i am evaluating endless os (basic install, not the kitchen sink version) right now. i have bunch of soon-to-be obsolete desktops and laptops i need to find something other than windows to load. i am very impressed so far. it’s nearly everything i’m looking for for these systems and their future home users.

it’s nearly as ‘simple’ as a chromebook but is based on debian, so it can do more than chromeos. but because of the ostree base, verified flatpak applications, and simplified desktop and ui, it’s a lot harder for a typical home user to ‘break’ than windows.

the ‘full’ endless install with lots of extra programs and offline content might pick up a few fans, too. parts of my area still don’t have faster-than-dialup internet available.

i had been set on peppermint for the lowest spec’d systems (things like c2d 4gb/hdd) and cinnamint for the others (mostly 2nd-6th gen, 4-8gb, some have sata ssd), but endless might just end up on everything unless someone specifically requests different.

i sure hope they aren’t still the same specs (ancient celeron 2gb/32gb flash) for $1100+. but kinda suspect they might be.

the number of years i’ve run usb->sata adapters and had (up to a dozen or so) bare drives laying around and propped up anywhere i could find a spot…

you aren’t putting a 3.5in in that slimline bay. you might be able to rig something to hold one there, though. that’s where the get ‘‘creative’’ part comes in.

you also have the 2x2.5in at the bottom but you’re missing the rails or caddies for them. should be like 5-6 bucks each or so on ebay or azn. don’t bother with those, though, unless you’re putting in hdd there. sata ssd can just be stuffed in the cage, they ain’t going anywhere.

be careful with whatever mb->sata power cables you have. make sure they’re the correct ones, as they aren’t all the same. you could get away with a 1->2 sata power splitter once on each mb power connection, as the output of each is designed for 2x3.5in hdd anyway.

edit: just looked at a similar model here. removing the slimline optical and stuffing a 3.5in hdd there will obstruct the cpu hsf a bit. might have to swap that for a lower profile cooler to put the drive there… BUT. if you take out the existing hdd (because its caddy thing gets in the way), there is just enough room along the flipout bit between that hdd bay and the 2.5in cage below to fit a 3.5in. would need a little ‘modification’ to the case there to rig a mount for it. but it fits. then the existing hdd can slide back in. (see pic, the ancient seagate hdd is placed in that space)

you’re talking the ‘RED’ series inspiron minitower?

iirc there’s only one 3.5in bay adjacent to the slimline optical bay, and two 2.5in bays in a cage at the bottom front.

bays use drive rails which may or may not be present if the bay was unpopulated when originally shipped.

the pc uses 12vo power supply, so the drives are powered off the motherboard. those cables may also not be present if they weren’t needed for the original configuration.

slimline optical bays can often be filled with a caddy designed fit in the form factor, connecting to the optical power and sata, and hold a 2.5in ssd drive.

you will have to get ‘‘creative’’ to securely mount more than one 3.5in hdd inside.

if a specific format isn’t requested or required, and the formatted text document is not expected to be edited by the recipient–only read, possibly by computer, or printed, i would default to using a pdf.

besides these–which i occasionally use the oem option with… i just put endless on one here, it also sets up the initial user during the first boot after install.

the oem install option that is available with ubuntu and some ubuntu-based ones lets you do some initial extra package installs and stuff, though. you run a command linked on the oeminstall desktop when you’re finished with your ‘preinstall’.

anything ‘worthwhile’ is probably gonna use a lot of power, burn through bandwidth, or not exactly completely legit and legal.

to monetize the piracy of your users

that’s generally what gets sites and services in ‘trouble’

instead of having 12984 tabs open, you can have 345 groups with only a few dozen tabs in each one.

i had a monitor like that once. big bright af blue power light baked into the power button, bottom center of the bezel. blue led was the ‘new’ thing back then. the barton-era matching pc (which i didn’t have) had a larger matching button on its front. if you know your '00s pavilions, you know the ones.

it was horrible. that monitor lived its entire life with a black piece of paper taped over the whole switch and light. i was not saddened when it finally gave up and failed to turn on. i was more annoyed that it took 15 years for it to fail.

my first ‘distro’ was slackware, on floppy disks. then debian or a flavour of, mainly, ever since. i’ve never really strayed too far from debian and apt over the years but i have tried most everything.

they are just very efficient at their self-appointed duty of ensuring your floor has no slip hazards. the four chew toys just out of picture don’t count–they put them there. that’s different.

i don’t see it that way. i see pacman, apt, and rpm.

the unique GUID in the device’s rom is what they tie your license to.

unraid does have instructions and software as zip files for manually preparing a flash drive to run their software from. you don’t have to use their scary binary media creator tool. see here

of all that shit microsoft forces upon you…

it’s the msa (online microsoft account) that’s the biggest deal-breaker for me.

absolutely not. never gonna happen.

ntfs: hey, i got user passwords set up here!

linux: really? never noticed.

i have a laptop here with a gemini lake celeron n4000, 4gb ram, and 64gb emmc. it barely meets the requirements imposed by microsoft for win11.

windows 11 on it is as horrible as you might imagine. someone brought me one very similar last week to ‘fix’… basically same model but with upgrade to 16gb ram. was not any better at all. essentially unusable, just like mine. their ‘fix’ was buying a new ryzen 5 laptop 12 hrs later.

of course they did. free insider trading tips was one of the free gifts with purchase of a president.

the new app-flavoured notepad sucks.

go into its settings, turn off everything.