The expo laptop is called "Crowley". Crowley was rather too ill to be useful during the 2022 expo (being left in the potato hut for 3 years was not a healthy experience) but is now feeling much better... apart from the WiFi which needs a software driver update, but as Crowley is connected to the ethernet cable this is not vital. -
In 2023 we had another general-use laptop (it was also on expo in 2019). This is not connected by any cabling and just uses WiFi. Like the expo laptop it is running Debian and has the same set of software installed - (survex/aven, tunnelx, therion, git etc.) and you login to it using the username "expo" and the usual cavey:beery password. It has the identical[Cinnamon/Debian] configuration and survey software installed as Crowley. It is a big, heavy R61 14-inch Thinkpad on loan from Michael Sargent and it is called "Aziraphale". (Note that Aziraphale's SD code slot doesn't work). +
In 2023 we had another general-use laptop "Aziraphale" (it was also on expo in 2019). This is not connected by any cabling and just uses WiFi. Like Crowley it is running Debian and has the same set of software installed + (survex/aven, tunnelx, therion, git etc.) and you login to it using the username "expo" and the usual cavey:beery password. It has the identical[Cinnamon/Debian] configuration and survey software installed as Crowley. It is a big, heavy R61 14-inch Thinkpad on loan from Michael Sargent. (Note that Aziraphale's SD code slot doesn't work).
Both laptops have had RAM upgrades and solid-state disc upgrades over winter 2022/23. They each hold a local complete copy of expofiles and the expoweb, loser, drawings and troggle repositories but do not have the troggle software configured to run locally, though this could be enabled if necessary. -
In 2025 we will also have "Anathema" as an additional expo laptop. This is currently running Xubuntu/xfce (not Debian/Cinnamon like the others). As well as a recent solid-state disc and wifi it has an ethernet socket and (unsually) a working battery of 2 hours, pretty good for a 2011 machine. This is part of the Waddington bequest to expo (actually Michael Waddington's old gaming alienware laptop). It is actually configured to run troggle software locally, should that be required. It weighs 2kg and we don't have a 12V power supply for it, so it will live at base camp. +
In 2025 we also have "Barbie" and "Anathema" as additional expo laptops. +
Both Crowley and Aziraphale are old and have bad batteries. Crowley only runs 10-20 minutes on battery and Aziraphale only about half an hour or so. So both should be run permanently plugged in to mains power. The blue netbook may not even boot up on battery. +
Both Crowley and Aziraphale are old and have bad batteries. Crowley only runs 10-20 minutes on battery and Aziraphale only about half an hour or so. So both should be run permanently plugged in to mains power. The blue netbook may not even boot up on battery. Barbie's battery lasts a long time, several hours, in use but annoyingly it self-discharges if left unused.