Working From Home with a New-to-Me ThinkPad

September 16, 2020

Like so many, but not nearly enough, I’ve been work-from-home since mid-March.

My daily driver is a Dell desktop with Ubuntu 16.04 (the GNOME spin), but it’s in the living room. It’s not the easiest place to work during the day, in that it’s high-traffic. My two-year-old daughter is way too fascinated by video calls! I took to working in the bedroom on my fairly old T420i ThinkPad for chunks of the day. It’s probably around 10 years old, but it’s rock solid, even though it’s 32-bit architecture and 8GB RAM. I ran Linux Mint Cinnamon on it and while it wasn’t blazingly fast, it handled my daily work without any issues. That is, until a Zoom update broke Zoom. Without Zoom, the computer was much less useful. And unfortunately, finding support for Zoom on a 32-bit Linux system isn’t as easy as it sounds.

I realized I needed a new laptop. I looked at new ThinkPads but they were much pricier than I wanted to spend out-of-pocket. I started hanging out in the ThinkPad subreddit, and seeing all of those people doing so well with used ThinkPads. I realized that the whole point of a ThinkPad is the durability. Why not go used? So I used this wonderful guide and started searching ebay, Newegg, TigerDirect, Overstock—anyplace that sold used ThinkPads. I eventually decided against ebay because I wanted some kind of warranty and I wound up finding a great machine at a great pricepoint: a T460 with 16GB RAM and an IPS screen (highly recommended in the subreddit; I’m not quite sure if it matters to me…) for less than $600, including the one-year protection plan, from NewEgg. It happens to be an ultrabook, which is a moot feature since I don’t go anywhere anymore. It also happens to have a fingerprint reader, which works better than one I had 15 years ago, but which feels like a solution in search of a problem.

I put on Ubuntu 20.04 without any drama, and it’s been smooth sailing. Zoom works like a champ. I can easily VPN into my work computer with Cisco’s Linux VPN client and Remmina remote desktop. My older ThinkPad couldn’t run Cisco, so I used openconnect, a command-line tool, that while not quite as simple as Cisco, was pretty darn close.

As I mentioned, I’m using TLP to manage the battery. I use Evolution as my Exchange client (you need to install the EWS plugin, which is in the repositories). And I learned you can bring over a Thunderbird profile, just by copying a folder. It was painless. I keep my files in-sync with pcloud.

I thought I loved Ubuntu 16.04 but GNOME is fast and much better integrated on 20.04. I’ll have to move off 16.04 soon, as support is ending in 2021, but I’m now excited to upgrade my main machine.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the T420i. It’s usable, but because of its age and architecture, using it requires a certain amount of expertise. My wife is passionate about sustainable technology, so she’s been looking into some programs that might benefit from it. Because I was very lucky to be in the position that I could spend as much money as I did for a second computer. It’s important to acknowledge that privilege because there are lots of people who don’t have the option of working from home, or who have the option, but lack the technological resources. Not everyone has home Internet. Not everyone has a home computer.

I wrote this to remind everyone that while there’s a shortage of new laptops, there are lots of good used options, and Linux breathes new life into older hardware. As the people on the ThinkPad reddit are quick to point out, the more you’re able to fix up a ThinkPad yourself, the more favorable the pricing. I needed something quick and operational, but I’m comfortable with the specs I got for the price.

I’m a ThinkPad nerd. I love them (this is my third) and have had nothing but great experiences with them. But this isn’t about ThinkPads. It’s about affordability and sustainability. My story is a reminder that even if you’re not looking for a fixer-upper, you can still find something used and reliable, that runs Linux, at a good price.

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Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Issues Emergency Use Authorization to Yale School of Public Health for SalivaDirect, Which Uses a New Method of Saliva Sample Processing

August 25, 2020

A blog pivot to all coronavirus news? I can see why you’d think that. But it’s actually this line:

Yale intends to provide the SalivaDirect protocol to interested laboratories as an “open source” protocol, meaning that designated laboratories could follow the protocol to obtain the required components and perform the test in their lab according to Yale’s instructions for use. Because this test does not rely on any proprietary equipment from Yale and can use a variety of commercially available testing components, it can be assembled and used in high-complexity labs throughout the country, provided they comply with the conditions of authorization in the EUA.

I’m not sure why open source is in quotes, but it’s still very cool for so many reasons.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Issues Emergency Use Authorization to Yale School of Public Health for SalivaDirect, Which Uses a New Method of Saliva Sample Processing | U.S. Food and Drug Administration

De-Googling: Chrome

August 20, 2020

Cassidy James Blaede, of elementary (and this interview), has an interesting post about the importance of browser diversification, including browser engines.

The web is at its best when there are multiple independent browser engines; that’s when we get competition and innovation. When there is a single dominant browser engine, the company in control of it dictates what can and can’t be done on the web—and developers only target that engine. If you’re old enough, you may remember us being in this position with Internet Explorer for years.

It’s a compelling point. I use Chromium for privacy, but I could switch to Firefox for my main browser. It’s something that’s going on my to do list!

De-Googling: Chrome | Cassidy’s Blog

The Slack Social Network

August 4, 2020

This is what Slack — and Silicon Valley, generally — failed to understand about Microsoft’s competitive advantage: the company doesn’t win just because it bundles, or because it has a superior ground game. By virtue of doing everything, even if mediocrely, the company is providing a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts, particularly for the non-tech workers that are in fact most of the market.

Lock-in is effective. Microsoft services aren’t great, but are good enough. Because of that it’s often just easier to use them. My colleagues and I are all slowly converging to Microsoft apps because it’s the tool we’re given. So do we use Microsoft because someone pays for it? Or do people pay for Microsoft because people use the tools? I’m not sure, but whatever Microsoft is doing seems to be working.

Also, I do appreciate that Microsoft Teams is available for Linux. I don’t really use it, but it’s cool to see.

The Slack Social Network | Stratchery

What’s New in Thunderbird 78

July 30, 2020

I’m excited to see the integrated calendar, not that installing Lightning is such a big deal. I’m a huge Thunderbird fan, though. The interface is sometimes overly complex, but you can always Google around to do what you need to do.

I’m also wondering when this will hit the Ubuntu repos. I might be a ways off from seeing 78 in action! It sort of reminds me of when Gimp added a single-window mode. I was using Sabayon at the time, so I saw the new interface pretty much instantly. But when I went back to Ubuntu, I didn’t see single-window mode for months. It was like time travel.

What’s New in Thunderbird 78 | The Thunderbird Blog