It’s not worth shipping and handling, it’s beaten up, and I don’t know anybody who wants it. Nothing is upgradeable, unless you count inserting a microSD card.

Of course I could use it as a janky media server or a dumb SSH terminal, but I’ve already got other machines for those jobs. Or I could recycle it, but what’s the fun in that? Suggest me your wackiest programs to try, dangerous distros, or most unorthodox setups to make use of it.

  • tasankovasara@sopuli.xyz
    0·
    2 days ago

    I recently discovered kmscon: a hardware accelerated utf-8 & emoji capable replacement for the standard Linux console. Put that on.

  • qaz@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    2 days ago

    You could turn it into a Home Assistant control panel if it has touch screen support

    • Disonantezko@lemmy.sdf.org
      0·
      2 days ago

      Bad idea, they struggle with YouTube or any video because they don’t have hardware decoders for AVC/HEVC.

      Maybe can decode by software, something easy on CPU (MPEG1 maybe), and the conversion is done by other machine.

      Maybe audio?

      Reference: I have one of those Atom netbooks.

  • thefartographer@lemm.ee
    0·
    3 days ago

    Swap in a new display controller board, get a cheap Bluetooth keyboard and wire the eee PC (maybe?) to the controller board. Then, remove the internal board and drive to make space for an old Android phone on which you can install a Linux distro.

    Voila! A “laptop” that you can upgrade whenever you get a new phone or if someone donates a phone to you.

  • Eugenia@lemmy.mlEnglish
    0·
    3 days ago

    Server for various open source games that don’t require much cpu or ram. E.g. freeciv, battle for wesnoth.

  • qjkxbmwvz@startrek.website
    0·
    3 days ago

    WireGuard, and an external HDD. Run at a remote location for off-site backup.

    I do this with a raspberry pi 3 at the in-laws. I copied the data over locally before setting it up, and after that it’s just nightly incremental rsync, which is fine even over my slow (35Mbps) upload.

    • Random Dent@lemmy.mlEnglish
      0·
      5 hours ago

      I’ve been thinking about doing this too! I have a RPi 4 that’s not doing anything, and I don’t really have a great offsite solution for backups and I have family in another country. Maybe next time I go over there I’ll see if they’ll let me set one up lol.

  • Gayhitler@lemmy.mlEnglish
    0·
    3 days ago

    If it’s an asus ee, the vents are all on the sides. With a couple of shims underneath it would fit in a bookshelf with a bunch of other books.

    As far as uses… nat hole punching for an overlay network is one way I’ve used these devices before.

  • beleza pura@lemmy.eco.br
    0·
    3 days ago

    I don’t think there’s any useful way to put it to regular use for yourself, but you could:

    • install debian on it and keep it around in case of an emergency. turn it on once in a while to keep it updated (doesn’t need to be that often, it’s debian)
    • use it on the go (no worries about it getting stolen)*
    • use it a place where you wouldn’t use your main laptop as to not risk damange (camping, hiking, on a trip, etc)*
    • install a friendlier linux distro and give it away to someone who doesn’t have a computer (a 10yo cousin maybe)
    • give it away to someone who has a computer, but doesn’t have a second one and might be happy to get one to play with

    *though i imagine the battery is not in good shape given your “beaten up” description

  • Veraxis@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    3 days ago

    If it has an ethernet port (or perhaps a USB to ethernet dongle), maybe a PiHole DNS using Debian or the like? It is apparently supported on other Linux distros than Raspbian.

    If it supports micro SD XC (i.e. capacities higher than 32GB) or you have a USB hard drive or high capacity USB flash drive, maybe a samba server for file storage? I often use my file server as a substitute for digging out a flash drive any time I want to quickly pass a file between two machines in my house.

  • 31337@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    3 days ago

    Could use it kind of like an extra monitor with something like Barrier.

    Could use it like a home assistant for a kitchen or something, but I don’t know if there’s any good privacy respecting software for that ATM (looks like MyCroft went bankrupt).

    I used an old laptop I had laying around for controlling a Maslow CNC. Could also use a laptop to run OctoPrint or something.