Re: What's the best Handheld gnu/linux machine for 2016?
 

lol, no anger. I promise.

I think once I stop talking in German (often for my morning meetings) my tone honestly does sound more gruff and/or curt. It's not intentional and if anybody else got the feeling; I truly apologize.

Re: What's the best Handheld gnu/linux machine for 2016?
 

You managed to run linux on RT??? Don't believe you need any drivers for normie win working and doubt javispedro meant that.

But if you guys think you had it hard:
http://i.imgur.com/zrUUHZj.jpg
The new generation is screwed even worse

Re: What's the best Handheld gnu/linux machine for 2016?
 

On Android? :P

Works pretty well for literally a _majority of the world population_.

So you've never reinstalled Windows on it.

And don't say Windows Update, since you can't even get online with the stock Windows.

This discussion is almost a decade outdated. MS has lost it. It took me a while to realize it, too. They can't even get their own hardware, with their own drivers and their own operating system to work reliably these days. See Surface Pro 4 stories for a start.

Re: What's the best Handheld gnu/linux machine for 2016?
 

I do like toughbooks and they are getting more tablets that are linux compatible. Perhaps looked at rugged devices might be a way to go as they usually have removable batteries, are designed to last and have legacy ports. I just noticed the Amrel DB7 which is probably expensive but might be worth it for some (especially if bought used).

Re: What's the best Handheld gnu/linux machine for 2016?
 

Not really. What I'm trying to show is that the difference is between the _preinstalled_ image and whatever you put on it.

I am yet to see a operating system _for embedded/mobile devices_ that doesn't have this problem.

The embedded/mobile world is hard and there's no way around it. Almost every device uses its own crappy non-standard stuff. This applies both to phones (almost all of it is non-standard), UMPCs like the Vaio UX (tracking stick! touchscreen! card reader!), and the Surface series (strange Wi-Fi chipset, strange Ethernet chipset, strange input devices, ...).

Re: What's the best Handheld gnu/linux machine for 2016?
 

Still don't get it, you had to fish for drivers for normal windows on surface? I would understand it being tricky to run linux on it, but what exactly? You tried to put win7 on it, or 8(.1) if it was 10 by default? Or for external devices?

Re: What's the best Handheld gnu/linux machine for 2016?
 

How does one use that thing? It has no keyboard!

Re: What's the best Handheld gnu/linux machine for 2016?
 

Quite wrong.

Wiped the Surface Pro 3 clean, downloaded the ISO via the Windows USB/DVD download tool. First flashed it with Windows 10 Beta (which sucked) but then reinstalled Windows 8.1. Only thing that gave me heck was the Surface Pen, but that was a simple update of the drivers via Computer Management (Local)/Device Manager via the MMC (added my own snap-ins). No issues with the wireless drivers or anything of the such.

See above. I did so with a Surface Pro 3 without an ethernet adapter. Again; it seems as if you are doing something way wrong and I did not have to download an driver packs whatsoever. But I am aware of them. We deployed 50 devices after I made a snapshot of the above Win10 install for testing, we've since made a new snapshot and will be pushing out a restricted iteration of Win10 once we get the know-how from Microsoft to hide the MS Edge browser icon and force all HTTP calls, even those from within MS Office 2013 and higher (for instance, help topics with hyperlinks) to open with the default IE11 (which is installed: Win+R, iexplore (enter))

Again. I've been there, done this. Did not have to download anything once I got the proper version of the EN-US Win10 x86-64 ISO and Win8.1 x86-64 ISO's downloaded and ready to be flashed.

Agreed. But I'm not talking about Microsoft. You've brought up your experience which counters my own. My woes are way deeper and different than your own. My issues with Linux actually mirror some of yours with Windows (read: driver issues sometimes).

I actually agree. The other job that I do (creative) has far fewer tools on Win10 than OS X... but more than Linux.

I've only had issues with Redstone Build 14279 with the Action Center. It truly hangs and I lose my religion.

Re: What's the best Handheld gnu/linux machine for 2016?
 

I can actually probably answer this one. Where JavisPedro and I disagree is that once you install - however you wish - Windows onto a Microsoft Surface, you might encounter the need to download drivers (they're zipped up) and install them in order to make some components (such as wi-fi) work. That's his grievance.

Not that he installed Linux on a Surface (Pro or RT or otherwise) but that he wiped the OS and reinstalled Microsoft Windows onto a Microsoft device and it did not work as expected without having to track down drivers. You'd think that a MS device would work out of the box with a clean MS Windows install.

I say it's possible, he's apparently encountered issues. Two sides of the proverbial coin basically. He can point to stories that support his point as well as I could. In the end, we probably represent the range of user experience in just that one regard (out of many).

If I've missed any points, I'm quite sure that he can explain it better than I can. Hope this post helps clear the air as opposed to continue to confuse.

And I'm well aware we are very OT...

Re: What's the best Handheld gnu/linux machine for 2016?
 

That's the question I ask myself when I walk into Carphone Warehouse or some one trying to force me upgrade my phone contract.