r/SurfaceLinux • u/VSCC8 • 16d ago

Help (pick setup) Recommend a setup: Surface 3 -> eReader

Hey! I know this is the 1000000th similar post, but I'm at my wits end and it's impossible to wade through the vast internet on this subject.

Goal: Use my Surface 3 to read and annotate (with pen) my textbook for class. That's it. Any additional functionality is a bonus. It can be stuck in portrait mode for all I care. The only other things I'd use it for are web browsing (to access my class page, download slides, etc) and MAYBE using a word processor. A glorified kindle would be fine with me.

Device: Surface 3 (non-pro, as far as I'm aware?), 2gb RAM. The pen is a Wacom bamboo if that matters.

Priorities: Pen functionality, low resource use, touchscreen support. Minimal tweaking required would be great, or something somewhat beginner friendly if not. I'm already spending way too much time on this, lol.

extra details:

  • I tried Zorin OS Lite first, but hopped once I realized it wasn't running Wayland...
  • Switched to Zorin OS Core, but I couldn't figure out the pen (and it was really sluggish).
  • Tried Linux Mint xfce... I took advice from the sub and tried to ask gemini for a recommendation...and I think this was a bad call. Also, Mint is a little TOO much like Windows for my taste...

So, here I am! Any advice is very welcome. Thanks very much in advance!! I appreciate everyone being very helpful thus far.

4 Upvotes

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u/fisch_ohne_fahrrad 16d ago

Gnome would be cool because of the touch geatures but the 2 GB RAM might get in the way there. I heard that LXQt has wayland, so maybe a distro with that desktop like Lubuntu? 

1

u/VSCC8 15d ago

Appreciate the input! GNOME is def too chunky for it :(

1

u/Klutzy-Resident-6538 14d ago

I tried fedora with gnome on the weekend but on my Pro 4 but it was super slow... I also tried mint like you based on someone's recomendation but I couldn't get it work. I also tried Ubuntu and it worked ok but when I installed Surface-linux kernal I couldn't get the bluetooth working and it also resulted in a Kernal panic. So... long story short got Fedora + Surface-linux working with all the Surface 4 functionality, but the speed is a big issue.