Simon WolfI’ve been using NUCs for around four years now and they are perfect for my sort of computing and coding so this is sad news. I hope that mini PCs continue to thrive as a thing despite this.
It looks like NUCs are getting a reprieve with Asus taking them over:
https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/19/23800006/intel-nuc-computers-asus-license-support
Chris Ross@simon I’ve not heard of them, are they basically intel’s version of a Mac mini?
@crutlefish Yes but they are tiny.
Here’s a photo of mine with an old (v2) Apple TV for scale.
@simon yikes, that really is tiny!
@crutlefish They really are. And they are largely silent too.
Mine has an Intel 12 i7 processor, 64 GB of RAM, a 512 GB NVMe SSD and a three year warranty and cost £1,146.92 inc. VAT.
If I needed to travel, I can very probably connect it to my iPad Pro over USB-C and VNC into it to use it as a laptop replacement too. I’ve only done that with Raspberry Pis so far (and the iPad can power them over the USB-C cable) but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.
Keir@simon @crutlefish they’re really good these little things!
@keir @crutlefish They’re a brilliant way to do low(ish)-cost desktop computing in a very unobtrusive way.
Well, as long as the power brick is hidden under your desk!
@crutlefish @keir They’re beautiful machines… and Xcode needs some grunt behind it so… 😁
The Studios are great and if I were still on macOS I’m sure I’d have one (especially now that the 27” iMac is no more).
@simon @crutlefish the Studio’s are good too! 😁
@simon @crutlefish a touch more expensive though 🤣
@keir Just a touch. Particularly with some Apple displays.
@crutlefish @keir Those look good. Now I want to replace my old Benq monitors… 😫
@simon @keir absolutely brilliant - love the picture, the auto-kvm-switching between the studio and the pc and the ps5 is excellent. I tried running the 4 displays on my MacBook Pro, and it really really struggled. The studio and the PC can drive them with ease.
@crutlefish @keir You’ve got more going on there than some professional Twitch streamers!
Talking of which, you’d easily get a 55” TV on the wall above all of those to watch films whilst you’re working. 😂
@crutlefish @simon haha wow i'm not sure i could cope with 4 screens 🤣
James Lavin@simon I considered NUCs but went with Asus PNs instead, partly because I like AMD and partly because I sometimes found them on sale for a very fair price. They come with either Intel or AMD (https://www.asus.com/displays-desktops/mini-pcs/all-series/). I run Ubuntu on mine and have been perfectly happy with them (aside from now regretting choosing Ubuntu after reading https://www.webpronews.com/ubuntu-23-10s-app-store-will-block-deb-files-when-a-snap-is-available/)
@lavin I keep meaning to try an AMD machine but my last NUC died on a Sunday and I managed to order a replacement and have it shipped on the Monday for delivery on the Tuesday so my main priority was availability.
I used Ubuntu for the first couple of years after switching to Linux from macOS but then moved to NixOS about a year ago. It’s veey good but not always as simple as Ubuntu.
@simon I totally understand replacing like with like. I sleep better at night having several of the same hardware in case any die. And I've stuck with Ubuntu for MANY years because it's simplest when everything is the same. But Linux distros seem incredibly flaky & unreliable now. I'm bitter because I'm old enough to remember the sudden death of Red Hat Linux... and now CentOS. I just want stability! Just saw this, which makes me feel my next distro may be SUSE: https://www.suse.com/news/SUSE-Preserves-Choice-in-Enterprise-Linux/
@lavin Before settling on NixOS I was really tempted by Fedora because Ubuntu got me into GNOME in a big way and it seemed like the natural move.
If I remember correctly, I tried SUSE around 2002 when I briefly dabbled with Linux (those heady days or ordering distro DVDs) and it is great that it is still around.
J3RN 
@simon Fortunately, I feel like I see plenty of small machines around. e.g. there's System79's Meerkat.
@j3rn I think that’s just a rebranded NUC. It seems to be fairly common to have the top plate personalised and then to sell them as a branded item.
There are other small machines available and I am sure there is enough demand to keep manufacturers making them.
kritoke@simon I have a couple of them, great devices. I actually just got an Asus clone of one that runs a Ryzen 7. So there are alternatives that are decent if need be. Love the form factor. HP makes decent ones too that my company has deployed tons of places, but I liked the more DIY style of the NUCs.
@kritoke Great, thank you and that’s good news. I love the form factor too and really don’t want to have to get larger machines again.
@simon I’ve had the asus one I think for over a year, been decent. It’s my main Linux dev box. It was cheaper than the i7 ones, otherwise it was going to be another Nuc. My wife uses a pretty old NUC mounted to a tv running Linux for her PC. I have another nuc controlling 3d printers using repetitier server.
@kritoke I bought a very basic NUC a few years ago when I wanted to try Linux after years of using macOS and fell in love with both.
I keep meaning to set that old one up to replace a Raspberry Pi 3 I gave to a community project ages ago.