No, the Pi was designed for hardware+software hacking, not general Office use. As soon as you add incidentals (keyboard, SD, PSU, wifi, case) it gets significantly more expensive and a lot less practical than an Android tablet or stick, or even a second-hand netbook.

Thanks for the advice. It's a bit overwhelming though, I get the feeling you have to either be an expert, or shut it down. That's frustrating.

That was all a few years ago, frankly, I've given up on Linux, the learning curve is to steep for me, especially for stuff that Just Runs (tm) in Windows (ie multiple different screens on multiple different graphics cards, autoruns...) Windows has nothing for my RAID issues, so I'm wondering again if Linux both can do it and can do it w/o my spending days trying to figure out how.
For the upstart jobs and terminals, I was using text-based Ubuntu on an ARM netbook. Had to have a friend recompile the kernel to add SMB support. Very reliable once I got it to work, and then fun to hotkey between the different terminals from my remote Windows console, which were mostly displaying daemon status info. I think I even got it to tile (non-overlapping) several terminals onto its screen. Went back to Windows though because I kept forgetting the CLI commands.
For the multi-screen, that was my main PC at the time, an ATI APU mini-ITX, with a entry-level nVidia card for the second screen. Still running at my parents', but under Windows.

Not really an app, but what scuppers all my Linux attempts is documentation. Case in point: I'm trying to set up a RAID server with heterogeneous drives of various sizes. I had to have someone tell me to look at mdadm and LVM, which I am now doing, but most articles seem to pertain to older kernel versions (2.6/2.8, ArchWiki doesn't even seem to have a date on articles) and I have no clue if such older info is still relevant, outdated, in-between... I'm stuck.
My last try before that, I had to resort to trial-and-error to create upstart jobs (is there a user doc, anywhere ?), and ended up using the wrong virtual terminal software (there was mux, and.. xterm, I think ? can't remember) because that's what Google came up with, and I had no clue where else to start.
And before that, I had to spend hours trying to get dual-screen to work acceptably, and in the end I couldn't (something about having 1xATI +1xnVidia card w/ different-definition screens, and wanting to watch videos, brought the whole house down)

So... not sexy... not peer-reputation/hacker-cred enhancing... but I'd strongly advise to work on documentation, not apps.

(and be quick, the upcoming Yoga 3 isn't remotely as good).

I've been buying those for the past year or so, in 8" and 10" format. Not good at gaming, but excellent for everything else. Their weird shape allows for a bigger battery, better speakers, integrated stand, and they even fit the hand better.
They even look nice, and are reasonably updated (not Nexus-level though). They're regularly on sale, probably right now due to EOL.

head and shoulders above other flagships: http://www.phonearena.com/news...

"There is a knee-jerk reaction... " You can upgrade that to a whole-body jerk. Also, I think I barfed a little.

Scientology is not a cult, it's a business.

TeamViewer is similar to remote desktop, and quite good. It's free for personal use. You might want to try that, or simply changing Remote Desktop's ports, before launching into complicated stuff, mister Network Admin.

Public transport is already mostly free intra-city. Do a quick cost analysis, a metro/bus ride is much much less expensive than car amortization+gas+parking+time wasted. I think what's holding public transport back is route convenience (far away stops, change overs) and comfort (overcrowded, dirty, noisy, no room for bags...). Outside of city public transport is mostly not feasible (density is too low), and inter-city it is more expensive, but for single people still much less expensive than car.

Averages are tricky: on average, my car is sitting still and empty, yet what I care about is when its moving and not empty. Same with ranges: what happens the handful of times per month I need more range ? Do I need to double travel time because of recharges ? To budget hiring another car ? To stop traveling ?

If you can't understand that personal foibles matter, but not to the point of blotting out everything else, *you* are the one not qualified to comment on anyone else's work.
You seem to have a very immature world-view: black/white, hero/villain, truth/lies. In real adult life, everything is shades of grey. I'm sure Assange has done despicable things. It doesn't change the fact that on the whole, the world is a better place thanks to him.

What does Assange's personnality, and your opinion of it, matter ? That's Ad Hominem put to the extreme. What about his work ?
I don't dive into a chef's private life before eating their food; I've no idea about musicians' procilivities and motivations, some of the writers I like are disgusting anti-role-models or pity-worthy dysfunctional wrecks. Ditto directors, actors, even friends... and let's not talk about politicians.
In the end it doesn't matter: the work is more important than who's doing it. Incomparably more. Your character assassination is fully besides the point.

to make half as thick phones, instead of phones that last twice as long...

I don't see how what the state does has any impact on what your religious organization says or does. the christian bible still supports slavery, stoning, mass murders... that support hasn't stopped though those actions are illegal (I'm not talking morality here, just legality). Simply refusing to perform religious ceremonies to marry gay couple is much less an issue than those other divergences between the state's law and the religion's wishes.

They didn't, really: alcohol and cigarettes are available pretty much freely, and most drugs are available as long as you pay the "health" complex to get them.