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FYI - there is a linux distribution called GalliumOS which is tailored to support Chromebook hardware. I've been running it for years on my Chromebooks. If you want linux apps, why not just install linux?

1. Jailbreak it by installing new firmware.
2. (Optional) Set it up to multi-boot with rEFInd, if you still want to be able to use ChromeOS.
3. Put any distro you want on it. GalliumOS is particularly tailored for Chromebooks, but Ubuntu and Mint also both work fine on mine.

You can also install Windows 8.1 or 10 (64-bit only) if you want. I haven't retained ChromeOS, but I do have both W10 and Gallium installed. Mostly I just use Gallium for those times Windows shits the bed and then refuses to let me clean up after it.

Current version of GalliumOS supports most Chromebooks. It's an Ubuntu 16.04 base with adjustments for specific chromebook models (media key customization, other hardware configurations, etc. Doesn't seem to support ARM chipsets or Intel Pineview boards.
Systems that are supported by GalliumOS
and the newer version based on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS is in the works
version 3.0 alpha

Someone accidentally wiping your developer-mode Chromebook is a valid concern. But you can reflash the firmware with something like MrChromebox's Firmware Utility Script to prevent that. I did that on the Acer 15" Chromebook I am using to write this post. It now runs GalliumOS (based on Xubuntu) and applications like Visual Studio Code and Minecraft. See: https://wiki.galliumos.org/Ins...

I did replace the flash memory with a 128GB module -- but that isn't strictly necessary. More details on all that in my comments here: https://news.ycombinator.com/i...

For under $400 total with the new drive plus some of my time, I am happy with it as my main personal machine these days for web browsing and some FOSS development. A centered trackpad with a 15" screen is otherwise a hard combination to find at the low end since so many companies add a numeric pad and offset the trackpad for terrible in-lap ergonomics. It's obviously not a MacBook Pro (which I use in my day job), and I do miss a backlit keyboard and a retina display, but it is a heck of a lot cheaper.

Probably the biggest limitation is you can't run Windows-only games or anything requiring intensive graphics processing. Steam's remote streaming from a desktop does work but is laggy.

It is also true that if you update the firmware you are out of the Google security ecosystem -- with both good and bad implications. So for the casual user, plain ChromeOS is probably a better choice (ignoring Google privacy issues). And web services like Cloud9 IDE can do a lot. And many of the latest Chrombooks can run Android apps.

And I can see why security professionals going to conferences would prefer the stock ChromeOS firmware and being able to powerwash back to a known good install -- with their data is stored elsewhere on the network.

I'd rather flash the firmware and then install Cloud Ready, Windows, and GalliumOS. Or at least I would if I cared that much about CrOS. My C720 practically always runs Windows 10, booting into GalliumOS only when I need to unfuck something Windows won't let me unfuck.

Or you don't let other people stick their greasy mitts on something that can be wiped accidentally. Or you replace the firmware/bootloader. GalliumOS is a perfectly normal Ubuntu derivative, and works great.

https://galliumos.org/

OK!

Step 1) Install MrChromebox
Step 2 (full UEFI installed) Install Linux (or Windows), Or OSX
Step 2A (Legacy boot)) Install GalliumOS

Step 3) Configure a new default browser of your choosing, and be free from Google's obsession with tracking everything you do, and owning your documents.

If I wanted a Chromebook to run Linux on, I'd just buy a Chromebook and flash the firmware. There's an Xubuntu-derived distro specifically for the purpose, too, GalliumOS.

Wait, did I say I would do that? Let me correct myself. I already have. It runs Windows 10 the majority of the time, but it does have Gallium installed and bootable via rEFInd.

It's a little complex, but yeah, your choices are:

- Boot in developer mode, some customization possible but essentially you're stuck in ChromeOS and can easily have your system wiped.
- Boot in dev mode with a modified BIOS, alternative operating system allowed but in a very user unfriendly way (you need to hit CTRL-L, which isn't documented or shown on screen, to boot the alternative OS, for example.)
- Boot with the BIOS replaced completely with an open source alternative. This effectively turns it into a regular Wintel laptop, and you can install a regular GNU/Linux distribution - maybe even Windows, I have no idea, but you can no longer dual boot with ChromeOS (ChromiumOS might be possible, not sure.)

More information here.

It is, to be honest, a horrible process running something other than ChromeOS on a Chromebook. I suspect that's why Crouton is so popular - it's a kludge, and has severe limitations, but it at least means you can stick with ChromeOS handling everything. But obviously, if you do that, there's the huge risk of someone booting up your device and wiping everything out because it boots up in vanilla developer mode.

Hey, guys. Thanks for all the wonderful input, I'm learning quite a bit.

I get the 'refurbished ThinkPad' path, I've done that myself. My large refurbished 15" W530 running Xubuntu 16.4 LTS is basically my luggable workstation. However, knowing myself I'd get a 12" X230 for 350 Euros, then an extra battery pack for 200 Euros to extend the battery life from 4 hours to 16, then I'd get extra RAM and an SSD and land somewhere around 800 - 1000 Euros. I'd have a small and good machine that would be overkill for what I want to do and still be compareatively heavy with the battery pack included. This all, including the final price, is sort of the scenario I'm trying to avoid. :-)

I wasn't aware of the crouton alternateive chrx + GalliumOS, which looks really neat and intrigueing.

I'm not sure which way I'm going to go but I'm following your input carefully.

Again, thanks a bunch!

The first thing I did when I got a Chromebook (that I had never asked for) was to install Linux (specifically, GalliumOS). Not surprisingly, Wine runs just fine on top of that, along with the older Windows games that I still play. Minecraft also ran surprisingly well on it, between 20 and 35 fps fullscreen (1366x768), though of course Wine is not required for this. I even used it as my Minecraft server for a while (and might again) because it is silent. I did not attempt to run the server and the client simultaneously. That would be asking a bit much.

Unfortunately, Bay Trail has some serious shortcomings that have made me realize this machine will never be what I actually need out of a daily driver laptop, and the eMMC (and lack of M.2 or SATA) doesn't help. That's why I've posted it for sale, the intent being to buy a C720P with 4GB of RAM and an M.2 slot instead. I already know that can easily be converted into a triple-booting Ubuntu/OS X/Windows machine that performs reasonably well, because I know the guy in charge of the C720P Hackintosh project. :)

If running Wine on a Chromebook is Invisible Pink Unicorn territory, I've got a whole herd of them grazing on carpet in my living room. (What, you didn't know Invisible Pink Unicorns are all rug munchers?)

Perhaps it is, but you can install custom firmware, and thus Linux on a lot of Chromebooks.

See list.

I'm typing this on a Toshiba Chromebook 2 2015 that's running Void Linux.