[TriLUG] chromebooks for small biz

[Ken MacKenzie via TriLUG]

Doing my best here to answer.


1) has anyone seen a way to connect chromebooks to their non-google
directory?

Sorry what do you mean by this, Samba? One drive? drop box? the local file
system?

2) can anyone recommend a chromebook-friendly ipsec vpn client not tied to
cisco?

in pure chrome I have had issues with vpn.  It is supposed to work but I
have not had much luck.  In crouton running linux things get better and for
chromebooks that support the play store you can use the android openvpn
app.  I use the android solution when needed (read kodi)

3) favorite rdp client? one which has baked-in support for vpn or even ssh
would
   be great ...

Ah rdp.  the basic one I think chrome rdp is what it was called worked
great... until you had to deal with a ts gateway.  Once a ts gateway is in
play then there are only 2 options.  Compile freerdp from source and write
a script for the command line and use that in crouton.  Use the android app
if you have the play store.  That one is built by MS and works great with
one caveat.  Special keys, like alt or ctrl it doesn't expect because it is
built for android so there is a special pop up for those keys.

4) recommendation for something other than chromebook (light/cheap linux?)
which
   could get the job done while not tying everything to google?

Light linux, on any hardware, well there is cloudready which forks the
chromiumos and provides an installer, but it is still basically a
chromebook.

A light chromebook like linux might be peppermint OS.

In general I have found the best way to get a light linux though is start
with debian or arch and slowly build in just what you need.

5) recommendation for chromebook or linux laptop which has its own internet
   connectivity built-in (not requiring another hotspot)? i bought one many
years
   ago and still have it - great in the past but insufficient for this task:
   https://esupport.sony.com/US/p/model-home.pl?mdl=VGNT350P

Not sure any exist anymore.  I have an hp-14 which has t mobile service.
My oldest child now uses it.  I bought it for the extra specs but it came
with free t-mobile for like (capped at 200mb a month).  I haven't seen one
since that bundled a cellular data connection.  But any hotspot can do the
trick and probably be more flexible.

6) flames >/dev/null (samba3/nt4? yeah, i know ...)

samba from a chromebook without crouton.  No idea.  If it was me I would
consider getting them to the cloud with Azure or one drive.

7) something i forgot? i'm sure there is plenty in this category.

Consider android tablets with keyboards or similar cross purpose android
devices (like that new dock that turns the phone into a laptop.

Look I like chromebooks but I think possibly half of your concerns will
need either the play store enabled (and that is not out and stable for all
chromebooks) or using crouton to setup linux in a chroot.  The latter will
definitely start to get outside of the scope of non tech users.