I have been citing this factoid for years, also to general incredulity. But the facts check out.

PS: I see two reasons for the pushback this is getting (apart from the fact that this is social media, where rudeness and cynicism are the norm, even here alas):

• cognitive dissonance: the putative fact is surprising and counter-intuitive, and most humans are irrational and respond badly to that
• you phrased it slightly incorrectly: even if French is somewhat likely to be the “most spoken”, it’s unlikely ever to be the “most widely spoken”

Turns out it’s in stock at the global store (i.e. Hong Kong). Was out of stock in the EU store.

It has a borderline dealbreaking problem: 10.1in screen. I like small but that is tiny. For me the sweet spot is 12-13in, a screen size that seems to have fallen into a black hole since mobiles grew to 6in.

Otherwise, the 8GB model does indeed suit me absolutely perfectly. Hopefully next time. I really want Pine to survive and thrive.

Recently I used it (some free-tier DuckAI model, not Claude) to write a Python script for pasting PNGs into PDFs (complete with Tk interface) while applying a whole bunch of custom transformations. Simple enough, but a total chore with all the back-and-forth of searching for relevant unfamiliar libraries and syntax checking and troubleshooting. Inevitably it would have taken me the whole afternoon by hand. With AI I knocked it out in 25 minutes. That was my epiphany moment.

Since then I’ve noticed a general problem with AI coding. It almost always introduces too much complexity, which I then have to waste time untangling (and often just understanding) before I can proceed. Whereas if I had done it “my way” from the start I might have got there earlier. But I figure this problem is kinda on me.

That HP Chromebook pretty much fits the specs. Would have bought it if it was on sale anywhere I looked. To be perfect it would have 12-in screen and be 100€ cheaper (i.e. with inflation what I paid a decade ago, when I seem to remember being spoiled for choice).

the mechanics at hand/play that have contributed to our current status quo

Your theory is good. I have an even simpler one. Normies don’t buy “computers” any more, they do their computing on smartphones alone. So laptops are now the domain of rich people who can afford two devices (plus businesspeople and students). And these people already have a smartphone with a massive screen, which explains the disappearance of 10-12-inch laptops. Some of these rich people (I am an honorary one, being somewhat poor) complain on forums about the disappearance of small phones. These people are the market for that smallish iPhone, which is literally the only small mobile left. Everyone else reasonably wants as big a screen as they can get, since they don’t have any other computer.

I’m worried that there’s not much room for FOSS in this new world. Let’s hope I’m wrong.

Why would you make accusations like this? I don’t get the meanness of spirit of people on social media, I just don’t. Why is it so hard to accept that somebody would write a post stating their experiences and observations and not have some kind of dark ulterior motive? I just do not get it.

Actually, having read your first paragraph I went to Dell’s site and I was just about to offer some comments, but now I see the second, full of insult and calumny, and I find I don’t have the energy to bother.

We have similar needs and you make a persuasive case. Perhaps next time.

This is like talking to a chatbot on a store site!

#1 would be fine if new and <400€ (so… not)

#2: not enough RAM

#3 a bit too expensive and powerful, but it’s a close call.

To reiterate my post: I got years and years of fruitful Linux use out of a little sub-Celeron netbook which cost much less than these. The same niche exists today but it is occupied by ARM and Mediatek. This is the fundamental problem.

Didn’t even know this existed (PS: meaning the Dell - the Yoga is nice too), it fits the bill pretty much perfectly and I would consider stretching my budget if someone was selling it new. Personally I’m not inclined towards secondhand, too much of a control freak (tho I totally respect the idea in theory, it’s greener too).

assemble one yourself

I am challenged by wiring a plug. But thanks for the tip!

I’m committed to the Chromebook this time but in a few years it’s gonna have to be a solution like the Pinebook. Or something like this, which someone else suggested and is basically exactly what I was dreaming of (possibly excepting price): https://www.braxtech.net/open-slate

when people started becoming hostile towards my kind of pictures

I feel this. Days are well and truly gone when we could play at Henri Cartier-Bresson. Yet another baleful by-product of social media.

Your sketching solution is a fine hack. Good luck with it.

All this is exactly the point I was trying to make (alongside a bellyache about my own personal travails). Thanks for making it.

Absolutely. Was ready to buy the Pinebook. “Out of stock”. It seems they produce them in unpredictable and insufficient batches which get snapped up before anyone notices they’re on sale. Sigh.

Thanks for the solidarity and encouragement. Honestly, this not the first time this happened - i.e. carefully writing a post that I naively assumed might start a fruitful conversation but instead got mocked and downvoted to oblivion because… human nature, it seems. Each time I tell myself: not trying that again, maybe it’s time to leave social media. And each time there’s a friendly person like you who pops up with some nice words and I feel better straight away! Thanks.

Chipsets are usually well supported by the time they are in laptops today.

I don’t get where you’re coming from, unless you’re talking exclusively about expensive, heavy, Intel-powered laptops. The cheaper ones are now moving en-masse to ARM and Mediatek, along with the convertible tablets that are replacing them. All this stuff (and there’s lots of it) is all but incompatible with Linux.

Too expensive, too heavy, too powerful. I want the kind of thing bought by poorer people than Linux techies. 10 years ago it was compatible with Linux. Now it’s not. All explained in my post.

I would sooner gnaw off my leg than use a black box of closed-source software made by a company as opaque and rich and powerful as Apple. I don’t doubt that the hardware is very good.

We are very similar, it seems.

With the exception that I’m totally addicted to podcasts. Literally thousands of hours per year, and I jack up the speed on them, too (productivity hacking is a mirage, I know, I know).

And photos. I take a ton. But only a few survive my ruthless culling.

With you on all counts. I read that article when it was published (on college kids) and was similarly shocked and dismayed. Didn’t know it was quite that bad.

Actually it’s worse still: not just semi-illiterate and incapable of taking criticism but also inclined towards authoritarian politics. Definitely parenting is a factor, as you say. Effectively children have become consumer objects, when people are having them at all. The result was predictable. Other factors must be at work too, I think. It’s been 3 generations since a major war, and most people are barely aware of how lucky they are and not interested enough in history to find out. And there’s the environmental context, too. Things are going to get harder for our species. I think that deep down the youngsters know this, and they’re scared, as we should all be. I’m a child of the 80s and I’m feeling like I drew a pretty good lot.

So we should maybe give them a break with all these judgements. But it’s so hard!

Very interesting. Thx for the tip.

PS: have now looked in detail and this is indeed exactly what I want. Chromebook for now but I hope these kind of projects become more popular.

Ordinary people don’t buy laptops any more, let alone desktops. It’s touchscreens and Android all the way. That’s the picture outside the bubble of middle-class Europe and North America. The facts are stubborn.