Big hospitals still have them to send medications and random lightweight stuff around the complex. My wife has worked in two large hospitals that had pretty extensive tube systems, used especially with pharmacy.

In the suburbs of a middle-sized city in Ohio, USA. So midwest, but a bit older, higher-density, and more northeastern suburban layout than, say, Iowa. Built up in the 1960s-70s. Almost all single-family suburban homes on large lots.

(these are walking distances, not straight lines)

• To the nearest convenience store: 1.6 km
• To the nearest chain supermarket: 4.2 km
• To the bus stop: 1.5 km
• To the nearest park: 226 meters
• To the nearest big supermarket: 2.1 km
• To the nearest library: 2.6 km
• To the nearest train station: Hahaha! (Ok, it’s actually 78 km, but it’s mostly worthless as a train station)

Straight-line distance to Big Ben: 6297 km

Texas gets kinda hot in the summer.

I’ve used it off and on in KUbuntu for a couple of years without issue, installing the helper app from the .deb file directed to me by the plugin. I have scanned it for viruses and watched for strange behavior, and I haven’t observed anything suspicious. It runs as the current user, no elevated privileges required.

Watch for battery life when buying older Surface devices. Replacing batteries in the older Surface Pros is notoriously difficult, because apparently the whole assembly is glued together. Loss of battery life is what forced an early retirement of my 5th-gen (2015) Surface Pro, even though not was otherwise completely serviceable. Newer versions are apparently more repairable, but you’ll have to investigate where that cut-off line of repairability is.

I mean, I think it started as a BSD fork with a Linux kernel jammed in so… you’re not far off.

I’m pretty sure Jurassic Park (the movie) coming out was when it became common knowledge to the general public. A few hardcore dinosaur nerds (and readers of the Jurassic Park novel) were generally aware beforehand, but it was the movie that pushed it into common knowledge. (Source: I was 14 when Jurassic Park (the movie) came out)

That’s about where I am. If I’m doing really light duty stuff (web browsing, no video) I can get maybe an hour. Any more than that, the clock is ticking pretty fast.

I’ve done several repairs and battery replacements on various tablets, but as an amateur, I won’t touch this one. I’m sure if you crack these things regularly you can get proficient at it, but given the complexity, I’m not sure it’s worth the labor.

One caution on older Surface Pros: They are generally not serviceable, and when the batteries eventually go, you will have to replace the device. The 9th gen and later may be better. I am dealing with this right now in a 2017/5th gen Surface Pro. While it’s nice hardware (as a user), apparently the battery is glued-in in such a way that you cannot replace it without destroying the tablet. I’m currently looking to replace it with either a Lenovo ThinkPad X12 detachable or a Dell Latitude 7320 detachable, both of which are similar but (purportedly) much more repairable.