Private Linux Device

[A boy who knows]

Originally Posted by PeterT

I hate to say it but if your father is that strict and you're already limited, doing anything to get around it is just going to make the situation worse.

Are you sure?

[haertig]

Originally Posted by A boy who knows

the people in my life would freak out if they ever saw a USB drive plugged in

Chances are, someone as ignorant and fearful of computers as you say would not notice a small modern thumbdrive. The one shown below plugged into my laptop runs a full MX Linux distro.

That being said, trying to teach you how to convert an eReader into a functional computer (were that even possible) is kind of like teaching you how to mow the yard when your house is on fire. There appear to be bigger issues that need dealing with at the moment.

[haertig]

Also, if you really want to pursue this, you can temporarily insert a thumbdrive with MX Linux on it, boot the computer - and load the entire Operating System into memory. Then remove the thumbdrive and work away. You don't even need the thumbdrive except for the 30 seconds or so it takes your computer to boot. Unless you want to save something - then you'd need to reinsert the thumbdrive to write the saved file, then remove it again for stealth. As a bonus, your computer will run blazingly fast with the OS loaded into memory, even faster than if it would run from an SSD (not that you would normally notice this greater speed in real life computing situations).

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by A boy who knows

I currently am not supposed to have devices for about another three and a half months.

Wait 3.5 months.

[Graham44]

I think that something that needs to be asked that hasn't been is how old are you?

If you are under 18 (or the legally defined age of 'adult' wherever you are) then no one on here should really be advising you on how to get around restrictions imposed by your parent's/ guardian, those restrictions may well be in place for a good reason.

[A boy who knows]

Originally Posted by haertig

Chances are, someone as ignorant and fearful of computers as you say would not notice a small modern thumbdrive. The one shown below plugged into my laptop runs a full MX Linux distro.

The person that represses me also steals my money, and tries to control what I spend it on (if it get to spend my money at all).

[A boy who knows]

Originally Posted by haertig

Also, if you really want to pursue this, you can temporarily insert a thumbdrive with MX Linux on it, boot the computer - and load the entire Operating System into memory. Then remove the thumbdrive and work away. You don't even need the thumbdrive except for the 30 seconds or so it takes your computer to boot. Unless you want to save something - then you'd need to reinsert the thumbdrive to write the saved file, then remove it again for stealth. As a bonus, your computer will run blazingly fast with the OS loaded into memory, even faster than if it would run from an SSD (not that you would normally notice this greater speed in real life computing situations).

How would I do this?

[haertig]

It is not difficult, but does require some understanding of "boot options" and a few other things related to computer booting. Plus, you would need a computer, preferably Linux, to download the OS image and burn it to a thumbdrive. You appear not to have access to either of these. The specific technical details are not something that is really in scope for an eReader/eBook forum. I would recommend searching YouTube for videos about getting started with MX Linux or AntiX Linux (these two distros both share the same boot system). A used calling himself "Dolphin Oracle" and posting under the YouTube user account @runwiththedolphin has created many of these videos

https://www.youtube.com/user/runwiththedolphin

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For a small, unobtrusive, thumbdrive that is not sticking out there "in your face" to be noticed by other people, I recommend this one:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XFGBLCP

This one only appears to come in 128Gb currently, which is way more storage space than you'd need. You could easily get by with a 32Gb thumbdrive or even a 16Gb one for your use. A full MX Linux system takes a little less than 9Gb (I just checked one of my thumbdrives that has it installed). But those small thumbdrives are not made all that often anymore and you're probably going to find better prices on larger thumbdrives than smaller ones these days.

Also, in order to load the OS totally into memory, your computer has to have enough memory to do that - with enough memory left over to handle routine computer operations. Note that "memory" as I am talking about here does not equal "storage space" as I talked about above. Two different things. I have run from memory on a computer having only 8Gb memory before (using AntiX Linux), but I think you'd want 16Gb for MX Linux or if you want to run multiple programs at a time, or any memory intensive programs. So before pursuing this, make sure the computer you intend to host this on has a reasonable amount of memory to play with.

[A boy who knows]

Originally Posted by haertig

Note that "memory" as I am talking about here does not equal "storage space" as I talked about above. Two different things.

Are you referring to R.A.M?

[haertig]

Originally Posted by A boy who knows

Are you referring to R.A.M?

Yes - of course. And honestly, with no disrespect intended, if you had to ask that, then your adventure may be doomed from the start.

[A boy who knows]

Originally Posted by haertig

Yes - of course. And honestly, with no disrespect intended, if you had to ask that, then your adventure may be doomed from the start.

I assumed it was R.A.M, I just wanted to clarify since I have learned that people often use different words for different things. I have even heard of loading T.A.I.L.S. off of R.A.M. I am a beginner, but I wouldn't call my self a skid at this point.