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"How hard would it be to install Ubuntu" is the first thing I think whenever I see a Chromebook. I never look into it further because I assume they've made it

"How hard would it be to install Ubuntu" is the first thing I think whenever I see a Chromebook. I never look into it further because I assume they've made it difficult.

fragmede 12y ago
It's really not though. There's crouton which makes it trivial to setup a chroot - https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton which is good enough for most users. If you'd rather blow away ChromeOS and install Ubuntu, it's just a few commands on the command line to boot from USB and install Ubuntu.
- gknoy 12y ago
  My biggest worry is the ease with which one can accidentally wipe out everything and reset it to factory settings every time you boot up. I might be super careful, but all I need is for my four or seven year old to turn it on wrong, and suddenly I fear I'd have a several hour fix-it session. If it came with a setting that would let me make changes more permanent (e.g., a BIOS setting), I'd want one in a heartbeat.
  - fragmede 12y ago
    That 'setting' exists in the form of opening it up, unscrewing a screw to enable flashing, and then flashing the BIOS.
    - nfoz 12y ago
      Sounds like that would void the warranty? I've never had to do something like that to install Linux on a laptop before.
  - mikeflynn 12y ago
    This. My wife accidentally wiped my fully configured Crouton Ubuntu install off the drive when I was first playing with my Gen 1 Pixel. I chatted with a few Google Chrome OS devs right after this happened and managed to convince one that some sort of a setting, even if it's super obscure, would be a good idea, but apparently nothing ever came of it. Crouton has come along way since then and you can back your chroot off to an SD card now, but it's still a pain point for sure.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
lallysingh 12y ago
ChromeOS is Linux and chrome, with a drastically simplified desktop environment. The hardware is well supported (AFAIK). But it's easier to run crouton atop than reinstall. So most people who want more do that.

"How hard would it be to install Ubuntu" is the first thing I think whenever I see a Chromebook. I never look into it further because I assume they've made it difficult.

fragmede 12y ago

It's really not though. There's crouton which makes it trivial to setup a chroot - https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton which is good enough for most users. If you'd rather blow away ChromeOS and install Ubuntu, it's just a few commands on the command line to boot from USB and install Ubuntu.

gknoy 12y ago
My biggest worry is the ease with which one can accidentally wipe out everything and reset it to factory settings every time you boot up. I might be super careful, but all I need is for my four or seven year old to turn it on wrong, and suddenly I fear I'd have a several hour fix-it session. If it came with a setting that would let me make changes more permanent (e.g., a BIOS setting), I'd want one in a heartbeat.
- fragmede 12y ago
  That 'setting' exists in the form of opening it up, unscrewing a screw to enable flashing, and then flashing the BIOS.
  - nfoz 12y ago
    Sounds like that would void the warranty? I've never had to do something like that to install Linux on a laptop before.
- mikeflynn 12y ago
  This. My wife accidentally wiped my fully configured Crouton Ubuntu install off the drive when I was first playing with my Gen 1 Pixel. I chatted with a few Google Chrome OS devs right after this happened and managed to convince one that some sort of a setting, even if it's super obscure, would be a good idea, but apparently nothing ever came of it. Crouton has come along way since then and you can back your chroot off to an SD card now, but it's still a pain point for sure.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

lallysingh 12y ago

ChromeOS is Linux and chrome, with a drastically simplified desktop environment. The hardware is well supported (AFAIK). But it's easier to run crouton atop than reinstall. So most people who want more do that.