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You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

techcrunch.com

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Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#81

Post by lallysingh »

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…

So a thinkpad.

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#82

Post by mschuster91 »

lallysingh wrote: post #81
mschuster91 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

So a thinkpad.

Give me a Thinkpad with a full aluminium body, a touchpad with a size that's actually usable and we'll talk. Sorry but I have developed a real dislike for small touchpads incapable of reliable gestures and full plastic bodies.

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#83

Post by johnvaluk »

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.

FWIW, I have an Acer ChromeBook I bought for $99 brand new on Black Friday a couple of years ago. I have about 20 laptops at my disposal (including ThinkPads and MacBook Pros) but I use this one the most. The build quality is surprisingly good and the battery lasts forever. I installed Linux on it after replacing the firmware, but I'm excited that Crostini might make this unnecessary on other ChromeBooks (and maybe even this model). A very important bonus of Crostini is that it will not be necessary to put the machine in developer mode.

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#84

Post by dfaigonio »

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 too easy, to useful, and would get them too much goodwill. They decided the best way to make the system easy to use was to split your files between local storage and the cloud so you don't know where anything is.

It's a stupid idea from start to finish. You shouldn't try to make sense of it.

And it depresses me. Its success demonstrates that Linux desktops could catch on in the mainstream market just fine if they had the marketing budget, brand recognition, and vendor support of Google. This team of idiots could have ended the hegemony of Microsoft and Apple for good.

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#85

Post by city41 »

lallysingh wrote: post #81
mschuster91 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

So a thinkpad.

Are there ThinkPads with touchpads as nice as MacBooks? The touchpad on my T470s is not even close.

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#86

Post by nsriv »

mschuster91 wrote: post #82
lallysingh wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So a thinkpad.

Give me a Thinkpad with a full aluminium body, a touchpad with a size that's actually usable and we'll talk. Sorry but I have developed a real dislike for small touchpads incapable of reliable gestures and full plastic bodies.

Thinkpads have magnesium chassis (X1 is carbon fiber).

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#87

Post by Filligree »

hutzlibu wrote: post #22

I only dived in crouton etc. for a short view, but I think the main reason why I did not continue (besides that it was messy) was the lack of GPU rendering (I believe there was none, at least for my ARM Modell) Is this going to be different with this approach?

OpenGL already works via llvmpipe, but of course that's software. It's enough to run some applications, though.

And yes, virtio-gpu is coming.

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#88

Post by fdrs »

bobajeff wrote: post #65
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…

Yeah, I'm happy there is official support for using Linux on a chrome book. Still holding out until Crostini is supported by more Chromebook manufacturers and can be used outside of developer mode before I get one.

crostini does not need developer mode to run. what happens is that it is still in chrome os developer channel, which means is still in beta and can have bugs, but is something diferent then developer mode, just to make things clear.

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#89

Post by turtlebits »

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?

It's a cheap more portable 2nd laptop. I much prefer it over a tablet. While the screen resolution on mine is pretty bad (768p 11"), I actually bring it around with me and am able to do elixir development with Termux.

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#90

Post by chungy »

sp332 wrote: post #56
wlesieutre wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While they're at it, they could discuss what WINE is, and more specifically, what it is not ;)

That's funny, but just because it says it's not an emulator... Well, see this page where it used to be short for Windows Emulator. http://www.faqs.org/faqs/windows-emulation/wine-faq/

There is a lot of confusion about what emulation means, and the name shifted to reflect that it will not, in fact, allow you to run your x86 Windows EXEs on a SPARC or PowerPC.
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