[PLUG] Chromebooks and Linux

[Timothy Scoppetta]

I use a kindle for the original use case described but my Pixelbook Go is
the best linux netbook (does that term still exist?) I've ever owned. I run
a full debian install in a container and have yet to find any app or tool
(GUI or command line) that I can't get working locally. I haven't tried
heavyweights like gimp or bitwig and I definitely wouldn't suggest
compiling on it.

Happy to answer any questions about existing in the ecosystem, I use it
daily and for me it works great.

This is the one I've had for a little under a year:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YMGQYP6/

On Tue, Jan 18, 2022 at 7:05 PM Ben Koenig <techkoenig at protonmail.com>
wrote:

>
>
> On Tuesday, January 18th, 2022 at 10:49 AM, John Jason Jordan <
> johnxj at gmx.com> wrote:
>
> > On Mon, 17 Jan 2022 22:54:15 -0800
> >
> > Russell Senior russell at personaltelco.net dijo:
> >
> > > Not being able to print to a local USB connected printer in ChromeOS
> > >
> > > (you had to enroll your printer with google, and send your documents
> > >
> > > to google so they could send it back to your printer) used to be a big
> > >
> > > "NO THANK YOU" from me. I think someone told me that's no longer the
> > >
> > > case, but I'd already installed Gallium on my two Toshiba Chromebook
> > >
> > > 2's. I kind of like Gallium, although new Chromebooks with higher res
> > >
> > > displays are hard to come by and it seems like the development pace
> > >
> > > has slowed recently, 3.1 is still based on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, which is
> > >
> > > still supported upstream, but is coming up on 4 years old.
> > >
> > > On Mon, Jan 17, 2022 at 10:28 PM elcaseti elcaseti at gmail.com wrote:
> > >
> > > > The Snapdragon 7 is an ARM CPU, so there might not be any distros
> > > >
> > > > that would support that Duet 5 13.3. If you do end up buying a
> > > >
> > > > Chromebook, I agree that you really don't want to use ChromeOS. I
> > > >
> > > > used a Chromebook at my library recently, & it was so limiting, that
> > > >
> > > > it was almost useless. I was unable to print a PDF from a USB jump
> > > >
> > > > drive, & it doesn't get more basic than that. I asked a librarian
> > > >
> > > > if he knew how to do this, & he said I don't think you can do that
> > > >
> > > > on our chromebooks!
> >
> > Thanks to all for the observations. I had already looked at Gallium, but
> >
> > you have to download an ISO according to what CPU your device has, and
> >
> > all the ISOs they offer are for Intel CPUs only, no ISOs for
> >
> > Snapdragons.
>
> FWIW You want the intel versions since those have better* mainline linux
> support. You still need to read the fine print though.
>
>
> >
> > My understanding is that you can run just about any distro if you
> >
> > install it as a virtual OS, and current versions of Chrome OS have that
> >
> > capability built in. The problem is finding a discussion somewhere
> >
> > posted by someone who has actually installed a distro virtually on a
> >
> > recent Chromebook, with information about what works and what doesn't.
> >
> > The Lenovo that I have my eyes on has only 8GB RAM and 64GB storage,
> >
> > and neither are upgradable. It's a $400 gamble, although I could
> >
> > probably return it. I could live with one or two little things not
> >
> > working, but what if the touchscreen or the wifi fail?
>
>
> Someone here mentioned running linux on a chromebook in this way and I'd
> be interested in knowing what doesn't work since the wider internet isn't
> really clear on that point..
>
> >
> > Maybe I need to put this project on the shelf and revisit it in a couple
> >
> > years.
>
> A few years (and a few well-worded letters to your political
> representative) might give us Right To Repair legislation that renders this
> entire discussion obsolete.
>
> -Ben
>


-- 
Timothy Scoppetta

P: 845-459-3002
E: scoppettat at gmail.com