I currently run Xubuntu on my 10" laptop. But I use Intel for two reasons. One is that operating systems that ship on popular ARM devices tend to have window management policies that are all maximized all the time. The Android CDD explicitly has no provision for resizable windows. Though 1024x600 is small, it is still wide enough for a source code window and an output window side by side in IDLE, the code editor that ships with Python. The other is that three applications that I use regularly are not ported to GNU/Linux (FamiTracker, Modplug Tracker, and FCEUX debugger version), and I run them through Wine. Or have I just painted myself into a "too niche for hardware makers to bother" corner?

How would one go about returning something that one finds unsuitable? One time I bought a mail order Bluetooth keyboard, so much had been crammed to the right of the space bar that my right thumb had to stretch uncomfortably to reach it. Fortunately, because I had bought it from a U.S.-based seller, I was able to ship it back. I do see that Newegg has the IdeaPad A10 though.

I too refer to this machine as a "10 inch laptop". It's just that someone else used "netbook", and I tried to head off useless debate by defining words in advance because the popular conception of a "netbook" is a laptop whose hardware qualifies or would have qualified under Microsoft's Windows XP-era ULCPC licensing program.

Which country do you live in that allows that? I thought the United States had the DMCA, the European Union had national versions of the EUCD, and Canada had the digital lock bill.

So how does one who has been given a hand-me-down device, such as my cousin, go about that? Sell the device on Craigslist and buy another?

Root on a Nexus requires unlocking the bootloader, which in turn requires wiping the device. This means you lose all your data if you want to gain root at any time other than the day you buy a new device.

The difference is still that GNU/Linux PC owners are expected to have root. All major distros either ask for a root password or put the first created user into a "wheel" group (which has sudo rights) during installation or the first boot. So there is root by default on the "typical" GNU/Linux PC. Reminding the machine's owner to establish and keep root access is the rule, not the exception as it is on Android. Besides, there are plenty of things that don't require root on GNU/Linux but do on Android, such as installing fonts to a single user account.

I beg to differ. Microsoft defined an "ultra-low-cost personal computer" (ULCPC) in its description of which devices were eligible for extended availability of Windows XP and for Windows 7 Starter. This definition, which covered screen size, resolution, RAM, and hard disk storage, ended up becoming the de facto definition of netbook hardware. Ultrabook, on the other hand, is a brand based on a spec set by Intel.

And there's the rub. Netbooks such as my Dell Inspiron mini 1012 came with 10.1" screens, but Ultrabook laptops are closer to 12". That can add up when you're trying to use a laptop while riding a full bus, and you'll end up needing to carry it in a larger, more obvious (to thieves) bag. That and Ultrabook laptops are far more expensive than your typical Atom netbook was, without an extended warranty to match.

I agree, but I refer you to my previous comment.

If you're trying to set up a service that requires burying your conduit under the land of "many buyers and sellers", that's hard because at least one of these "many buyers and sellers" is bound to be a "nail" and block your project unless you use the power of the state (eminent domain) to allow your entry onto their property.

Are you implying, say, giving up video game development entirely?

Only when you're looking at the screen. I tried the free version of Pixeline and the Jungle Treasure on a Nexus 7 tablet, and I kept missing jumps because my thumbs drifted from the on-screen buttons until I turned on my Bluetooth keyboard.

What ultra portable laptop? Weren't they discontinued at the end of 2012?

• If your business depends on the Internet, it must purchase Internet access from the local last mile monopoly. These monopolies arise from government-enforced exclusive rights to land (needing to cross private property of non-subscribers to reach a subscriber) and radio frequency spectrum. If the local ISP doesn't like you, how should you stay in business?
• If your business develops applications to run on computing devices owned by your customers, especially set-top devices or handheld devices with input buttons, it may have to rely on each platform's monopoly supplier of development tools and application distribution services. This monopoly arises from the copyright in the device's firmware, which is used as a hook for anticircumvention laws. Patents come into play in a similar way when your product has to interoperate with devices that use patented data formats. If the device maker doesn't like you, how should you stay in business?
• If your business sells products and services to governments, it may have only one buyer: the government of the sovereign state on whose soil the business is headquartered. Defense contractors are in this position.

How should one go about making these monopolies less palatable to legislators?