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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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This $149 RISC-V Tablet Runs Ubuntu 24.04 (www.omgubuntu.co.uk)

submitted 3 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

53 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The link makes it seem like crap hardware, and sure 4gb of ram is really crappy. But how does this compare with one of my kid's Fire tablets? Does anyone have opinions on that?

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (3 children)

If your kids software is available in Ubuntu maybe? At a glance I’d wonder how power efficient it would be (my $100 Walmart tablet lasts all week with light usage, I doubt this could compare), and would have to wonder as well on gpu performance. It’s likely not optimized yet so idk I’d trust 800 mhz as enough.

I think the article sums it up best:

RISC-V computing is a promising field but best ploughed by developers, early adopters, and tech enthusiasts at present. RISC-V chip performance is improving, but it’s not “there” for mainstream adoption — yet.

It’d be a ton of fun to tinker with and if you have the money to risk I’d say go for it! But I wouldn’t buy this for a kid unless I had the extra $150 to potentially get them a normal android tablet if this didn’t work as well as hoped.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

my $100 Walmart tablet lasts all week with light usage, I doubt this could compare

probably not in a first release, but Android is convulted piece of shit compared to linux desktop environments. Not to mention Google's and/or OEMs built-in system apps running 24/7 guzzling all your data in the background.

In time, I guess it would beat out in performance and efficiency but lose in the availability of applications, same as desktop linux.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago

Almost certainly, and get security updates something I’d very much want if I let the tablet off the local network. I would love to see this thing get to that point to ditch android entirely.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

This is really meant to serve as a development platform though, so the price and capabilities probably matter less, and the default settings and such are probably not as tuned as they could be to offer the best performance or battery life.

I don't even think power management tools in stock Linux take RISCV into account yet lol

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 weeks ago

Power management on "the most boring Intel chip imaginable" is still touch-and-go at times.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

The article says it has 7hrs batter life