“there are still some things a Chromebook can’t do as well as a traditional fat-client style desktop. For me, it’s graphics. I don’t do much graphics work, but I do some and when I do my program of choice is the Gnu Image Manipulation Program (GIMP). While ChromeOS is based on Linux, it doesn’t natively support sophisticated Linux programs such as GIMP, LibreOffice, or the Evolution mail client.
Fortunately, there’s an easy way to add desktop Linux to a Chromebook to give you the best of both worlds: traditional Linux and Chrome OS.”HA! SJVN points out some things that other OS can’t do on a Chromebook, like run at all, run GNU/Linux OS of your choice and run FLOSS applications. That other OS would have some rule against that, like UEFI keys or the EULA, or some incompatibility… but because GNU/Linux underlies Chrome OS and GNU/Linux is mostly GPL and other FLOSS, there’s nothing preventing the user from getting the maximum benefit from the hardware they own.
Now, there really is a way to buy a notebook PC just about everywhere without the “tax” M$ imposes. Just buy a Chromebook.
We’ve been here a while – search
Tags
- 2015 - Year of the GNU/Linux Desktop
- Acer
- adoption
- AMD
- android
- Apple
- ARM
- China
- cloud
- Debian
- Dell
- desktop
- education
- firearms
- FLOSS
- food
- garden
- GNU/Linux
- government
- HP
- hunting
- Intel
- LibreOffice
- Linux
- market share
- migration
- politics
- renewable energy
- Samsung
- security
- server
- small cheap computers
- smart phone
- software-patents
- Solo EV
- tablets
- that other OS
- thin client
- thin clients
- trolls
- Trumpism
- Ubuntu
- uptake
- weather
My Mission
My observations and opinions about IT are based on 40 years of use in science and technology and lately, in education. I like IT that is fast, cost-effective and reliable. My first use of GNU/Linux in 2001 was so remarkably better than what I had been using, I feel it is important work to share GNU/Linux with the world. Now that I'm retired I still use GNU/Linux on every computer in my home except the smartphones which run Android/Linux.Lately, I've been giving lots of thought to the world I inherited and which I will leave to my descendants. I'm planting grass, trees, flowers and vegetables in my large lot and I've ordered a Solo EV. I plan to charge my Solo by means of a tracking solar array. Life is good if you have a purpose. I do.
Outlinks
Posts
The sad problem (and concerning) in this situation is that big companies are doing their best to prevent user from running what he/she wants in the hardware he/she bought.
Now: Apple’s bootcamp, M$: locked UEFI boot and Google’s Chromebooks boot: http://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/22465.html
So, it’s a dire state of things…
Actually, I wanted to wipe the HD clean and install a GNU/Linux distro on it. But, I’m finding it quite difficult, as difficult as locked UEFI boot, if not more…
Agent_Smith wrote, “what about the rest of us, who use Slack”.
Slackware has chroot. It should be possible to get this working with Slackware. The scripts are FLOSS. Without modifying the scripts, you may be able to create a chroot in the Debian GNU/Linux chroot to run Slackware. Haven’t tried it but I don’t know any reason it would not work. You could also try to break out of the chroot or overwrite Debian with Slackware. Make a tarball of Slackware. Download it to the Debian chroot. Run Slackware. It’s GNU/Linux. You can do anything if you are root. If a binary incompatibility prevents that, you can build Slackware from source code in the chroot. Why bother if it’s just applications you want to run? They are virtually identical from the user’s perspective.
Oh, boy, it is still with Debian based distros. And, what about the rest of us, who use Slack ???
Man, talk about unfairness…
I am surprised that OEMs have not supplied chrome-type devices with Linux as well.