Google Just Made It Easier To Run Linux On Your Chromebook

TechCurmudgeon writes A story in PCWorld's "World beyond Windows" column outlines coming improvements in Chrome OS that will enable easily running Linux directly from a USB stick: "Have you ever installed a full desktop Linux system on your Chromebook? It isn't all [that] hard, but it is a bit more complex than it should be. New features in the latest version of Chrome OS will make dipping into an alternative operating system easier. For example, you'll be able to easily boot a full Linux system from a USB drive and use it without any additional hassle!"

Comments

But is that what people are actually doing?

[93 Escort Wagon]

I thought they were wiping the Chromebook's internal drive, then reinstalling with their preferred Linux variant.

Re:But is that what people are actually doing?

[Ol Olsoc]

I thought they were wiping the Chromebook's internal drive, then reinstalling with their preferred Linux variant.

I don't know about most, but I keep the ChromeOS also. I use the Chromebook as my take out to breakfast and go on vacation computer. It's a breeze to use in a restaraunt on wifi, and if I need anything more serious, I boot into Linux. It's also nice to keep my stuff separate from my home computers, except for the gmail account I use that syncs on all my computers.

Re:But is that what people are actually doing?

[Anonymous Coward]

Protip: Most people are doing neither.

Re:But is that what people are actually doing?

[aunchaki]

I replaced my nine-year-old ThinkPad a few months ago (it's slowly running the latest Ubuntu). I went round and round for about a year and finally decided to get a used Chromebook Pixel. It's awesome! I thought I'd play around with crouton for a while, but eventually wipe the whole thing and install Linux on it.

I haven't done that. I do run crouton and can flip between ChromeOS and Ubuntu 14 in a keystroke. The thing is, ChromeOS is a really nice broswing experience and 75% of what I do is browser based. I could spend all day in Ubuntu, but it's just too nice using ChromeOS.

I'm really happy with my Chromebook.

Re:Pedantic, but...

[MightyMartian]

Get back in your box, Richard Stallman!

Gee

[Ol Olsoc]

I've been running Linux dual boot on my Chromebook since last summer. I'm surprised that anyone thought it was so difficult to install and use. I think it took me all of 15 minutes to download and do the necessary alterations.

It's fun actually

"you'll be able to easily boot a full Linux system from a USB drive and use it without any additional hassle!"

As opposed ot the insufferable hassle of hitting control+L and booting direct? If that's too much trouble, plugging a USB stick is too.

Re:Gee

[Ol Olsoc]

True, but you can run the USB stick on multiple computers, keeping your work environment and files all in one place wherever you go. With 64 gig USB 3.0 flash keys going for $25, and 128 gig USB 3.0 going for $40, why not?

Well, a thumb drive is a lot easier to lose than a whole laptop for one thing. I've found quite a few over the last several years. Also, I have to guess that the thumb drive is going to be slower than the SSD in the Chromebook. Because that's the biggest thing going for them. They move. Chrome boots in something like 7 seconds, depending on how fat you can type your password, and Linux about the same.

Regardless, I don't think its necessarily a bad idea, just that the presumed inconvenience of doing a dual bootsetup, then install of a distro is way overplayed.

Re:Pedantic, but...

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you're referring to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I've recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.

Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called "Linux", and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project.

There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine's resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called "Linux" distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux.

Chromebook Shmomebook

[Ukab the Great]

Wake me up when they post a useful article on how to run Unix on my Macbook Pro.

Re:Chromebook Shmomebook

[MightyMartian]

Fuck that, I've been trying to install FreeBSD on my Commodore 64. Crapping Commodore 1541 disk drive keeps mangling my installation CD.

Re:Pedantic, but...

[Dynedain]

How long before that's SystemD/GNU/Linux?

Re:Chromebook Shmomebook

[ogdenk]

It's pretty easy. First, take it out of the box. You lift the LCD into a proper viewing angle and push the power button. There you go. Unix.

Re:Pedantic, but...

[arth1]

I believe I speak for everyone when I say

You must be new here.

Whenever I read the word "believe" anywhere, I replace it with "make up" or "confabulate". It helps my reading comprehension.

Re:Chromebook Shmomebook

[tlambert]

Wake me up when they post a useful article on how to run Unix on my Macbook Pro.

Mac OS X *is* UNIX. It's certified. Wake me up when Linux passes conformance testing.

PS: We even put UUCP on the damn thing to pass the tests; it's definitely UNIX, so feel free to spin up your own NetNews node on your MacBook Air.

Re:Again, why?

[quenda]

If you have a Chromebook, Google has already made ChromeOS support anything that the Chromebook will have to do.

Oh, no they have not.

A macbook can install 3rd party apps out of the box. It is not locked down.
But if you want Skype, Minecraft, or Steam for example, on a Chromebook, you need to unlock it (developer mode, unsupported) and install a full Linux environment first.

But yes, no need to replace ChromeOS, just supplement it.

we dual boot to an sdhc, except don't

[raymorris]

I set my wife's up to boot Linux from a high-performance SD card. Her previous computer ran Linux, so I figured I'd make the Chromebook run what she's familiar with.

It turns out, everything she does on the computer she does through a web browser, so she's never had any reason to boot to Linux. ChromeOS suits her use case perfectly. I find that surprising, but ChromeOS is apparently very good at what it's designed for - email, general web browsing, YouTube, Facebook, Netflix, etc.

Pedantic busybody with busybox

[dbIII]

I think they mean "GNU/Linux,"

Not necessarily. Some distros, especially for lean systems, have nothing from GNU. There is more than one libc and busybox is not a GNU project.

Re:Pedantic, but...

[nateman1352]

Now don't get me wrong, I really really appreciate all the hard work the GNU project and the FSF have contributed, but to imply that _only_ the GNU project and the Linux kernel deserve credit seems quite unfair to me.

If we call in GNU/Linux because GNU deserves credit then we should name it GNU/Apache/Xorg/KDE/SystemD/Samba/LibreOffice/Mozilla/Linux, because all those other projects are just as critical to creating the modern, functional operating system that we have today.

Or we could grow up and just call it Linux because its just a name after all.

My theory is RMS and all his buddies over at the GNU project are still butt hurt about Linux stealing the thunder from GNU Hurd (25 years after the fact!) If they really want to have their GNU OS, then just finish Hurd already build your GNU package.

It's amazing how childish RMS can be sometimes, look at how he reacted to the fact that Clang and LLVM are now technically superior to GCC. Wrote a whiny blog post about how he admits it hurts on a personal level and then in the same paragraph attacks Clang as not being open source enough because it is BSD licensed instead of GPL! Honestly I think deep down inside RMS would have preferred that Apple kept Clang closed source even though he would never say that publicly. Apple gives us something for free that they totally didn't have to give us so obviously we should bite their hand off because they licensed it in a way that would allow them to continue using it in Xcode.

There is a lot of things I really like about the open source movement, but self righteous crap and the cliquey project leaders definitely leave a bad taste in my month.