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Comment by agraddy | Hacker News Reader

I do all my work on an under $200 Chromebook. I have a VPS where I do all the actual work. I use Mosh and TMUX for connecting and saving my different projects (I'm a freelance developer who is often juggling multiple clients). Basically, the Chromebook is just an SSH client and a web browser (I can also boot into Linux if needed - slightly different than described in the Tweets).

I've been doing this for years. The battery life is great and it is also nice knowing that I never have to worry about losing my device since all of my actual work is on a server I can login to using just about any other device including my phone. Most people are shocked when they see my "work station."

I read about people using TMUX and a VPS as a development environment here on HN a long time ago and have never regretted the move.

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Welcome to 1994, when I started doing that on IBM X Windows terminals or Hercules green phosphore terminals, depending on the availability on the compute center.

Loved the long persistence displays. So easy on the eyes.

Kudos for that. There must be some feeling of accomplishment turning in work done on a toy computer, designed for eight year old kids and with no discernible CPU.

I have slipped into working almost exclusively on a Chromebook for a pet project that is going rather well. I have this realisation that I have actually completed something without getting off the sofa.

The 'dim' screen is not a problem, the keyboard is actually a complete joy compared to my posh computer. I did put an IDE (phpStorm) on it (paid for) but ended up getting so much done just in terminal windows. It has enough '.ssh/' to make it great for that.

Maybe like 'intel inside' there needs to be a 'Built on a Chromebook' quality standard out there.

I have been using an iPad as a remote workstation. Powerful enough, some great apps and a small package to carry around.

What apps do you use on ipad for development?

I use Blink to mosh in to a server where I do my work through tmux, vim, etc.

I use Safari to view the stuff I’m building. There’s a Safari dev tools plugin which sucks compared to Firefox dev tools but it’s okay in a pinch.

I use NoMachine to remote into the graphical desktop environment of the server on the rare occasion I need to use a real browser.

That's cool. Didn't know Safari had dev tools on ipad. I did try blink. I wanted to get vscode running via SSH plugin from a vps but didn't have patience to figure it out. Then I realised I should just use my laptop.

You also have various dev tools as apps. What’s also nice is to use a VNC to get the power of my workstation when I am away. Another big selling point is the long battery life.

The vnc thing rocks. I've installed uis on cheap remote dedicated servers. I would do my satellite imagery exploratory work via VNC that way since up about 2018 internet was a big problem here. In server could download 10gb imagery at super speeds and play around qgis. Rented server generally faster than my laptop too and somehow only $49/month. Tight vnc is great at holding connection and low bandwidth.

I wonder though on vnc via ipad, how do you use mouse? I imagine touch support would be an issue in many desktop applications.

Recent version of iPadOS supports bluetooth mouse now: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211008

Ok that changes things. I just saw too some keyboard/case combos have touch pads below the keyboard. Anyone have any recommendations?

I really like the Logitech Slim Folio case with a separate small bluetooth mouse for when I need it. 98% of the time the trackpad would just be taking up space that I'd rather fill with keyboard. The times I do need a mouse, I probably want a proper mouse rather than a trackpad.

The different remote desktop apps (VNC, Nomachine, etc) have ways to translate touch events into mouse pointer movements/clicks. Not what you'd want to use for a serious CAD session, but fine for little things here and there to save pulling out the mouse.

I've had that "I should just use my laptop" moment many, many times. There are lots of things the iPad is objectively worse at than my very nice X1 Carbon running Arch. And yet I keep coming back to my iPad pro. I can't put my finger on what it is but I think it's some combination of:

1. Gorgeous high resolution, high refresh rate, generally pretty screen.

2. Long battery life.

3. Instant wake.

4. Ruggedness. Even with solid-state everything I'm always a little wary of chucking my laptop into the passenger seat of a car, taking it near sand or dust, etc. There's fan vents and hinges and... stuff. The iPad Pro in a Logitech Folio case has all the corners protected from drops, no airflow, few holes. I just don't worry about it.

5. Pencil. The handwritten notes experience has gotten really good. Being able to flick into that mode any time is nice.

I really liked Blink, paid for it, and then was forced to buy it again when they updated it, or get advertisements to upgrade. Really clumsy and annoying since the earlier version did everything I needed.

I went back to just using Prompt app, with tmux on remote servers.

They give you the new app for free if you paid for the old one now. Not sure if that's something they added later on but it's a thing now.

I've debated what I want to use for my next device. I've definitely considered getting an iPad as an option.

With iPadOS 26, StageManager, and when home plugging into a large monitor and using a Bluetooth mouse, this is indeed possible.

I like to work outside at different parks (in the shade under a covering) and haven't noticed any "dim" screen issues.

One of the nice things about working with an under-powered system is that you know any users who use what you build probably are viewing it with a device that has more power.

Nice thats what i do too! I use a combination of code-server running on a gcloud instance and chrome remote desktop to do my work on a lenovo duet chromebook!

What is the VPS if I may ask? Is it an EC2 instance..?

I use a $5 Digital Ocean "droplet".

I'd have thought that would be even lower spec than the Chromebook.

would it? I'm curious to know

Nope it really depends on the plan/pricing you get. The cheapest "droplet" is lousier than a chromebook but there is a wide range of VPSes of varying specs you could choose from! https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/droplets/concepts/cho...

The Chromebook in the post has two 1.1GHz Atom cores^, so a $5 VPS even if it is only 1 hardware thread on a modern-ish server processor is probably significantly faster.

^It can boost higher, but probably not for long with a 6W TDP and no active cooling

It may be, I'm not positive what my Chromebook specs are. I know the droplet has more disk space. I use TACE[0] style development so I don't need a powerful machine.

[0] https://www.agraddy.com/introducing-tace

How do you handle backups?

As per the comment:

> it is also nice knowing that I never have to worry about losing my device since all of my actual work is on a server I can login to using just about any other device including my phone.

Okay, but what if the server burns like it happened to OVH, or your account gets suspended for no reason and they shred all your data, or you simply fat-finger an rm command? How do you (the grandparent) handle that?

https://www.linode.com/products/backups/

This problem is pretty much solved transparently by most, if not all cloud providers.

I pay a little extra for DigitalOcean's backup service and then I also have an rsync.net account (they offer a HN discount that you can email them and ask about if you are interested).

> I do all my work on an under $200 Chromebook. I have a VPS where I do all the actual work.

Arguably you do all your work through (not on) a $200 Chromebook then ;)

Somehow the Chromebook acts as a glorified keyboard+display tied via a very long cable to a several thousands dollar machine that you rent!

(I get that you can run Linux, and that this machine handles browsing as well, and I'm not judging the setup, it just feels like the "$200 worth of hardware is all it takes to do work on" subtext feels cognitively dissonant to me)

Just to clarify, I use a $5/mo DigitalOcean droplet plus an extra dollar or two for backup and then a rsync.net account (that I use for other backup purposes too). Off the top of my head, that is the extent of my expenses for this set up (it's possible I might be forgetting/missing something).

And you are correct, that I work through the Chromebook but when the other monthly expenses don't exceed the cost of lunch, I don't think there is too much missing subtext.

So you're spending ~$80 per year for DO plus $180 for the hardware. Over 5 years that's $580 (if that Chromebook really makes it to 5 years and DO's prices remain unchanged). This is about half of what you'd have to spend on a local dev setup with similar capabilities.

Not bad, but I think whether or not it makes sense depends entirely on the productivity difference between the two setups.

I started working like this in the summer of 2017 so I'm right at the 5 year mark with this setup (I actually need to get a new device and DO's prices have remained the same - I think they've actually gotten cheaper and I'm on a more expensive plan - $5 vs now they have a $4 option).

Due to my client work, I need an online test server so I'd be paying for a test VPS either way.

Being able to open my Chromebook and tmux into any project in about ~15 seconds provides enormous productivity gains for me. Not sure if I mentioned this previously, but I'm a freelance developer and sometimes juggling 6-8 clients at a time so being able to pull up any project at any time from any device with SSH access is very powerful for me.

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