You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS • Hacker News Board

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#71

Post by xfer » Tue, May 08, 2018, 9:56 PM UTC

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…

You mean pixelbook, $300 chromebooks would obviously be of poor build quality; although i am not sure of the hardware quality of pixelbook either. For me a thinkpad works pretty well for a linux machine.

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#72

Post by grapeli23 » Tue, May 08, 2018, 9:56 PM UTC

tinix wrote: post #27

Tech journalists, especially, almost always fail to do even a tiny bit of research or due diligence. I mean... Crostini is not "new", it's been on dev channel for months[1]! But this article ending... hilarious icing on the cake. > "Now, it’s probably only a matter of hours before somebody starts running Windows apps in Chrome OS with the help of the Wine emulator." Someone should also tell them about running Crossov…

It is interesting. Linux (Chrome OS) will allow you to run Linux applications.

And this whole set of applications belongs to which category? https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromiumos/overlays/chromi...

Especially this one - Glibc. https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromiumos/overlays/chromi...

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#73

Post by owaislone » Tue, May 08, 2018, 9:59 PM UTC

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. This to me looks like the perfect balance between running Linux and macOS.

I'm running Kubuntu on a 1 year old XPS 13 and most things work quite well. I do however miss a nice mail clients, reliable notifications about meetings, daily schedule, etc. I've tried almost everything available on Linux and while some things do work, they either are not reliable enough (with cloud APIs, etc) or are too ugly and clunky to use.

I'll wait for the next Pixelbook before jumping ship. Hopefully, Linux apps support would have matured enough by then.

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#74

Post by mschuster91 » Tue, May 08, 2018, 9:59 PM UTC

jmagoon wrote: post #45

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…

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 outdated yet still top-of-the-line MBP...

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#75

Post by bitmapbrother » Tue, May 08, 2018, 10:01 PM UTC

gcb0 wrote: post #55

indescions_2018 wrote: post #49

More details in XDA Developers interview with Kan Liu. Also suggesting GPU acceleration support later this year https://www.xda-developers.com/chrome-os-linux-app-support-g... My prediction: VS Code / Pixelbook becomes a formidable devenv for many in the coming months ;) You can always try Neverware on a live usb to get a taste https://www.neverware.com/freedownload

> Google hardware with Microsoft software praised on HN :)

Technically, VS Code is based on Google software.

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#76

Post by vuln » Tue, May 08, 2018, 10:03 PM UTC

youllknow wrote: post #54

terminalcommand wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On this price range, are there any advantages of using a Chromebook rather than purchasing an old refurbished business laptop such as x230? They seem to be going for the same price range.

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.

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#77

Post by avip » Tue, May 08, 2018, 10:03 PM UTC

solarkraft wrote: post #53

indescions_2018 wrote: post #49

More details in XDA Developers interview with Kan Liu. Also suggesting GPU acceleration support later this year https://www.xda-developers.com/chrome-os-linux-app-support-g... My prediction: VS Code / Pixelbook becomes a formidable devenv for many in the coming months ;) You can always try Neverware on a live usb to get a taste https://www.neverware.com/freedownload

The ironic thing is that VS Code is made in web technology.

I've missed the irony here.

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#78

Post by city41 » Tue, May 08, 2018, 10:03 PM UTC

xfer wrote: post #71

city41 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

You mean pixelbook, $300 chromebooks would obviously be of poor build quality; although i am not sure of the hardware quality of pixelbook either. For me a thinkpad works pretty well for a linux machine.

Yeah I am thinking mostly nicer ChromeBooks. But the nicer ChromeBooks compete quite well with ThinkPads, price-wise.

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#79

Post by [deleted] » Tue, May 08, 2018, 10:08 PM UTC

bitmapbrother wrote: post #75

gcb0 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Google hardware with Microsoft software praised on HN :)

Technically, VS Code is based on Google software.

[deleted]

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#80

Post by williamstein » Tue, May 08, 2018, 10:08 PM UTC

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?