I have a question in regards to getting a degoogled laptop. Are they available for purchase or is there steps I have to follow for my own? Thank you
That’s called Linux…
But seriously - look that up - if like me you want to avoid Microsoft, Google and ideally Apple as well then Linux is the answer.
Several people make Linux ready laptops, but you can easily remove windows and install Linux especially if you have an older device. Modern Apple (M1 chip, etc) is a little more complex…
P.S. Otherwise you can “degoogle” a Windows PC or Laptop but arguably why bother, when Microsoft are just as nefarious if not worse now (aka Windows Recall, scanning all your content on OneDrive, etc).
But if you do look at things like Proton (as their suite inludes email, cloud drive, calendar, passwords, VPN, etc), and a couple of other cloud options that I can’t recall names right now.
You can host a cloud server yourself with NextCloud fairly easily.
Browsers: Brave, Librewolf, Mullvad, Tor. Possibles are Ladybird, Floorp, Orion (from Kagi), maybe Chromium. Vivaldi is also good but seems not so privacy focussed as some of the others (instead focussing on more usability). Firefox is an option but a little controversy there at present around privacy.
Office: LibreOffice or OnlyOffice.
Also for passwords other options to Proton are: 1Password, Bitwarden or if doing your own thing is preferred KeyPassXC.
Search Engines: DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, maybe Startpage.
These can all work on Windows, and are otherwise generally standard fare on Linux.
(EDIT: They are of course just quick suggestions but will give a starting point - if that’s what you are looking for.)
LOL I was going to respond with that comment but I chose not to. Thank you @Mycenius
So if you are in the US, go check out system76.com and that’s about degoogled as it gets. They have good support too.
Nice!
Linux (or FreeBSD) is indeed the road to enlightenment young Skywalker…
Indeed.
Also Tux Computers (in Germany) ship globally (but too expensive for us Antipodeans unfortunately). And Framework(?) are also an option for Linux laptops…
All 3 of these do laptops that are designed to run Linux, rather than being repurposed Windows or older Mac hardware. If you are in the market for a new Linux solution rather than do it yourself that is…
This was very helpful thank you
Thank you very much
Agree, System76 is amazing option, but if price isn’t doable, used laptops with no os installed can be found on Ebay. System76 offers Pop! OS (their own OS) to anyone. I installed and was able to get my new Brother printer - that I had not been able to get working on an HP desktop -working just by plugging it in to either laptop or desktop!! Scan works, too.
Another search option is Qwant - great results.
A note on browsers - the Gecko based options (Firefox, Librewolf) are simple to enlarge webdata on the fly with keyboard mouse function if you have diminishing eyesight. Can’t be done on chromium based.
Can you turn first gen M1 chip mac into a Lynix?
Yes, you use a specific OS which contains the Apple hardware drivers and arm support. Here is a link to the most common I think.
Yes you can, but not as easily as intel based units. I’m in the same boat as I have a MacBook Pro from 2021 with the M1 (think it was the first model/year with it) - but its bottom of my list for action as it’s a secondary device and you can make it fairly private with macOS (e.g. don’t sign into an Apple Account on it, and similar things, etc).
As @xancudo has said the best option is Asahi Linux - it’s specifically for Apple ARM Silicon Chip devices… While it’s usable I do understand it’s still considered not quite stable enough to use as a Daily Driver - as least if it’s critical or business use. But is improving steadily and might well be fine for personal use? Caveat, as above, I haven’t had a chance to try it myself (yet - hope to in a couple of months) - so that’s just what I have seen reported by Linux commentators I follow. Maybe someone else here is already using it and can comment further from personal experience?
P.S. I had the impression it’s about the only option for Apple Processors, as I had understood there wasn’t any other Linux builds or Distros in a usable state for modern MacBooks…
Thank you for that input. i might wait to save enough to get a more Linux friendly set up. but that will take a while. in the mean time i may have to just put up with Apple as reliability is of great importance at this time.
Keep in mind that A LOT of older laptops run linux very well. Dells, HP, Thinkpads, etc etc. You don’t need a new one to get a good setup going. Here is a good link of devices certified Ubuntu
Also - you can dual boot your M1 MacBook - in fact you should and I think Asahi will help do that in the install - reduce the size of the hard drive partition and use the free space to create a second one for Linux.
They may also have a live bootable iso too you can put on a usb stick and test how it performs on the Mac and its drivers, etc, without changing anything in your current Apple setup…
I really like the usb live bootable option. sounds the simplest option.
For testing yes. Not for long term use though (at least not in normal circumstances).
I have a 64GB USB with Ventoy on it and about 6-8 different Linux iso’s and one for Ghost FreeBSD, that I can boot from to try live. I was using that to try different flavours and distros & spins; and then I’d install to hard drive from it once I decided which I liked and was going to use for a while… I periodically delete a couple of iso’s and add new ones to try something different…
Can USBs be bought ready to go or do i need to install them myself?
Build yourself - it’s easy.
If you want to do what I described - get a USB stick, larger the better - download and install Ventoy to it - that will create a storage partition on the USB, then just download all the ISOs you want to try and put them in that storage partition (subject to space/size) - e.g. my 64GB USB with Ventoy typically fits around 6-9 iso’s on it.
Then boot from the USB and you are away. You can then swap out the iso’s on the USB for different ones anytime you want…