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There used to be cheap linux notebooks, that what I used to buy, then Chromebooks appeared and replaced entirely cheap linux laptops. I stupidly hoped that it w
by wazoox 7y ago
There used to be cheap linux notebooks, that what I used to buy, then Chromebooks appeared and replaced entirely cheap linux laptops. I stupidly hoped that it would be good enough, or easily convertible to straight Linux; it isn't. In fact the main problem is that Google Docs doesn't properly support OpenDocument format, making it crippled for me even as a basic desktop (it's only useful as a browser and nothing else).
- toast0 7y agoMany of the Chromebooks are pretty simple to convert to a standard OS. I've got two chrome devices flashed with 3rd party firmware and running FreeBSD. It seems more likely if you get devices running Intel Core series chips (cpu model numbers like xxxxU or maybe xxxxY, but not Nxxxx), but it's good to confirm it's supported by your 3rd party firmware of choice before you buy. I use firmware from https://mrchromebox.tech/ https://mrchromebox.tech/ these days.
- ChristianBundy 7y ago+1, I'm on the Chromebook Pixel 2 (2015) and have been running Arch Linux for years now. I can't recommend it enough.
- ac29 7y agoUnfortunately, since 2017, Google has been using a new security chip (CR50) that isnt supported in the upstream Linux kernel. So while you can flash 3rd party firmware and install your own OS, the security chip will throw the device into recovery mode if you ever suspend the computer. AFAIK, there is no workaround for this - if anyone knows otherwise, please share details. I've got a chromebook that I'd very much like to be able to use something besides ChromeOS on.