Which OS for tablet?
 

So I received this windows 10 tablet, and have an aversion to windows. So I figured I would lubuntu it with a linuxium respin install usb. It installs and boots just fine, but alas, many things do not work, touchscreen for starters ...

I want to use it as a full featured ebook reader. Which OS does not communicate to Google or MS could I get lucky with? I could of course choose to never connect it to the net, which is fine.

Specs:
Z3735F, 2GB ram, 32EMMC, SDHC slot, RTL8723BS, and I do not know how to figure out the touchscreen model. It is a Thomson Hero 9 HERO9.32B

How do I figure out the touchscfreen specs so I may find drivers for it?

LineageOS?

You want to consider what you run on it. If you don't have Android apps, Apple apps, or windows apps, what are you going to run on it?
When you ditch whatever OS you have, where are you going to get drivers for your wifi chip, your video chip, your usb chip, your touchscreen, etc. etc.?

What is the EXACT model #? This? Welcome to LQ (even if they can't help)

Maybe it's UEFI BIOS won't boot Linux at all. Try VirtualBox.org; that's MY only path to Linux:(

Is this a Surface tablet? I understand that Microsoft has made it very difficult to put anything other than Windows on Surface tablets.

A web search for linux windows 10 tablets will turn up a number of articles and tutorials. Once you tell us the make/model of the tablet, persons may be able to provide more specific responses.

op must have posted this elsewhere, because i'm 100% sure i saw a reply that suggested a web search "Z3735F linux install" - and it brought a number of relevant results.
from glancing over it, i'd say it's tricky but mostly possible.

Made a linuxium respin install usb. It boots lubuntu just fine, wifi, keyboard, trackpad working, touchscreen not working.

It is a HERO9.32B made by Thomson. Looks very similar pouch & keyboard. The screen has a "windows" icon and no "aluminum bands" bordering the screen. I would guess same machine different box. No web link on the Thomson web site for the detailed specs and only frugal info, sometimes contradicting, from online sellers.

How can I find the screen specs so I may look for an appropriate driver?

Hi dbowie. To get touchscreen model, try like these (&Google stuff from these):
https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...ad-type-920477
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingTouchpadDetection etc

p.s. I made 'major' progress on mine, but 'no cigar', yet;).

opened new thread for this device hardware support on linux.

Question still remains though, which OS would you install on this machine for use ans an ebook reader (touchscreen working)?

Personally, I would go with Debian - but then, I love Debian. My preference is XFCE4 DE. I have found touchscreens and Wacom pen devices work out-of-box, but the calibration may be a bit off.

I haven't installed on a modern Windows 10 tablet, though. Mostly older tablet PCs, touch screen laptops, and some weirder devices.

XFCE4 is not a particularly "touch friendly" DE, but it's fine for my uses. Fundamentally, it depends on the individual applications being touch aware. XFCE4 itself is pretty much mouse click oriented. You can touch the window buttons, launchers, and "Start Menu" and it'll react just like clicking with a mouse or stylus. But no fancy touch gestures for scrolling or zooming.

But like...that's good enough as far as I'm concerned. Typical web browsers have their own ideas about how to handle touch and gestures...no need for the DE to get in the way by capturing gesture events.

I stumbled on gallium os
anyone tried it on tablets? any good?

also stumbled on android-X86, though I rather linux or should I leap to google faith?

I myself love doing projects like this. But I have to ask, are you planning on using this ONLY as an eBook reader? If so, I think you will be happier just getting something like a Kindle PaperWhite and leaving it in "Airplane Mode" permanently. For long reading sessions, reading books on a back-lit LCD screen is nowhere near as nice as reading on a front-lit eInk screen. But if you need color - like you plan to read a lot of magazines, with pictures, then eInk is not the best technology for that. Also remember that any tablet computer you use will be MUCH heavier than an eInk eBook reader, and will have significantly shorter battery life between charges (days compared to months). However, the tablet will probably have a bigger screen than an eInk device too, so that's a plus. The Kindle PaperWhites go on sale all the time for $89. Or if you can do with bare-bones (no front-light), a basic Kindle is often on sale for only $49. I would highly recommend a PaperWhite over a basic Kindle however (I have used both, though I'd never need/want the front-light, but boy was I wrong!)

Definitely look into the free Calibre program for eBook management, whether you go with your converted tablet or an eInk device. Also check out the "DeDRM plugin" so that you can convert eBooks between different formats (proprietary Kindle format - AZW3 or Mobi - and standard formats like ePub). Then you can read the eBooks easily on your new device no matter where you bought them from. DeDRM does not convert formats, Calibre does that, but only after it can read the eBook in the first place (which is why you need DeDRM).

If you really would rather do all this on a converted tablet, please excuse my mention of alternate solutions here. I'm not trying to divert the thread, just offering an alternate that you may not have considered yet. Sometime the project itself IS the fun, and if that's the case - go for it!