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You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

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Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#111

Post by johnvaluk »

dfaigonio wrote: post #84
timvisee wrote: post #4

I wonder why they are using a VM running Debian for Linux applications, as Chrome OS is already Linux (Gentoo) based itself.

Why does the Chrome OS team do anything the Chrome OS team does? They decided the best idea for low-end hardware is to run everything as a web app. They decided to make it practically useless without an Internet connection because clearly no one will use an ultraportable somewhere without Internet access. They decided to develop their own distro mostly from scratch because contributing to an existing project would be…

On the other hand, Chrome OS has finally ended my nightmare as the family IT support specialist. I have to help people who don't know what a "mouse" is, what a "browser" is, or that you can read the same email on multiple devices. When I switch them to a ChromeBook, life is much easier. Do they still have problems? Yes, because they don't understand the underlying concepts and face an enormous learning curve. But they don't get viruses anymore and nearly any problem is solved with a restart. Plus, Chrome OS is truly multiuser in the sense that anyone with a Google account can log into the device and access all of their online resources without affecting any other users, so I've been able to modify the owner's idea of what it means to share the device in a secure manner. Frankly, it's a godsend for some types of users who are incapable of maintaining any system running Windows, MacOS or a mainstream Linux distribution.

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#112

Post by darren0 »

I've been playing with crosvm and containers (lxd) in ChromeOS for awhile and I've been very impressed at the technical expertise that has been required to bring this to ChromeOS. Now that the terminal app is released I can say (I have a pixelbook and am currently using it), the user experience is really quite slick. This is a very promising platform.

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#113

Post by nambit »

owaislone wrote: post #73

Ever since I bought a Samsung Chromebook Plus for a friend and had a week to play with it, I've wanted Google to do this. This is probably my favourite announcement from I/O this year. I love how simple and well designed Chrome OS is. Now I can get proper access to all the tools I'm used to on Linux while not having to deal with terrible UX when it comes to things like notifications, daily schedule, calendar and mail…

Evolution is an ok'ish mail client. Notifications should be reliable enough?

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#114

Post by confounded »

mschuster91 wrote: post #74
jmagoon wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The other good thing about this is that the Pixelbook is a 3:2 screen, so finally there's a laptop with a proper display resolution that can run Linux nicely. There's a good community of folks over at https://www.reddit.com/r/Crostini/ who have been tinkering with this for quite some time.

> with a proper display resolution 3:2? No thanks I don't really want black bars when watching movies... What I'd really really like is something with the build quality (especially the touchpad!) of a MacBook Pro, with decent and recent hardware, first class Linux support for all features, support for both USB-C and "old" USB and a decent keyboard with it. And that without paying more than for an technologically outd…

You’re pretty much describing Purism’s Librem line of laptops:

https://puri.sm/products/librem-13/

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#115

Post by nine_k »

owaislone wrote: post #73

Ever since I bought a Samsung Chromebook Plus for a friend and had a week to play with it, I've wanted Google to do this. This is probably my favourite announcement from I/O this year. I love how simple and well designed Chrome OS is. Now I can get proper access to all the tools I'm used to on Linux while not having to deal with terrible UX when it comes to things like notifications, daily schedule, calendar and mail…

An open gmail tab solves the problem of an email client.

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#116

Post by seabrookmx »

magissima wrote: post #52
cbhl wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

apt-get is still the golden standard for installing apps on Linux because of its dependency resolution system, and being able to "sudo apt-get install " is a core use-case for end-users (i.e. students who are learning how to use Linux / code for the first time). Disclaimer: I work at Google, but not on Chrome OS.

Genuinely asking, what makes apt-get that much better than other package managers? Outside of Slackware I think good dependency resolution is pretty much universal at this point, and I can't say I've ever noticed any major problems with pacman, for instance.

Technically speaking, nothing.

Windows has a lot of users just because they're familiar with it.

The same goes for Debian derivatives. A lot of people's first Linux distro is Ubuntu, so they get familiar with apt and don't have a compelling reason to use anything else.

I'm a perfect example. The second package-manager I really interacted with was Alpine's "apk", and that's only because I've been working with Docker pretty extensively over the last year.

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#117

Post by seabrookmx »

williamstein wrote: post #80

Will this make it possible to run Docker in a Chromebook? With Crouton, which is just a chroot, you can't run Docker at all (without changing the ChromeOS kernel), and can only run rkt containers. If this new Linux apps support really runs in a Debian KVM virtual machine, then maybe it will be possible to run Docker in that, which would be a massive advantage over what crouton provides. Anybody know?

I'm curious about this as well.

I was toying with the idea of setting up my docker cli in crouton to connect to a docker daemon I host via a VPS (cheap Lightsail box maybe). I think this will work fine.. it's just the docker daemon that won't run because the ChromeOS kernel locks it out of features it needs. Then I could do local dev but any docker calls would run remotely.

But I'm sure that will have its quirks.. if I could run lightweight containers (node, redis, etc) directly on my Chromebook then I'd prefer that.

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#118

Post by jhasse »

city41 wrote: post #63
fareesh wrote: post #2

Are there any good reasons why a developer would buy a Chromebook over some other laptop, unless they are developing for the Chromebook itself?

MacBooks are out for me now that they have the touchbar and bad keyboard. I currently use a ThinkPad and it's pretty good, but the touchpad is mediocre at best. I think a ChromeBook with really first class support for Linux apps is very compelling. I run Linux in a VM on Windows 10 on my ThinkPad and it's a great setup. A ChromeBook would be a very similar setup but probably with better native OS integration (for exa…

What about the XPS 13?

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#119

Post by [deleted] »

paultopia wrote: post #41

I think this is great. I bought a chromebook flip a couple of years ago, with the intention of putting Linux on it---only to find that the hardware is depressingly bad and the ARM processor makes the Linux experience terrible (had to install Arch, never did manage to make basic things like the JVM work right, eventually gave up on it). Since then, I've been very skeptical of the notion of buying chromebooks as cheap…

[deleted]

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#120

Post by tluyben2 »

vuln wrote: post #76
youllknow wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

because x230 is ugly pos, heavy, big while buttons still feel cramped and has bad battery life (compared to any new chromebooks)

I daily a x220. It's perfect.

Same here; lot of battery life too under Ubuntu/i3.
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