But this is by design, snap containers aren’t allowed to read data outside of their confinements. Same goes for flatpak and OCI-containers.
I don’t use snap myself, but it does have its uses. Bashing it just because it’s popular to hate on snap won’t yield a healthy discussion on how it could be improved.
Just make sure about what you’re getting yourself into: features such as IR facial detection and stylus input isn’t supported on all models OOTB by the surface kernel. Also, it is a bit messy with how surface handles booting.
Linux on surface works (I got Ubuntu on both my Go gen 1 and pro 7) but expect to put in time to tinker and manage unexpected issues.
Certain surface models run linux fine, but I wouldn’t recommended it as a linux laptop as it requires solving several issues before you get a working computer.
I have the Go gen 1 with 4 Gb ram, for the exact same user cases ad you described.
The compatibility with Linux is great, but be mindful that you need a Windows installation to boot from USB (!). But the pen and touchscreen works out of the box.
The performance though is not the best, boot can take some time. I’d say forget about YouTube. But light coding and non-demanding websites could work. The form factor is great though… 😊
OP, if you’re interested in buying a used one, we could perhaps arrange something, if you live in Europe? Message me in that case.
PS. A Linux surface community would be great, I’d happily join it!
In addition to all the sound advice you’ve been give so far, you should have a support contract in case you run into problems and ideally, contract someone to set up your laptop so you have proper encryption, backup etc. You have to consider both meeting the business deadlines, and ensuring the confidentiality and availability of the data. If you want to do this yourself, contract someone to validate your configuration.
I second obsidian. I was on the verge to jump onto logseq, but found its way of handling notes to be… different. I also felt a dislike of anytype where I don’t really have control over my notes. Obsidian clicked with me from the start and felt right. So I went with it, even though it’s not FOSS (which is usually a hard requirement from me).
That is so awesome. Do you still have one lying around? Those things have an awesome form factor, but the I/O ports are a little bit dated by todays standard 😅
I didn’t really see the benefit of this besides having a snapshot or backup of my home folder for my use case (I don’t have that many config/text files that needs tracking), but I can recommend chezmoi for those interested.