Need a laptop for my son

Hello, lain. Today I come to you with an odd request. My son is in his last year of elementary school, and next year he will need a laptop for middle school. I have contacted the district about the type of laptops they use and what software they run, and unfortunately they will be using ChromeOS devices. Being that I do not want my son's data to be collected by Google, I am in search of an alternative. I'm thinking of buying a Lenovo ThinkPad x131e, which is a small business laptop from 2015 or so. I don't want my son to be alienated, so I'll be installing Neverware's CloudReady, which is an open-source fork of Chromium OS. Would this be a good idea in terms of privacy? I don't really know much about ChromeOS and its derivatives other than that they are OSs designed for schools and low-end hardware. I'm hoping you guys can fill me in and maybe suggest an alternative if necessary.

On December 16, 2020, Neverware announced that it had been acquired by Google.

First off, it's not recommended to use laptops since they have broken security models. An iPad or iPhone is preferred. However, if you must use a laptop and don't want to use ChromeOS, consider buying a laptop with Windows 11 in S mode, or a Macbook. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/d/lenovo-ideapad-1-81vu00d6us-14-laptop/8z2qvkr45rd6 Don't use Linux. Linux is behind in security features (no verified boot), exploit mitigations, and has more CVEs than Windows, MacOS, or ChromeOS. While Windows 11 does include telemetry, it can be disabled in the settings. This makes Windows 11 the best operating system for privacy and security. I also recommend only installing apps from the microsoft store, and stick with Microsoft Edge as your default browser.

>>51722 >need a laptop for middle school I wouldn't have even dreamed of something like this in even high school. Wow times have changed. >the type of laptops they use and what software they run, and unfortunately they will be using ChromeOS devices Well, ChromeOS devices doesn't answer the software they are running. Thankfully there is a workaround with this. Apparently, GalliumOS is pretty much the best alternative. You will need to find which chromebooks are supported for this, but this will work out well. Don't forget to remove the microphone and the webcam! The only other alternative I can come up with is to find some type of open source program that can install/run Android applications that will run on your operating system of choice, because really, a chromebook is just a smart phone running android without the ability to text or call someone* One other thing. You may need to go to bat for your son and his classmate's freedom from having their data collected. This means raising some hell behind the scenes. A lot of people are getting assfucked and have no idea how or why. Good luck. * as far as I know you cannot send SMS or call people without programs.

>>51726 kek >>51722 Forks of ChromeOS are still largely at the whims of Google, and as Chromium has shown in the past nasty things can find their way into the FOSS versions. A newbie friendly, relatively lean distro like Xubuntu would be a good choice I think. If they use Google Docs or other G services (likely if they use ChromeOS) there's always the option of using them in a browser if they won't let him use LibreOffice or something. If you're maintaining the system for him you can tailor it to your requirements and restrict him from breaking it as necessary.

>>51726 Thanks Madaidan lol

>>51722 >Lenovo ThinkPad x131e I can see it's cheap on ebay; if you have the money I would at least upgrade it to 8GB of RAM (2x4GB DDR3-1600 SODIMM), buy a 512GB SATA SSD with high TBW rating like the Vulcan G (400TBW for their 512GB model, https://pcpartpicker.com/product/6G9tt6/ ), and install a dual-boot of CloudReady (64GB partition) and Win10 Education (KMS_VL_ALL, Privatezilla it, disable automatic updates, install uBlock Origin and h264ify on Firefox and Brave/Chromium) on the remaining partition. >>51728 >You may need to go to bat for your son and his classmate's freedom from having their data collected. It's too late, corporations bought the US government and school districts. USA is not an advanced country like Germany which actually bans "Cloud" software from public schools ( https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2019/07/17/germany-bans-schools-from-using-tech-giants-clouds/ ).

Thank you all for the swift responses. >>51724 Crap, really? That's unfortunate. I may have to just go with an easy-to-use Linux distro like Ubuntu. Are there any other ChromeOS derivatives? >>51728 The version of the x131e I ordered was the Windows one, but there's also a total Chromebook version with a shifted keyboard layout. Thankfully I ordered the one that isn't using some weird ass locked down bootloader. Gallium seems pretty interesting, though. I'll have to read up on it in my free time. >>51729 That's what I was thinking. I don't even know if the hardware can handle normal Ubuntu, to be honest. Is Xubuntu the best option in regards to performance? I've heard Lubuntu has been making some strides lately, too. >>51735 That's the plan, but with a 128gb SSD instead of 512. Would Windows 10 LTSC instead of Education be a good choice? I've heard the latter of the two still has some spookiness in it. I'll also be buying an SD card to serve as his work storage.

>>51722 The SchoolBooks were the snitchiest technology of them all, logging every keystroke, watching all the network traffic for suspicious keywords, counting every click, keeping track of every fleeting thought you put out over the net. We'd gotten them in my junior year, and it only took a couple months for the shininess to wear off. Once people figured out that these "free" laptops worked for the man — and showed a never-ending parade of obnoxious ads to boot — they suddenly started to feel very heavy and burdensome. Cracking my SchoolBook had been easy. The crack was online within a month of the machine showing up, and there was nothing to it — just download a DVD image, burn it, stick it in the SchoolBook, and boot it while holding down a bunch of different keys at the same time. The DVD did the rest, installing a whole bunch of hidden programs on the machine, programs that would stay hidden even when the Board of Ed did its daily remote integrity checks of the machines. Every now and again I had to get an update for the software to get around the Board's latest tests, but it was a small price to pay to get a little control over the box.

>>51736 >That's the plan, but with a 128gb SSD instead of 512. On second thought it seems 32GB should be enough for a CR partition. Maybe 96GB is enough for Windows. I have no clue what your son does. If your son installs/pirates stuff like Photoshop, Microsoft Office 2013 (Word/Excel) which he might need for chemistry lab reports, Visual Studio, CAD software, etc. then it might be a bit tight and should consider a 256GB SSD. >Would Windows 10 LTSC instead of Education be a good choice? Scroll down in https://rentry.co/fwt for 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019 ISO. For newer computers I would normally recommend Education but in your case LTSC is probably better. You will need to manually bring back Windows Photo Viewer https://www.techradar.com/how-to/how-to-restore-and-use-windows-photo-viewer-in-windows-10 After that you'll want to enable WebP support for Windows Photo Viewer and Windows Explorer thumbnails by installing Google's WebP Codec https://storage.googleapis.com/downloads.webmproject.org/releases/webp/WebpCodecSetup.exe >I've heard the latter of the two still has some spookiness in it. https://github.com/builtbybel/privatezilla

>>51736 >I'll also be buying an SD card to serve as his work storage. I think it would be better as a backup not as the only storage for it. SD cards die suddenly all the time, at least much more often than SSD's. I've experienced it often enough. Teach your kid to save his most important work files on both his SSD and the SD card.

>>51736 >Is Xubuntu the best option in regards to performance? I've heard Lubuntu has been making some strides lately, too. I don't know about 'best' but I think it's a nice compromise between leanness and features. You could give the different *buntu flavors a quick spin on the hardware with their live images and figure out what gives the best balance of speediness and usability. >Would Windows 10 LTSC instead of Education be a good choice? I've heard the latter of the two still has some spookiness in it. Not >>51735 but I wouldn't trust any version of Windows 10 personally, you can never be completely sure if you've neutered it thanks to its closed nature. >I'll also be buying an SD card to serve as his work storage. Be sure you make backups, cheaper flash storage (all storage really) can have reliability issues.

>>51726 Hey madaidan. What brings you to Lainchan?

>>51722 Your son's data will inevitably be collected by google. Most schools use google classroom and the entire google suite for all projects.

>>51722 If you have the money, give him the same computer as his peers, and give him one extra computer to use at home that you install some Linux distribution. It will let him feel for himself the differences, and also avoid him being bullied for having a different PC. Let his school work be spyed by the bot net, it will cause no harm.

>>51744 He's not madaidan personally, but rather a troll from nanochan who parrots his opinions. There's a bunch of them. The seal, the laughing jaguar, the hapa (again, not the original hapa guy, but someone parroting him). Since lain- and endchan are the only big clearnet chans to allow posting from Tor, these lowlifes filter down here.

I think priority is ruggedness and weight. He's going to have to haul this thing around. As someone else mentioned he's possibly going to wind up using Google programs anyway so Google is still going to get it. But no point in worrying lol If he's still under 13 you can request to Google for deletion of his data which they will by US law be required to do. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children's_Online_Privacy_Protection_Act

I wish I had a father like you, OP

>>51726 Windows 11 best? >Not opensource >Windows name itself means that its spyware >Linux is literally the best choice for security Get a brain

I think your son will be alienated if his laptop isn't running latest version of Windows, OSX or ChromeOS.

Your son's data will be collected by google since all schools mandate use of google classroom and google docs. You're best bet is to homeschool your child. < normalniggers using chromebooks < lain's son using thinkpad with linux mint > lain's son is an autistic poor glitterboy because he doesn't use chromeos. don't he know everything but apple and google are autistic?

>>51801 Imagine if this guy ends up trying to explain what the hell free software is to old people who can barely understand what an OS is.

>>51801 Homeschooling just isolates people making them lonely. As I've already said it doesn't even matter. Google can't collect data of anyone under 13 by law and when it does by law will be required to delete it once informed. There may even be a way to contact Google and check if there is a way no data is collected to begin with. Like if the Chromebooks are registered as being used by minors under 13 or something. Maybe can even get away with lying about ages if they dont actually confirm identity so you can get them to delete your own stuff.

>>51722 Either way if you're using a chromium and linux you're just as good as getting yourself datamined even on chromium+linux. I've seen a lot of people still getting that chrome hotword and post related which explains what it is >>51529 basically the browser can use microphone on its own and other magic stuff since it's a blob. Now with this in mind you should check whether this "meme fork" actually doesn't have the hotword. I think clam AV detects it as malware too, no surprise as seen >>51529 it's clearly obviously a spyware (but a legal one) even though the data is allegedly managed by some AI or virtual neural machines I'm not insane enough to download a wiretapping program to suggest ads based on what I say 24/7 but yup people have wiretap phones in two flavors either way so you're just as good as getting wiretapped passively by some people and even their alexa or whatever smart speaker bluetooth whatever will be invading your privacy bigly. Check out https://odysee.com/@RobBraxmanTech:6 >Would this be a good idea in terms of privacy? I think it is. I'd probably point you to the same suggestion, a chrome os fork but if they're just going to use google classrooms then consider your son datamined either way because that's how it works, even just using the dns server makes you agree to the terms by using their service am I correct? Maybe if it's just zoom over chrome then that's fine you can probably even just put ubuntu laptop there but consider asking the school or whatever the platforms they will be using and hopefully they will provide complete details (hopefully they don't use google classrooms). >I don't really know much about ChromeOS and its derivatives other than that they are OSs designed for schools and low-end hardware Chromeos is gentoo that's why it can target many instruction sets some x86 or arm and more. Basically it's like a heavily modified gentoo fork with the baddies but it's secure enough maybe not privacy-friendly enough against megacorps but it's privacy-friendly enough to probably wipe it clean when you lose the device (through device lock or something which apple eco and android also provide).

>>51829 https://www.theregister.com/2015/06/17/debian_chromium_hubbub/ Here's the blob, and I've seen people with ubuntu getting the same hotword installed in their OS which was scanned by clam AV. I recommend ungoogled chromium which basically is just the chromium minus the sync plus all hardcoded urls obscured in the source-code and use a linux OS for education. I guess it's not a bad idea, although ungoogled chromium is little late when it comes to security patch/versioning but nothing to worry, it's not like some 0day will make that laptop explode or anything.

>>51722 > Lenovo ThinkPad x131e https:// en.wikipedia.org /wiki/ThinkPad_X_series#X130e,_X131e You might want the original x131e not the "chromium edition" which probably only supports 4gb ram, the original x131e has about 16-32gb support but it might be harder to find. It's also pretty hard to find laptop/netbook which actually has proper hardware, most of them have 2-4gb ram and 16-60gb storage which I think is a letdown. Good luck and stay well lainon.