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Linux on the Microsoft Surface Go 2
Meet the Surfbuntu
I am increasingly alarmed at our reliance on Big Tech. Maybe it’s boredom. Maybe it’s general unease at the direction in which Microsoft and Apple seem to be travelling, especially relating to privacy, AI and the like. Last week, on a whim, I purchased a (very) used Microsoft Surface Go 2. The aim: to replace my iPad as my couch tablet. I’d been primed by the Surface Linux project: an open source community looking to make a Linux kernel that will allow the bespoke hardware of the Microsoft Surface line of devices run Linux.
First thing is first: I know very little about Linux and am not a developer or programmer. I am a historian. Yes, I’m the person my family come to when they need answers to their low-bar tech’ questions, but I hold no qualifications or skill in the more technical aspects of things. Second thing: I’ve been using Apple products and operating systems since 2011. I was a Windows user beforehand and still use a Windows PC for work. I am not a Linux guy.
I created a boot USB drive of Ubuntu, a Linux distribution that is apparently nice and stable. This was easy enough (despite my glacial internet speeds making the download process take a little while). I followed the numerous videos online regarding how to boot the Surface Go 2 into Linux. Incredibly, it worked. I had tested out this…
