Having said that, I've just seen https://plus.google.com/100479847213284361344/posts/QhmBpn5GNE9 https://plus.google.com/100479847213284361344/posts/QhmBpn5G...

Having said that, I've just seen https://plus.google.com/100479847213284361344/posts/QhmBpn5GNE9 https://plus.google.com/100479847213284361344/posts/QhmBpn5G... and learnt that yes, it is possible to run Ubuntu/etc including kernel on the newest Chromebook. Although “there's no way to set the legacy boot as the default option” so it still sounds a bit of a pain.