As I wrote previously, I have been looking to replace my ageing MacBook.
I’ve got a refurbished ThinkPad X240 because I know that ThinkPads are very Linux friendly.
I initially experimented with several distros, including Zorin, Manjaro and MX Linux. I immediately ruled out Manjaro because the Office menu links to online Microsoft Office rather than a locally installed Open Source Office suite such as LibreOffice or OpenOffice!
I went with MX Linux which I like very much – I was particularly impressed by its Snapshot function that makes a bootable iso file from your running system including ll your installed apps and data – however it seems to be a bit tricky to update to latest apps (thinking of Thunderbird, Firefox, LibreOffice) and so I’ve finally settled (for the moment!) on the latest Ubuntu LTS version 20.04.2.0
I’ve also installed VirtualBox in order to run Windows 10 in a virtual machine for support purposes.
Now to the interesting bit – syncing with iPhone.
This turned out to be relatively easy, using the built-in Mail client, Calendar and Reminders, all of which sync with my email provider of choice, Posteo (See note below).
The Office I installed on my phone is Collabora Office which is a free Mobile version of LibreOffice and can be found in the App store.
My biggest problem was data syncing, but then I remembered MEGA from some years ago. This has an iOS app, and also runs on Linux, whereas iCloud only runs in a web setting on Linux, so the syncing of data and photos between my phone and laptop is sorted!
I use Firefox on both iOS and Ubuntu, again synced so bookmarks and saved logins are the same on both.
I also have Tor browser installed on Ubuntu, and the Onion browser installed on iOS for when I need anonymous browsing!
For the moment then, I have a good setup which is running very well!
Posteo: Email, calendar and address book
green, secure, ad-free
- 2 GB email account, upgradeable
- Fetched by IMAP/POP3, 50 MB attachments
- Calendar and address book (synchronisable)
- 100% green electricity from Greenpeace Energy
- All saved data can be encrypted at the click of a button
- Comprehensive encryption
- Two-factor authentication (TOTP) available
- Ad-free website, ad-free email account
- Sign up without entering personal details
- Pay anonymously by bank transfer, cash or PayPal
- Personal support at no additional charge
GBP's Alternative Computing 
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