Episode: 3193
Title: HPR3193: Meet Antithesis
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr3193/hpr3193.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-24 18:31:33

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This is Hacker Public Radio Episode 3193 for Wednesday 28 October 2020. Today's show is entitled
Meet Antithesis,
and is part of the series, Hardware Upgrades. It is hosted by Paul Cook
and is about 32 minutes long
and carries a clean flag. The summary is
Meet My New Computer, a Pine Book Pro.
As I explain my rationale, unbox it and set it up.
This episode of HPR is brought to you by archive.org.
Support universal access to all knowledge
by heading over to archive.org forward slash donate.
Music
Good day. Good listener, Hacker Public Radio.
Paul Cook here, and today I'd like to introduce you to my new computer,
which I have named Antithesis, or Anne for short.
This computer is a Pine Book Pro, which I bought from the pine64.org store.
Before I get into opening my new Pine Book Pro,
I'd like to take a few minutes to explain why I decided to buy a Pine Book Pro
as my next computer and why I chose Anne for its name.
My experience with ARM and Open Community Driven Computing
started with a Raspberry Pi 4 with four gigabytes.
Their website promised it was a desktop replacement computer.
In playing around with it, I was quite impressed.
And while it didn't have the power I would want for a desktop,
I felt it would make for an excellent laptop,
slash Chromebook, slash MacBook Air type of computer.
There are solutions on the market to turn a Raspberry Pi 4 into a laptop,
but I soon realized that most of the laptop solutions didn't really appeal to me
and to build my Raspberry Pi 4 into the kind of laptop I wanted,
would probably cost me at least as much as a Pine Book Pro would.
I also realized that, no matter how much time and effort I put into it,
I could not make my Raspberry Pi 4 into a computer as sleek and attractive as the Pine Book Pro.
Using the Raspberry Pi 4 brought to mind a brief period in computer history
when Commodore made low-cost feature-rich computers like the Plus 4 and the 16.
These early low-cost computers integrated a 2MHz CPU with sound and video on a chip,
essentially making it a computer on a chip.
This processor came to be known as the Ted chip
and was supposed to be the foundation for an entire line of low-cost feature-rich computers.
Due to politics and corporate enabness, Commodore killed their entire line of Ted computers
in the dream of buying a modern, good quality computer for under $100 disappeared,
eventually leaving us with either the more expensive X86 architecture
or the closed and overpriced Macintosh line once Atari Amiga were gone.
Of course, we had low-cost tablets for a while,
but many of these are subsidized with advertising and crappy apps that you can't get rid of
and really aren't suitable for much more than consuming content
and finding clever ways to separate you from your money.
There were netbooks, but manufacturers were quick to kill these in favor of Chromebooks
with plan-up lessons before netbooks had a chance to develop into something good.
The Ted line of computers were with the exception of the Commodore logo,
free of advertising, plan-up lessons,
and 100% of the computer's resources were for the benefit of the person who owned the computer.
Nothing was off limits.
I have a Commodore 16 computer in my collection,
and it's just as functional today as it was today it was new.
I like to imagine that there was an alternate timeline,
where Commodore had continued along this line of computers,
and that timeline merged with ours to become the low-cost ARM computers of today.
Using my Pi4 made me think about what I really need a computer for.
Libra Office, Audacity, Gimp, and Darktable are my main go-tos.
I do like to do some video editing,
and to my surprise, KDE and Live runs fine on a Pi4.
Now, to be clear, editing even short 4K video clips from my GoPro is painful
compared to my AMD Ryzen-based desktop with 24GB of RAM,
but editing short clips at 1080p still works pretty good.
Still, I don't really do enough video editing to justify a more powerful laptop
when my desktop can do the job just fine.
The Pi4 really appealed to my minimalist sensibilities,
and made me really think about what I'd need a small ARM-based laptop for.
I need the Libra Office suite,
because I use Impress for Teaching Electronics class at the local community college,
and draw to create graphics and drawings used to teach those classes.
In the world of teaching, each professor has copyright over the material they create to present to the class,
and so we need to be careful that we don't infringe on anyone else's copyright.
As a teacher, I do have free access to the full Microsoft Office suite,
but I prefer Libra Office so that I don't need to rely on a licensed product
with file formats that can change and become obsolete just because it suits Microsoft's profit margins.
I also like to use Writer for writing up the scripts for my podcasts,
and for my own personal creative writing efforts.
For podcasts, I do have my handheld Olympus recorder,
but I prefer recording directly into Audacity for a more efficient workflow.
As for Darktable, I do love my photography, especially when traveling,
and Darktable is a phenomenal raw photo editor.
I don't care much for content consumption.
And if I want to watch Netflix Ramazon Prime, I'll do that on my living room television.
I want to create my own content, deliver it, and also be able to tinker with my operating system and software.
Of course, the ability to open a terminal and SSH into my server is a must.
If I can play some of my favorite open source games and run emulation, I consider that a bonus.
Due to the efficiency and low power requirements of the ARM processor,
the long battery life means I could spend a long weekend off grid
and still be able to create the content I want to create.
I am convinced that ARM is the future of open source open hardware computing.
And so the name, Antithesis.
If you're to go into a store today to buy a laptop, Chromebook, or Macbook,
you are buying a product that the manufacturer wants you to buy for their own benefit.
We have close source drivers, tracking, advertising, plant obsolescence,
inability to repair or upgrade and very one-sided software license agreements.
To me, the Pinebook is the antithesis of all of this.
I could repair it, I could put on whatever OSI want.
I'm not bound to any one-sided licensing agreements, and it's only obsolete if I say so.
It's a product that the community wants, not a product that a corporation wants us to buy,
and therein lies the critical difference.
And so after the dollar exchange, value, shipping, and import fees,
the Pinebook Pro may not be the best dollar value to me right now,
but it is the best price laptop that resonates with my open source open hardware sensibilities.
So now I'm waiting for the delivery of Anne, and I just got notification that it's coming today,
even though it's scheduled for tomorrow.
As soon as it arrives, I'm going to record my unboxing experience.
For the time being, here's some creative commons music for you to enjoy.
See if you can guess who it is.
Music
Welcome back.
If you guessed that that was the horseman by Frederick Chopin, then you would be right.
Now it's time for me to unbox my very own Pinebook Pro, and I'm going to do this unscripted.
Okay, so it's just arrived, and the smile on my face is like so big.
I'm sure you can see it over the microphone, even though this is audio-only.
So it's coming a big yellow plastic wrap package.
It says DHL.
Got the packing slip on the back.
It shows that I paid a duty in tax.
It cost me $54.65 in duty in tax, which isn't too terrible.
That's from the Canadian Society of Customs Brokers.
So let's tear into this and see what we got.
Okay, so it's any yellow-padded envelope.
There goes the plastic with the packing slip, and yeah, it's just like I think of an oversized,
bubble-lined yellow vanilla envelope.
And we'll just tear that open.
And of course there's a big caution sticker on the outer package too,
the one that is breakable.
Okay, and there's three boxes in here.
One looks like a universal adapter for the charger.
And there's the charger.
So yeah, it's a universal adapter.
It has a UK spec plug, and it also has an North American spec plug.
So I can travel with this thing.
Just cool.
It's all ready for my trips as soon as COVID's over.
I also order this extra USB to Ethernet adapter,
just so that I can connect this directly into devices like say my home router,
for example, for troubleshooting, since there is no built-in Ethernet port.
This will give me that ability.
And then what's left is just a plain cardboard box.
I love this packaging, by the way.
I'm fairly sensitive to environmental concerns that I have.
And yeah, things that are packaged in recyclable packaging like this is just fine for me.
This is excellent.
I'm going to pop this open.
And inside that box is another box.
So I guess that makes it more...
I guess it helps to protect it, to have a double box.
That's my guess.
And in the top here, I have a letter.
I'm going to read this to you.
This is the first time I'm reading this.
So I'm going on script just for this letter.
Dear Piner, so I'm a Piner now.
Congratulations on your new PineBook Pro.
The PineBook Pro has been created in conjunction with our community of developers and end users like yourself.
Our community maintains a well-documented Wiki found at wiki.pine64.org.
The PineBook Pro Wiki subsection includes information about troubleshooting, available operating systems, OSs, hardware,
disassembly, NVME installation and compatibility, activation of privacy switches, the PCB layout,
as well as many other aspects of your device.
Make sure to consult it regularly and contribute to it in any way you see fit.
Anyone with a Pine64 forum account at forum.pine64.org can contribute to the wiki.
Getting started.
Your PineBook Pro ships with Mangero, one of the most popular and innovative desktop Linux operating systems available.
Mangero is also a host to a large vibrant and friendly community of end users like yourself.
There is even a dedicated ARM device subsection on their forum.
That's at forum.mangero.org slash c slash mangeros.arm,
featuring frequent updates from developers and contributors.
I encourage you to visit Mangero's website.
That's at mangero.org, and forums to get acquainted with the operating system and the people behind it.
The Mangero build that ships with the PineBook Pro features the latest Linux kernel and open source drivers.
This extends to the open source panfrost GPU driver, which accelerates the KDE Plasma Desktop using OpenGL 2.0.
This Mangero build has support for all hardware features of the PineBook Pro, including USB-C, video out, and charging.
First boot.
Upon first boot, you'll be asked to create a user and password as well as to select your keyboard layout and locale.
We suggest that you do not plug in any external USB peripherals,
USB-C docs, SSDs, HDDs, mice, etc. on the first boot.
Once the initial setup is complete, the PineBook Pro will reboot, and you'll be greeted with the login screen.
In the unlikely event, it turns out that Mangero isn't your thing, then visit our Wiki to select from an ever-growing number of available operating systems.
Here's where you get help.
You're welcome to share your experience and ask any questions you may have on our forums and in the Pine64 community chats.
All available chat options are available via the forums and chats.
Drop down on our main page, pine64.org.
Here's a thin piece of foam padding.
Then I have the PineBook wrapped in this bag that says warning to avoid the danger of suffocation.
Keep this plastic bag away from babies and children.
Do not use this bag in crib, beds, carriages, or playpins. This bag is not a toy.
Hey, we'll set that off, and boy, that is one nice-looking machine.
That's all there is in this box. There's no other paper work. There's no cheesy coupons, no cheesy advertising.
It feels really solid.
It's a metal case on it, and I open it up, and I opted for the ANSI keyboard.
Because I can't seem to type right on the other type of keyboard.
This has the proper inner key, the shift buttons are the right sizes for me, and there's no Windows key.
There's a Pine key instead.
I'm going to go ahead and plug this in and turn it on.
I have a plug then.
It comes with this barrel-style connector.
I'll tell you right now that the power cord isn't too terribly long, but let's give her a shot.
It appears that there's a protective film over the screen, so I'm going to peel that off now.
There's also, it appears to be one on the touchpad. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe it's supposed to look that way.
We'll find out.
Okay, here we go. Power on.
Hmm.
Here we go.
We got a little green light by the power indicator.
I see a little light here that says microphone.
There's a little light there for maybe that's caps lock.
Okay, I got to pick my keyboard layout. ISO layout or ANSI layout.
Finds a U.S. ANSI.
Enter your username.
Enter additional groups for my username in a comma-separated list, empty if none.
I'm not going to worry about that for now. Enter full name for the user.
And my password.
We got to confirm the password.
It's a very nice keyboard. Enter the root password.
Okay. Choose your time zone.
And this is not graphical. By the way, this is just, uh, I'm just moving the cursor around.
I think if I just press C, no, it doesn't jump.
I think it would, but America Toronto is my time zone and my local.
I think I'm UTF-5.
I think I'm going to do a little bit of research at this point.
As to what I should enter at this point.
Yeah, let's see what the interwebs say about this.
Okay.
Maybe this is something I can do.
And this is the local's reveal for installation chip.
Huh. That's interesting. Okay. I'm going to look into this a little more, but right now.
I'm going to do Ian underscore C.A. I'm going to guess that that's English. Canadian.
Insert desired host name. And this is this. Yes.
It's a very nice looking machine. I really like the looks of it. I really like the feel of it. It's very thin.
Yeah, there's no way you could make a raspberry pie this thin, not without going to extremes and removing ports and whatnot.
So now I got the graphical mangero boot screen.
I'm looking at a black screen now.
So I'm just going to take a sip of my drink.
A little bit of diet Pepsi.
Okay. So showing that is 3.24 pm on Sunday, August 30th, 2020.
So Paul Kirk, it's asking for my password.
I did my name. Logged in.
I've never actually used this distribution before. I've never used mangero.
It's telling me here. Enjoy the simplicity.
And I think.
Oh yeah. Here we go. So I'm in arm. Let me see the battery status here.
Battery at 91% in charging. So I don't have the dreaded power adapter problems that some other people had reported.
So this is good. Looks like this came from a pretty good batch. And it looks like my default browser is Firefox, which is my favorite.
And I'm going to go ahead and log into that. And I think I'm good. I think I'm going to play with this.
Yes. I'm going to let you go and play with my Pine Book Pro.
And then after I've used it for a while, I'm going to come back and finish the podcast.
So I spent over a month with my new Pine Book Pro. And I'm going to tell you how that went using the built-in microphone of the Pine Book Pro.
Before I go on, I figured out that the touchpad does have a protective film that should be removed.
The first thing I'd like to point out is that the build quality is excellent.
I've used laptops that cost twice as much that didn't feel this solid.
The outer shell is magnesium and gives it a premium look and feel.
There are no logos anywhere on the lid, which sets it apart from every other laptop, Chromebook, and MacBook out there in a good way.
The keyboard is fantastic. The spacing of the ANSI keyboard option is perfect for touch typing.
And the key presses are very crisp.
Above the keyboard are two microphones. So this computer can record in stereo. Well, maybe.
According to the Wiki, there may really only be one. Nobody's sure.
There is a 1080 HD webcam top and center on the screen. And since it's raised a little from the surface, it looks really sharp.
On the right side edge is a regular USB slot, a headphone jack, and a microSD slot.
On the left side edge is the barrel connector for the power, a USB 3.0 port, and a Type-C USB connector that can be used for things like charging and using an external display.
The screen offers a full HD resolution of 1920 by 1080, which is higher than the typical 1366 by 768 we usually see in this class, making this an excellent laptop for productivity work.
HTOP shows six cores. And after a little research, I discovered there is both a dual-core cortex A72 and a quad-core cortex A53, making this more powerful than my Raspberry Pi 4.
There are stereo speakers on the bottom, and these are barely adequate, so I typically use headphones with mine.
But by every measurable metric, the PineBook Pro represents incredible value for the dollar.
However, it is still just a $200 laptop, which means there are some shortcomings.
For example, the screen isn't as bright as some others, but it's still usable outdoors, thanks to the non-glare finish on the screen.
But I do need to turn the brightness up all the way, which affects the battery life.
The built-in webcam is on par with cheap cell phone cameras from the last decade, or maybe the decade before.
Video has that yellow effect, the colors are washed out, low light performance, it just isn't there.
And the sharpness drops off towards the edges, though at least you do get a wide angle lens.
I'm using the built-in microphones to record this part of the podcast to give you an idea of how well they work.
And as you probably figured out, the microphone or microphones in this are every bit as crap as a webcam.
I've had to crank them up to 150% just to get them to sound this good.
Since this podcast is mixed down to a single model channel, you probably won't be able to pick up any stereo effect.
Okay, I'm not going to torture you anymore with the crap built-in microphone, so I'm going to use my good microphone.
Unfortunately, there is no direct microphone input, just a headphone jack.
So I'm going to use a cheap USB sound card to connect my good microphone and carry on from there.
There we go, this should sound a lot better.
This goes to show that the PineBook Pro can be used for things like recording or podcasts as long as you had the right hardware.
Every time I turn my PineBook on, I'm greeted with, enjoy the simplicity.
This is something I really appreciate.
I've been a longtime regular Ubuntu user since version 10.10, and using Mangero makes me feel as though I'm using a significantly improved version of Windows.
I found much of my former Windows muscle memory coming back.
So I'd say the PineBook with Mangero would make for an excellent low-cost entry into the world of Linux and open source for anyone looking to get away from Windows.
It comes preloaded with lever office and Firefox, which covers most of what I'd want to use it for.
Given that it's ARM and relatively new, there's a surprising abundance of software in the software store,
found in the ad-remove software application.
There are too many for me to get into for this podcast.
So what I'd like to do is tell you what I've installed.
For audio work, I've installed Audacity.
For graphics, I've installed Gimp and Roth Therapy.
Full disclosure, I installed Snap to install Darktable, and while it ran, the fonts showed up as little squares.
I'm still working on this, and the community support is pretty good at the website.
But for the time being, I might as well learn Roth Therapy to see if it contributes to a more efficient workflow.
I installed Cheese to test at the webcam, and the program worked well.
I also installed Simple Screen Recorder for creating their rate of presentations with Impress, which works out very good for my classes.
For games, I installed Nom Majong, I'll rot solitaire, k-mines, pi-sol, fan club addition,
and Mind Test.
I installed Evolution for Email, and of course, you know I installed the Next Cloud Desktop client.
The quality and quantity of software is very satisfying.
When it comes to performance, I'll use Mind Test for a benchmark.
At full screen, at 1080p, it is playable, but varies between 5 and 13 frames per second.
Not exactly the best experience, but these are early days,
so maybe the performance will improve with time.
I tried loading a 4K video file into KDE and Live, but it was impossible to work with even a short clip.
I could do video editing on a 1080p clip just fine, though the performance was still lagging a little bit, but let's be real.
I'm not expecting to play the latest Steam games, or edit feature-length movies on this.
DOSBox runs fine, which opens up a vast library of classic PC games.
Also, there is something called Games, which seems to be designed to emulate a large variety of systems,
though when I tried to run Lemmings for Amiga, it said, oops, unable to run Lemmings.
The system Amiga isn't supported yet, but full support is planned.
I'm going to keep an eye on this project, and maybe do a podcast about it in the future.
So, at this point, I'm just going to say it.
For the price, the PineBook Pro can't be beat.
Chromebooks in this price range are also generally crap, and while there are elements of the PineBook Pro that are kind of crappy, these can be bypassed.
And overall, the package is a solid one.
That said, it's far from perfect.
For example, there's a magnet in the screen that triggers a field-effect sensor so that it can go into low power mode when the screen is closed.
But I don't think it's lined up properly.
There are directions on how to fix this in the wiki, but I haven't gotten around to that yet.
Another concern is a crap quality of the webcam in microphone.
I'd rather just have a microphone jack, and there would be no need for the disabled microphone switch at that point.
Ditto for the exceptionally crappy webcam.
Of course, it is Linux, which means that not everything always works the way it should.
I've been trying to get external video to work with the USB-C cord, but I haven't figured it out yet.
Programs like H-Top, I installed as a snap, just decided to stop working after a system update.
The font list in LibreOffice is white on white, so you can't see the font unless you highlight it.
So there are challenges, but I believe these are manageable for my needs.
Should you buy it?
I recommend not buying things just because some guy on a podcast said you should.
But if you're looking for a digital detox with a computer that will just get normal things done without advertising,
upselling, and plan obsolescence, this might be the pinnacle of what we can expect for a $200 open source ARM-based laptop.
I don't think it's quite at the point where we should expect non-computer people to buy it just to support a cause.
But I personally find it very satisfying to own, and use, and expect it will only get better.
I would gladly have spent more on this computer if I knew the extra money was going to support developers.
And at that point, I believe it could be a serious contender that could go toe-to-toe with the best the commercial market has to offer.
For now, it's the product I wanted and does what I needed to do, and I fully expect it will improve over time.
Well, that's it for this episode. I hope you found it worthwhile.
Until next time, this is Paul Quart, signing off.
And please remember to drive safe and have fun.
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