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Chromebook Developer Setup Guide

74 points by afaqurk 13y ago

gum_ina_package 13y ago
If Google came out with a 13" Chromebook for around the same price, I'd buy that in a heartbeat. The 11" version is just too darn small for my beefy hands.
- afaqurk 13y ago
  I felt (and still feel) the same way. A 13" Chromebook would be the sweet spot for most on-the-go developers. I've seen the HP 14" Chromebooks but couldn't get myself to pay the price difference.
- bluedino 13y ago
  If it's like the MacBook Air 11/13 models, the keyboards would be basically identical in size. The 11" form factor is just another level of portability.
- Touche 13y ago
  HP is coming out with 14" Haswell Chromebooks next month that look fairly nice. Usual HP caution applies.
pekk 13y ago
While this is probably very helpful to Chromebook owners, it doesn't make me want to use a Chromebook for development, or understand the choice. If the hardware is particularly good (is it?), why doesn't someone make it easier to just straight up run Linux from the hard drive? I mean no weird scripts, SD cards, etc. but just a proper distro like Debian.
- Touche 13y ago
  > If the hardware is particularly good (is it?), With the exception of the Pixel the advantage of most Chromebooks is that they are cheap and fairly nice in terms of portability. > why doesn't someone make it easier to just straight up run Linux from the hard drive? I mean no weird scripts, SD cards, etc. but just a proper distro like Debian. That's what Crouton does for you.
- DanBC 13y ago
  This is just straight Debian, with no ChromeOS, on a Chromebook Pixel. <http://vger.kernel.org/~davem/chromebook_pixel_linux.txt> http://vger.kernel.org/~davem/chromebook_pixel_linux.txt> > When the boot screen appears hit Ctrl-L, SeaBIOS will come up and say "Hit ESC to choose boot device" so hit ESC and choose the USB device you plugged in. [...] > Every time you boot up you'll need to do that Ctrl-L song and dance, since unfortunately you can't make SeaBIOS the default 30-sec timeout selection.
- jlgreco 13y ago
  The pixels have fantastic screens, the other chromebooks are fantastically cheap. The hardware on regular chromebooks is apparently great for the price, the hardware on the pixel is not great except for the screen. If neither of those things are what you are looking for, then steer clear of chromebooks. (I use a Pixel with plain old Debian. I have to press Ctrl-L every time I boot, as DanBC describes.)
bluedino 13y ago
What are the odds of programs like SublimeText being able to run on ARM in the near future? I'm sure Eclipse would be far too heavy. Most of the 'Chromebook as a developer laptop' make it into a fancy SSH terminal - which is fine. But I don't really see a 'terminal' as a 'developer laptop'. I understand you can still access the internals of Linux along with the shell and other languages, but it doesn't work for a lot of people when you can't use the same apps/devices as you can on a your 'normal' machine. A $999 XPS 13 or MacBook Air looks pretty inviting, even at 3X the price of a $299 Chromebook when you realize how much productivity gain there is when you don't have to dink around with the OS and aren't limited in your app selection.
- jon-wood 13y ago
  I've been using a Chromebook as a development laptop for a few months after leaving my real laptop on a train (it was possibly the stupidest thing I've done due to caffeine withdrawal). Yes, it can function as an SSH Client, but its up there with the worst SSH clients you've encountered. Its slow, and its ugly. You'll also have problems when it comes to more advanced things. Like copying a CSV you generated with a script on the real computer you're SSHed into so that you can email it to someone. I did briefly run a full Ubuntu install in a chroot, which made things a little nicer, but I swapped one set of problems for a whole new set, such as multiple displays not working. Having said all that, if you're not a developer Chromebooks are lovely things.
  - Touche 13y ago
    Were you using crosh or Secure Shell[1]? I think Secure Shell is one of the better ssh clients i've used on any platform. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/secure-shell/pnhechapfaindjhompbnflcldabbghjo?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/secure-shell/pnhec...
    - jlgreco 13y ago
      Does that terminal emulator handle all control sequences that xterm would allow? When I tried ChromeOS, whatever terminal emulator I was using was largely worthless for me because Chrome was intercepting certain control sequences and not allowing the terminal emulator to get them.
bestdayever 13y ago
I think the thing that has always held me back from finally pulling the trigger on A chromebook pixel is the fact that you have to dismiss the "developer mode" popup everytime you boot. I guess that is a bit of a nitpick though and it otherwise seems like a solid machine.
- bsimpson 13y ago
  It's annoying, but it's not much different from seeing the BIOS screen on an old Wintel machine. It still starts up quickly enough that I'm more likely to turn it off than to sleep it.
- woebtz 13y ago
  I don't get it. If Linux or Windows is the end goal, why not start with a Surface Pro (2)? The startup popup is annoying, but that's at most a one-off per day. It's the pixel's trackpad, mushy keyboard, and weak screen hinge that turns me off from using it as a dev machine. It's great for couch surfing or as an ipad replacement, but I expect a dev machine to be more than a screen and a cheap price.
  - peatmoss 13y ago
    How's Linux on the surface pro? I'm worried that it'll be a device driver scavenger hunt.
lnanek2 13y ago
Interesting that there are ways to keep Chrome OS around. Most developers I know using one just go pure Ubuntu and don't care at all about keeping Chrome OS as a dual boot option or whatever.
amerkhalid 13y ago
I have been using original Samsung Chromebook for PHP work. All I really need is browser based ide like ShiftEdit and ssh access. This is my setup: http://amerkhalid.com/php-programming-on-chromebook/ http://amerkhalid.com/php-programming-on-chromebook/ I miss debugger when developing on Chromebook but everything else seems to just work.
AdmiralAsshat 13y ago
Since I primarily work with C, SQL, or Python, Chromebook and crouton has worked just fine as a development machine. The only drawback has been that I can't seem to natively get the terminal to support more than 16 colors, which makes vim look rather bland. I can enable the full 256 for use with the solarized settings if I use tmux (tmuxing to your localhost is rather strange, admittedly), but the lack of scrolling on tmux sessions is a little annoying.
bsimpson 13y ago
I've got my install documented (and scripted) here: https://github.com/appsforartists/pixel_webdev https://github.com/appsforartists/pixel_webdev It uses crouton to setup a bare minimum dev environment, using Sublime as the editor. It's designed for people who use ChromeOS for most things, but want a good text editor on top of that.
ChikkaChiChi 13y ago
Chromebook Pixels continue to drop in price on EBay and they are an absolute STEAL if you are willing to put in the work. The hardware presentation is better than my rMBP 15. I just don't like having to jump through hoops to get it to do what I want. They could have sold a lot more had it had a native Linux option OOB.
dogber1 13y ago
If you get around replacing chrome OS with linux and reflashing the firmware with uboot, you'll lose GPU acceleration (3D and 2D). ARM is pretty shitty about releasing specs for their GPUs, so the Chromebook GPU (Mali T604) remains unused.

74 points by afaqurk 13y ago

If Google came out with a 13" Chromebook for around the same price, I'd buy that in a heartbeat. The 11" version is just too darn small for my beefy hands.

afaqurk 13y ago
I felt (and still feel) the same way. A 13" Chromebook would be the sweet spot for most on-the-go developers. I've seen the HP 14" Chromebooks but couldn't get myself to pay the price difference.
bluedino 13y ago
If it's like the MacBook Air 11/13 models, the keyboards would be basically identical in size. The 11" form factor is just another level of portability.
Touche 13y ago
HP is coming out with 14" Haswell Chromebooks next month that look fairly nice. Usual HP caution applies.

pekk 13y ago

While this is probably very helpful to Chromebook owners, it doesn't make me want to use a Chromebook for development, or understand the choice. If the hardware is particularly good (is it?), why doesn't someone make it easier to just straight up run Linux from the hard drive? I mean no weird scripts, SD cards, etc. but just a proper distro like Debian.

Touche 13y ago
> If the hardware is particularly good (is it?), With the exception of the Pixel the advantage of most Chromebooks is that they are cheap and fairly nice in terms of portability. > why doesn't someone make it easier to just straight up run Linux from the hard drive? I mean no weird scripts, SD cards, etc. but just a proper distro like Debian. That's what Crouton does for you.
DanBC 13y ago
This is just straight Debian, with no ChromeOS, on a Chromebook Pixel. <http://vger.kernel.org/~davem/chromebook_pixel_linux.txt> http://vger.kernel.org/~davem/chromebook_pixel_linux.txt> > When the boot screen appears hit Ctrl-L, SeaBIOS will come up and say "Hit ESC to choose boot device" so hit ESC and choose the USB device you plugged in. [...] > Every time you boot up you'll need to do that Ctrl-L song and dance, since unfortunately you can't make SeaBIOS the default 30-sec timeout selection.
jlgreco 13y ago
The pixels have fantastic screens, the other chromebooks are fantastically cheap. The hardware on regular chromebooks is apparently great for the price, the hardware on the pixel is not great except for the screen. If neither of those things are what you are looking for, then steer clear of chromebooks. (I use a Pixel with plain old Debian. I have to press Ctrl-L every time I boot, as DanBC describes.)

bluedino 13y ago

What are the odds of programs like SublimeText being able to run on ARM in the near future? I'm sure Eclipse would be far too heavy. Most of the 'Chromebook as a developer laptop' make it into a fancy SSH terminal - which is fine. But I don't really see a 'terminal' as a 'developer laptop'. I understand you can still access the internals of Linux along with the shell and other languages, but it doesn't work for a lot of people when you can't use the same apps/devices as you can on a your 'normal' machine. A $999 XPS 13 or MacBook Air looks pretty inviting, even at 3X the price of a $299 Chromebook when you realize how much productivity gain there is when you don't have to dink around with the OS and aren't limited in your app selection.

jon-wood 13y ago
I've been using a Chromebook as a development laptop for a few months after leaving my real laptop on a train (it was possibly the stupidest thing I've done due to caffeine withdrawal). Yes, it can function as an SSH Client, but its up there with the worst SSH clients you've encountered. Its slow, and its ugly. You'll also have problems when it comes to more advanced things. Like copying a CSV you generated with a script on the real computer you're SSHed into so that you can email it to someone. I did briefly run a full Ubuntu install in a chroot, which made things a little nicer, but I swapped one set of problems for a whole new set, such as multiple displays not working. Having said all that, if you're not a developer Chromebooks are lovely things.
- Touche 13y ago
  Were you using crosh or Secure Shell[1]? I think Secure Shell is one of the better ssh clients i've used on any platform. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/secure-shell/pnhechapfaindjhompbnflcldabbghjo?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/secure-shell/pnhec...
  - jlgreco 13y ago
    Does that terminal emulator handle all control sequences that xterm would allow? When I tried ChromeOS, whatever terminal emulator I was using was largely worthless for me because Chrome was intercepting certain control sequences and not allowing the terminal emulator to get them.

bestdayever 13y ago

I think the thing that has always held me back from finally pulling the trigger on A chromebook pixel is the fact that you have to dismiss the "developer mode" popup everytime you boot. I guess that is a bit of a nitpick though and it otherwise seems like a solid machine.

bsimpson 13y ago
It's annoying, but it's not much different from seeing the BIOS screen on an old Wintel machine. It still starts up quickly enough that I'm more likely to turn it off than to sleep it.
woebtz 13y ago
I don't get it. If Linux or Windows is the end goal, why not start with a Surface Pro (2)? The startup popup is annoying, but that's at most a one-off per day. It's the pixel's trackpad, mushy keyboard, and weak screen hinge that turns me off from using it as a dev machine. It's great for couch surfing or as an ipad replacement, but I expect a dev machine to be more than a screen and a cheap price.
- peatmoss 13y ago
  How's Linux on the surface pro? I'm worried that it'll be a device driver scavenger hunt.

lnanek2 13y ago

Interesting that there are ways to keep Chrome OS around. Most developers I know using one just go pure Ubuntu and don't care at all about keeping Chrome OS as a dual boot option or whatever.

amerkhalid 13y ago

I have been using original Samsung Chromebook for PHP work. All I really need is browser based ide like ShiftEdit and ssh access. This is my setup: http://amerkhalid.com/php-programming-on-chromebook/ http://amerkhalid.com/php-programming-on-chromebook/ I miss debugger when developing on Chromebook but everything else seems to just work.

AdmiralAsshat 13y ago

Since I primarily work with C, SQL, or Python, Chromebook and crouton has worked just fine as a development machine. The only drawback has been that I can't seem to natively get the terminal to support more than 16 colors, which makes vim look rather bland. I can enable the full 256 for use with the solarized settings if I use tmux (tmuxing to your localhost is rather strange, admittedly), but the lack of scrolling on tmux sessions is a little annoying.

bsimpson 13y ago

I've got my install documented (and scripted) here: https://github.com/appsforartists/pixel_webdev https://github.com/appsforartists/pixel_webdev It uses crouton to setup a bare minimum dev environment, using Sublime as the editor. It's designed for people who use ChromeOS for most things, but want a good text editor on top of that.

ChikkaChiChi 13y ago

Chromebook Pixels continue to drop in price on EBay and they are an absolute STEAL if you are willing to put in the work. The hardware presentation is better than my rMBP 15. I just don't like having to jump through hoops to get it to do what I want. They could have sold a lot more had it had a native Linux option OOB.

dogber1 13y ago

If you get around replacing chrome OS with linux and reflashing the firmware with uboot, you'll lose GPU acceleration (3D and 2D). ARM is pretty shitty about releasing specs for their GPUs, so the Chromebook GPU (Mali T604) remains unused.