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My Excellent $199 Chromebook Adventure ~pj


Manitoban

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Guest LilBambi
I impulsively bought one of the $199 Acer C7 Chromebooks, specifically to find out if I could successfully put pure Linux on the Android Chrome OS laptop. I know Chromebooks run on Linux, the kernel, but I wanted KDE, which is what I normally run. I wanted both, and I thought it'd be fun. I also thought it might be an easier way to get around Microsoft's Secure Boot, which makes it hard to install a GNU/Linux environment on new laptops. Microsoft never runs out of ways to make it inconvenient to use Linux, of course.

 

Cool article Manitoban/Bill. Great to see you again.

 

pj has given us many hours of great information on so many topics.

Edited by LilBambi
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  • 5 years later...
abarbarian

Is the latest news flash concerning Chromebooks an adventure killer or the start of another adventure.

 

All Chromebooks will also be Linux laptops going forward

 

 

 

At Google I/O in Mountain View, Google quietly let slip that "all devices [Chromebook] launched this year will be Linux-ready right out of the box." Wait. What?

In case you've missed it, last year, Google started making it possible to run desktop Linux on Chrome OS. Since then, more Chromebook devices are able to run Linux. Going forward, all of them will be able to do so, too. Yes. All of them. ARM and Intel-based.

 

Linux on Chromebook laptops is not a dual-boot operation. You're running both operating systems simultaneously. That means, for example, you can do things like clicking on a document file via the Chrome OS file manager and open it with LibreOffice -- without even starting a Linux session. Indeed, with the latest canary Chrome OS release, you can use the file manager to move your files across Chrome OS, Google Drive, Linux, and Android.

 

A Chromebook with all three operating systems running at once is also darn useful for an ordinary Jane or Joe. For example, I can edit images using Linux GIMP and write with LibreOffice Writer while looking at pictures using Android Pinterest and simultaneously check my Gmail in Chrome OS. It's all good.

 

:breakfast:

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With a Chromebook, is it possible to simply wipe Chrome OS and install Linux, kinda like what I normally do with used Windows computers? I have no interest in using Chrome OS, just like I have no interest in using Windows.

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Unless you get Google's Pixelbook or maybe a tricked out Acer Spin 13, your Chromebook will have rather wimpy specs that remind me of the old netbooks. I can't see running 3 operating systems simultaneously on that hardware. At least not if you value your sanity.

A lot of what I see on the Internet is deprecated now, but it looks as if it is a real PITA to remove Chrome O/S completely and install Linux on a Chromebook. I think I'll stick to blowing off Windows, or installing Linux on a home built X86 system.

Edited by raymac46
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securitybreach

Even with the higher end laptop/chromebooks, I will always wipe them and install normal Linux.

 

A lot has changed with Chromebooks over the last 6 years (since the initial post in this thread).

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