PineBook Pro - Did I buy the wrong computer?

[astral]

I've been looking for a laptop to run linux on and the PBP kept popping up in my searches, it seamed like a good option. (im not a newbie to linux, im comfortable setting up different distros and running commands from terminal) I'm not however that comfortable rummaging through git hub compiling builds for every application i want to run. 

I did understand that PBP is ARM based, i got that conceptually, i didn't realize the apparent challenges in support of common-ish apps. Basically I got this to use as a dedicated machine for my crypto needs. my first disappointment was seeing the lack of support for Ledger live, then zoom, skype, and chrome/brave. one after another seeing the workarounds and coding/compiling just is too overwhelming.

So to get to the point, am i missing something? is there a simple solution to this? I dont think installing a different distro then manjaro would make a difference right? if im barking up the wrong tree i would really appreciate someone saving me the time and telling me i need to just get an intel or amd based computer.

I love the look/feel of the PBP btw i feel a ting of sadness of it not being a solution for me, but im a traveler and dont want to lug this around just because its cool for programming. 

Really appreciate any advice.

[poVoq]

Your software requirements are very different from the typical Linux user. I find most of the software I need to be available in the Manjaro ARM repositories.

Spyware like zoom, skype and chrome/brave are simply not in high demand in the enthusiast Linux market, which the Pinebook Pro aims at. Nor are crypto scams.

[ImmyChan]

The Pinebook Pro is a very niche device for a niche audience, for more “mainstream” use you’ll want to look into an x86 machine

[astral]

The Pinebook Pro is a very niche device for a niche audience, for more “mainstream” use you’ll want to look into an x86 machine

Thanks for the feedback, thats been my assumption, just too niche for me

[evantaylor]

The Pinebook Pro is a very niche device for a niche audience, for more “mainstream” use you’ll want to look into an x86 machine

Thanks for the feedback, thats been my assumption, just too niche for me

It's really an ARM developer's tool or computer hobbyist machine.  I use it for targeting ARM64 industrial SoCs and as a cheap laptop I can travel with.

[GreyHobbyist]

I'm into Robotics and Ubuntu based environments with Docker containers. I both laughed and cried when I realized my new "niche" laptop was useful for NOTHING. So my answer is YES...I bought the wrong computer. It's physically solid and the right size to follow along behind a robot but not even close to being powerful or configurable.

[KC9UDX]

Useful for nothing? More than you buying the wrong computer, the computer was bought by the wrong person.

[KiteX3]

Yeah...I would say that the Pinebook Pro is primarily suitable as a (semi-)daily driver only for end users who have very narrow, specific needs and that want them done precisely how they want, trimming every ounce of fat they can find. In my case--a PhD student who frequently spends 6+ consecutive hours working on my dissertation in LaTeX in GVIM, running light computations in GNU Octave in the background--that makes the Pinebook Pro equipped with a customized dwm desktop virtually my dream work laptop.

But...I did not realize this immediately. I spent a year or two using the PBP as my main computer, and...well, I discovered that you can teach a math class over Zoom in a Chromium window using a Pinebook Pro, but I definitely would not recommend it. If you keep an open mind to the PBP's advantages, I imagine you can probably find a good use for it. If nothing else, it may provide a safe hobby sandbox for learning Git and compiling programs from source code. (Don't bother with Chrome or Brave, though; I know from dozens of lost hours that those are lost causes. It's easier to start by learning to compile suckless tools from source code.)

[korreckj328]

Chrome and edge wont compile but you can compile chromium and if you use the widevine-aarch64 aur you can even have drm in chromium or firefox. Docker runs containers for aarch64 not amd64. I'd recommend vim or maybe emacs (Sorry emacs people I haven't used it.) instead of vs code or the like. For the specs of the pbp I've been very happy with performance, but I don't expect amd64 or apple aarch64 performance.