Re: Suggestions for 1L computer to run Emacs 2019

[Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca>]

> What I have is the Mac Mini (late 2009) and on to it GNU/Emacs runs.
> Happily.  The hardware consists of a twocore cpu, 8Gb ram, 256Gb SSD,
> gigabit networking.
>
> But, the operating system is no longer served as upgradeable.

Odd.  My 2006 Mac Mini is still using the very latest version of the
operating system (Debian testing ;-).

> I am looking for hardware with "fit and finish" improving on what I
> have and for the operating system to be free and open where possible.

Keeping the same machine won't improve the "fit and finish", but
upgrading to Debian will definitely improve on the "free and open where
possible".   And it will save the planet a fair bit of green house gases
and pollution at the same time, so you'll get double karma points.

> System76, HP, ChromeOS suppliers satisfy the 1L constraint but they
> don't look serious like, not even, the Apple TV puck.

Indeed Apple is one of (if not *the*) most serious company in terms of
not letting their customers own "their" devices.

System76 is a joke in comparison.  For that reason, I'd go with System76
any day.  https://puri.sm/ is another one that doesn't take controlling
its customers seriously at all (tho they don't offer any desktop
machine yet, AFAIK).

>> A cubietruck definitely fits the 1L constraint and runs a recent Emacs
>> just fine, and there are hordes of similar little beasts out there.
> The cubieboard is like the Raspberry Pi, some have the Mathematica
> package.  The look of them is like the fork in Toy Story 4.

Not sure whether that means it's a good fit for your use case.
[ And not only because I haven't watched TS4.  ]
If you need something silent (and hence fanless), it's not the worst
choice and it's damn cheap.


        Stefan "hoping System76 will have fanless desktops next time he
                needs to replace his own"