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Comment by sandGorgon | Hacker News Reader

The specific requirements of dust protection, power capabilities and licensing means that this is a use case for an Android/Linux tablet + keyboard instead of a desktop running Windows+office.

There's a ycombinator startup that builds battery/mobile phone recharging stations in Africa - http://disrupt-africa.com/2017/10/senegalese-solar-startup-o...

Combine a sealed tablet with solar recharging and an OTG keyboard, you should have a much better system than a laptop/desktop. You can also protect the tablet using a shockproof case. A 10 inch octacore tablet with 4gb ram and LTE capability costs 80$ shipped on aliexpress to anywhere in the world.

Interestingly there's an app that replicates a desktop-y wordprocessor on an Android tablet and has specific compatibility for keyboards

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=softmaker.appl...

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It seems like GNU/Linux would probably be much better than Android. With GNU/Linux there is full access to the OS/device and they could fully tinker with it. No Internet connection required for LibreOffice. Raspberry Pi is relatively inexpensive.

A rooted Android gives just as much power. With the added advantage of having the biggest developer base in the world (in case you dont want to muck about /proc or low level).

In addition, buying few 10 inch android tablets using MTK chipsets is just a click away and less than 100$ shipped - with working 4g, wifi, camera, etc etc. Getting the same to work with GNU/Linux is going to be a pain.

I would rather do Android and combine it with Accessory DK (https://developer.android.com/adk/index.html) and Things DK (https://developer.android.com/things/index.html).... all the way upto Tensorflow Lite (https://www.tensorflow.org/mobile/tflite/)

Remember all of this is still open source

I think that there is a cultural issue to consider as well. Android culturally tends to be a locked-down platform that takes control away from the user. GNU/Linux is about technology Freedom. You can unlock Android devices with a significant amount of effort, but it would be better to start with something that is fundamentally open.

It seems like tablets would break easily, where it's easier and cheaper to replace small screens on Raspberry Pis.

That won't help them learn office though.

Just today I was talking to an Anti-Windows who is trying to participate in the business world. He couldn't find a usable invoice template for whatever wannabe-office he thought would work.

Back before linux was a thing I had a product for legit unix that produced documents by writing text over pcl or postscript forms. That was worth the effort for high-production but every user shouldn't need to do that.

Please check the app I linked - it is specifically designed to replicate the desktop feel and the interface of Microsoft word. The solution was not intended to be anti-microsoft in any way. This is the only solution which is optimal on price, weatherproof and power requirements.

My solution was specifically meant to achieve what you said. I'm in India...We have the exact same issue (but with better internet probably)

I'm personally shunning black rectangle devices. But I'm still curious - can it print?

I'm in the USA where it's a hardship to participate in normal business without windoze. It's a very unfortunate situation due to the costs involved. Also when you are evaluated for low level jobs you are generally put in front of MS office and directed to perform some tasks. If you hunt around looking for features it looks bad to the observer.

Yes. https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c05384190

Welcome to the "jugaad" world.

> m in the USA where it's a hardship to participate in normal business without windoze. It's a very unfortunate situation due to the costs involved. Also when you are evaluated for low level jobs you are generally put in front of MS office and directed to perform some tasks

Yeesh, what industry are you in? I'm lucky enough that I haven't used windows since high school, but my impression was that OS X, chrome books, and mobile were now common enough among consumers that no one _expects_ windows familiarity the way they did during the days of the monoculture.

How about using the Android tablet to connect to a Windows Terminal Server instance on AWS? Requires more setting up and requires a reliable-ish connection but it’s lighter on resources and that connection can be much cheaper than providing full internet.

I had in mind to do the same on a Linux terminal. Posted my question here as an Ask HN but never got a bite. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16402404

Actually, there is Microsoft Office for android now, and it is free (as in beer)

The interface is optimized for the mobile (as it should be).

However, the purpose of this school is to teach desktop Word to students who can use it to get jobs.

Saw your post after writing my comment. Seems pretty much what I was asking.

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