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Built-in software ‘death dates’ are sending thousands of schools’ Chromebooks to the recycling bin (www.mercurynews.com)
submitted 3 years ago by to c/technology@beehaw.org
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There are few things quite as emblematic of late stage capitalism than the concept of "planned obsolescence".

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[–] 31 points 3 years ago (6 children)

All of these machines make for decent Linux laptops. I picked up an EOL Chromebook for $35 last year and installed Debian on it. Decent little machine. Not terribly fast but very useable.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    Good to know. Is it still a PITA to make the firmware let you change the OS?

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago

    Most modern ones it's just commands you have to run. You can usually find an easy walk-though on the MrChromebox website. I haven't seen one that required a jumper or anything in a LONG time.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago

    Mine was really easy (dell chromebook 11), just followed the instructions and I had no problems. I have another chromebook with an amd chipset that I can't change the firmware on though (last time I checked), so if you're planning to buy one to convert make sure you actually can do it first.

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