Edit: I’ll try my luck with Kubuntu and see how things go. Wish me luck :D

Edit 2: So I set up Kubuntu and everything seems to be working quite well. Unfortunately, since I’m trying to dual boot Windows and Kubuntu, I’m strumming with getting the boot order correct. I installed refind to have a selection upon booting, but setting a default doesn’t work and removing the Windows boot partition altogether seems to be reverted upon restarting the PC. So that’s annoying :D but I got touch controls in refind to work, so I don’t always have to use the type cover. Outside of that, everything I need seems to be working fine.

So I have been happily using my Surface Go 2 for a couple years now and don’t really have a lot of complaints right now. However, Microsoft being Microsoft and Windows being Windows, I’d like to move to a Linux distro because foss is just cooler and Linux is cooler lol.

I’m mainly using my Surface for school: taking hand-written notes in Journal, annotating and highlighting text in PDFs with Drawboard, and browsing the web. Very basic stuff. Not gaming, not really a power user either, so I don’t need any fancy distro that allows me to go under the hood and tinker.

Before moving, I’ve got a couple of things I’d like to ask:

  1. Which distro should I choose? Something similar to Windows wouldn’t hurt but doesn’t have to be necessarily. I’ve previously installed and used (K)ubuntu on an old laptop of mine and it worked fine. I’ve heard that Mint is more or less one of the best choices for transitioning since it “just works” and has pretty much anything you could want right off the bat - settings and drivers and such. Is Mint fine for a Surface Go 2? I can add my specs if needed.

  2. Do you have recommendations for a notes taking app and a PDF reader that allows for editing, annotating, highlighting text? I’ve had a thorough chat with GPT (don’t judge) and have been recommend Xournal++ which is apparently also available on Linux. I’ve played around with it a little and it seems fine, but I’d also take recommendations from the community if you have any.

  3. Would I be fine running Linux off an SD card that I have inserted in my device? The interal storage of the Surface is quite limited with 120GB, so it has an SD card slot to expand its storage; my SD card has another 120GB on it. I’ve mostly been fine just using the internal storage, but it’s slowly running out, so I will likely have to use the SD card at some point. Should I make the effort of moving all my data - like documents, photos and stuff - to the SD card and install Linux onto the internal storage itself alongside Windows, or would I also be fine installing Linux onto the SD card? Apparently, this is not ideal because of slower read and write speeds compared to the built-in SSD (?) storage; moving all the data is not too much fun either, however.

  4. Is stylus/Surface Pen support a thing on Linux? And will the Surface keyboard work fine too? I imagine yes, but I don’t know for sure. That would be a must for whatever distro I choose since it’s the primary way of taking notes and typing for me.

That should be it, I think. Anything else that might be interesting for me or important to know?

  • spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works
    2·
    4 days ago

    Linux Mint is an excellent choice for both new and experienced users. After distro-hopping for years I went back to Mint because it works on my hardware with very few problems and I was tired of troubleshooting other distros odd problems. I haven’t used Mint on a Go 2, but I have used the full version with Cinnamon Desktop on a Dell Venue with similar hardware restrictions and currently run Mint on a Surface Laptop 4.

    As to whether the Go 2 will work for your uses, the Venue had 4GB of memory and a 128GB SSD and worked fine for simple spreadsheets, word processing, web browsing, email and as an ebook reader. It was used daily for 1-3 hours for 7 years. Even after cracking the screen I was able to run Debian 12 and Home Assistant on it for almost a year more. A Micro SD was great for extra storage, but was far too slow for running an OS IMO. Despite the daily use and running a Swap file, I did not have any SSD problems in almost 8 years of use. It still works and if it weren’t for the cracked screen I’d probably still be using it.

    Because of the limited memory I used Zram. Once set up it’s completely transparent and Mint is noticeably faster when running multiple apps. The 128GB SSD was big enough as long as I was careful with downloads and moved large, little used files to the Micro SD. No problems 99% of the time with the processing power.

    I now use a Surface Laptop 4 with Mint. The Linux Surface Github page provided the info and procedures needed to set it up. An external USB keyboard and mouse were required for installation because the keyboard and trackpad would not work until the Surface kernel was installed. It works perfectly after installation and configuration.

    Libreoffice Draw works as a PDF editor and does what you’re looking for. No experience with Linux note taking apps or a stylus.

  • uxellodunum@lemmy.mlEnglish
    2·
    5 days ago

    I also have a Surface GO 2 and been running Linux for the past 2 years. In the beginning the only “trouble” was that you you needed the surface-linux kernel for drivers, but that’s no longer the case as all drivers have been upstreamed to the mainline kernel.

    For distros, anything goes as long as it has a recent kernel. I just go full Arch (EndeavourOS is also a good choice).

    What you probably want to pay attention to is the desktop environment - i’ve found Gnome works best for touch and tablet devices KDE requires some tweaking.

    For 2, check the flathub store, you might be impressed with what you find for note-taking and PDF editing. Definitely some good options out there for Linux.

    3 is a preference. Generally use internal storage for OS and external for data. Linux doesn’t take that much space, so if with 120GB you’re having storage issues, just ditch windows, problem solved, lighter system.

    4 Yes it works.

  • smeg@feddit.ukEnglish
    1·
    5 days ago

    I’ve got a different model but as others have said the linux-surface kernel is key, and their GitHub page has detailed compatibility info and installation instructions. I picked Fedora having never used it before because it was well-supported and I’ve got no complaints.

    More critical than distro is desktop environment. A few people were recommending Gnome but they must be a bit out of date now as I didn’t have a great experience; incompatible extensions, missing gestures, and generally a worse feel than Windows! I’ve just installed KDE Plasma Mobile and it’s great, feels more like Android and has way more features.

    The linux-surface installation instructions will walk you through this, but I’d just download the Fedora Plasma Mobile spin, put it on a USB drive, boot it to check you like it (though expect that a few things might not work properly until you install the linux-surface kernel), install it (you can dual-boot with Windows if you think you might need it or just replace the whole OS if you’re concerned about space), and then install the kernel.

    Happy to try and answer any more questions about installing!

  • hotspur@lemmy.ml
    1·
    6 days ago

    I’ve been in-process trying to flip a surface pro 6 into a Linux tablet for a while now. Can’t answer all your questions but can provide a few. First things first: https://github.com/linux-surface/linux-surface

    That’s your hub for most of tue stuff you’ll need to do it. You can look up your hardware in their feature matrix and see what is supported.

    Generally touch and stylus work. Things like camera are much more hit or miss.

    In terms of distro… welp it’s always kinda impossible to make a “right choice”. Everything will have pros and cons. Originally uninstalled arch just to see if I could. And yes, it turns out you can. Problem is, I use Ubuntu on a couple of spare computers as servers and such and I’m more familiar with how that works, so I thought ok I’m having some trouble getting a couple things to work I’ll just put Ubuntu on here and then I don’t have to remember two different ways of using the OS (mind you I was using gnome in all cases, so really wasn’t a big deal to have to research a few arch specific things).

    Problem is, Ubuntu fails to install. I’ve tried about 4 times and it always fails out, and I can’t figure out a way to access any install logs after the fact.

    So I’m probably gonna put arch back in there because it worked, mostly.

    You’ll have to be willing to tinker a bit and get used to some different ways of interacting. Overall touch was pretty ok and gnome in my case was pretty nice for navigation.

    I was using an app called xournal++ for stylus/notetaking, and it seems very well featured for a Linux stylus application. That said, my pen stopped working a while ago, and I could not figure out how to fix it, which is why I was gonna try again with Ubuntu. (Xournal wasn’t to blame for the stylus problems, just couldn’t use it because stylus was useless)

    I still think it’s a good learning experience, and probably a good way to resurrect an older piece of tech to usefulness. Personally I wanted to replicate stuff I do on my iPad, but be able to fully Adblock YouTube, etc. my iPad is way better for reading and handwriting, but otherwise is an obnoxious locked down operating system that I find more and more annoying. Basically it’s a great tablet but limited. Whereas like the windows version the surface is not a great tablet, but an acceptable hybrid.