-4 hours of battery for playing videos will do, nothing too special.
Do you guys think I could fit Artix onto 16GB though? That's my main worry, harddrive space.
I'll have gaming emulators - MGBA, Mupen64plus, Visualboyadvance, dgen, desmume, mednafen, snes9x, nestopia, mednafen, yabause, maybe another one or two? Perhaps zsnes, idk. Also MPV & VLC of course, as well as AntiMicro for controllers, sixad for fake-GASIA bluetooth controllers, Qupzilla(now "Falkon"), etc. I think I could get away with only 16GB, but would I even have any room for putting downloaded YouTube videos/etc & games for aforementioned emulators?

Does anyone know when there will be more 11.6 inch Pinebooks? Seems they're all sold out.

How much space does Artix take up on a harddrive? If its under 8GB then I suppose it COULD work, but idk.

Re: Artix Linux on Chromebooks, possible other netbooks.

Reply #7 –
Quote from: kenny_w – on
Precisely Chris.  A small laptop with a minimum of 3-4 hours of battery for playing videos will do, nothing too special.
Do you guys think I could fit Artix onto 16GB though? That's my main worry, harddrive space.
I'll have gaming emulators - MGBA, Mupen64plus, Visualboyadvance, dgen, desmume, mednafen, snes9x, nestopia, mednafen, yabause, maybe another one or two? Perhaps zsnes, idk. Also MPV & VLC of course, as well as AntiMicro for controllers, sixad for fake-GASIA bluetooth controllers, Qupzilla(now "Falkon"), etc. I think I could get away with only 16GB, but would I even have any room for putting downloaded YouTube videos/etc & games for aforementioned emulators?

Does anyone know when there will be more 11.6 inch Pinebooks? Seems they're all sold out.

How much space does Artix take up on a harddrive? If its under 8GB then I suppose it COULD work, but idk.
How much space is takes up is very subjective. The base system takes up very little space, much less than 8GB. But when you add DEs, software, etc it can take up more. To get the most out of your space you should probably use a very lightweight DE such as LXDE, LXQT, XFCE, or Mate. I personally like LXDE and LXQT for their small size, and I consider Mate to be in between, it is not as light, but it is a good middle ground between light and features. If you want to get a feel for how much space will be used up, you could do a test in a virtual machine to see how much space gets used, install Artix, install your DE, install your software such as emulators, etc. Then see how much space gets eaten up.
Chris Cromer

Re: Artix Linux on Chromebooks, possible other netbooks.

Reply #8 –
Quote from: Chris Cromer – on
You're missing the whole point. He doesn't want a notebook, he wants a netbook. Small, light, thin, and lots of battery.


I understand and I stand by my recommendation.  I've dealt with those things since Asus EE  but invented them is linux preinstalls, when was that?  1999?  And before that was the sony picturebook with a curusoe chips. 

And then there was this baby:



That is my daughter playing with an origial OLPC prototype in Melno Park circa 2006?  Maybe.  It is hard to remember already.


The downside of those systems  aren't worth it in size or in usability.  It's just an opinion, but as I said, you can get a laptop for about $200 dollars, that is in the same size and weight class.  Instead of have RAM drawn from your bubble memory, you can have a complete and upgradeable system with 4 hour battery life.  Those integrated systems have a built in problem, in addition to the contraint of the form.   As you use them, they degrade in compuational power and speed.  You are essentially chewing up spare ram for file space.

NOW - __ if I was doing this__.  I'd use wmaker as the only manager.  By todays standards, it is very light weight and functional.

This is all just my opinion.  You will make your own choices, and discover for yourself the pluses and minuses of what you want to do, and this is not a one size fits all world...

I'm just giving you what I've experiened over the decades, as a friend.  Anything you chose to do has no baring on my life :)  That you are chosing to use artix and linux is a big plus in its own right, and it makes you a member in good standing of a great community.

Re: Artix Linux on Chromebooks, possible other netbooks.

Reply #9 –
It came out in 2007 actually not 1999. And again you are going off topic. We are talking about chromebooks here. If you want to talk about non chromebook related things, make another topic instead of posting in this one.
Chris Cromer

Re: Artix Linux on Chromebooks, possible other netbooks.

Reply #10 –
Quote from: Chris Cromer – on
We are talking about chromebooks here. If you want to talk about non chromebook related things, make another topic instead of posting in this one.

We're not ONLY talking about chromebooks, I included in the title "possible other netbooks". My current netbook is a 32-bit Dell Inspiron Mini 1011, has a 128GB SSD 2.5 inch, 2GB DDR2 RAM, Bluetooth+5G WiFI PCI-E card, but its got something deeply wrong with it that I cannot solve, unfortunately, possibly something wrong with some sort of cooling mechanism, I don't know & I've spent too much time on it as it is.

I am considering non-chromebooks, but that's mainly because I can't upgrade the harddrives in some of them. I may still end up with a chromebook, I'm not sure yet, which is why I thought I'd create a thread here about it. I would LIKE to find another "netbook" that I can pop this SSD into, either that or one that takes a micro SD card or something of that sort.

x86_64 or ARM64(aka Aarch64, ARMv8, etc) architectures are fine - I know how to work them both, I'd maybe even consider other architectures if they have enough support & are 64-bit(Or higher if thats even possible yet), and considering what I use them for, I think ARM would work just fine, considering most of the game emulators are emulating games built for the ARM architecture. Just old-school nintendo games & videos is all I really use my netbook for, for when I have to kill time on the bus or at the doctors office.... but I would probably prefer an x86_64 for the power & so I can use Artix.

Re: Artix Linux on Chromebooks, possible other netbooks.

Reply #11 –
However with ARM architectures Artix isn't going to work, we don't currently support or have packages for ARM. There is an ARM project for arch linux, but of course it will use systemd most likely.
Chris Cromer

Re: Artix Linux on Chromebooks, possible other netbooks.

Reply #12 –
Quote from: Chris Cromer – on
However with ARM architectures Artix isn't going to work, we don't currently support or have packages for ARM. There is an ARM project for arch linux, but of course it will use systemd most likely.

I would most likely go with Devuan Linux or Void Linux for ARM. I'd like to try Void Linux MUSL, I hear its quite lightweight.
I still want to go for an x86_64 for the most-part, but I'm not totally against getting something that's ARM.

Re: Artix Linux on Chromebooks, possible other netbooks.

Reply #13 –
Quote from: kenny_w – on
I would most likely go with Devuan Linux or Void Linux for ARM. I'd like to try Void Linux MUSL, I hear its quite lightweight.
I still want to go for an x86_64 for the most-part, but I'm not totally against getting something that's ARM.
You may want to take a look at alpine linux as well. They have musl with openrc.
Chris Cromer

Re: Artix Linux on Chromebooks, possible other netbooks.

Reply #14 –
This may not be an alternative within the financial parameters but it claims open architecture, which to me says that anything will eventually run on it.  Maybe too early in development but interesting to keep in mind https://www.crowdsupply.com/sutajio-kosagi/novena