Chromebooks Support Debian Applications
Containerized Debian environment is now available through the Chrome OS dev channel.
Google is finally bringing the ability to install and run traditional Linux apps in Chrome OS. The company announced Project Crostini back in May during the Google I/O event. Initially it was announced for Google Pixel, but support for Linux started landing on supported devices recently.
Chrome Unbox, a site that covers Chrome OS, reported that they have managed to install Debian apps on Chromebook.
If you are running the dev channel of Chrome OS, you can easily enable support for Linux on Chromebooks. All you need to do is go to Settings > About Chrome OS > Detailed build information and change the channel from stable to ‘dev’. It will ask you to powerwash your device, which means deleting all data and re-formatting the machine. Once the device is powerwashed, you would be running the latest dev branch of Chrome OS.
Users running dev channel will notice an option to enable Linux apps under the ‘settings > device’ option. Once you enable Linux, it will download and install the terminal app, which runs Debian with custom packages.
Users can simply run ‘apt-get’ to update Debian on Chromebook and install desired apps. Of course, it’s just the beginning and things need to be ironed out.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
CachyOS Now Lets Users Choose Their Shell
Imagine getting the opportunity to select which shell you want during the installation of your favorite Linux distribution. That's now a thing.
-
Wayland 1.24 Released with Fixes and New Features
Wayland continues to move forward, while X11 slowly vanishes into the shadows, and the latest release includes plenty of improvements.
-
Bugs Found in sudo
Two critical flaws allow users to gain access to root privileges.
-
Fedora Continues 32-Bit Support
In a move that should come as a relief to some portions of the Linux community, Fedora will continue supporting 32-bit architecture.
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 Drops bcachefs
After a clash over some late fixes and disagreements between bcachefs's lead developer and Linus Torvalds, bachefs is out.
-
ONLYOFFICE v9 Embraces AI
Like nearly all office suites on the market (except LibreOffice), ONLYOFFICE has decided to go the AI route.
-
Two Local Privilege Escalation Flaws Discovered in Linux
Qualys researchers have discovered two local privilege escalation vulnerabilities that allow hackers to gain root privileges on major Linux distributions.
-
New TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro Powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300
The TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen10 offers serious power that is ready for your business, development, or entertainment needs.
-
LibreOffice Tested as Possible Office 365 Alternative
Another major organization has decided to test the possibility of migrating from Microsoft's Office 365 to LibreOffice.
-
Linux Mint 20 Reaches EOL
With Linux Mint 20 at its end of life, the time has arrived to upgrade to Linux Mint 22.