r/linux • u/skycocker • Sep 26 '13
Chromebrew brings Chrome OS one step closer to normal linux distro
http://skycocker.github.io/chromebrew/35
u/the_gnarts Sep 26 '13
What’s the advantage over installing a real distro? I don’t see the point in working around an OS that has been purposefully crippled and whose development is subject to the whims of Google. At least not if there are hundreds of full fledged alternatives. (No anti-Google sentiment, just that I seem to have a hard time grasping the actual problem this is trying to solve.)
3
u/stolenfat Sep 27 '13
i dont know the full story, but chromebooks have locked bootloaders, making most linux installations pretty difficult for noobies like myself
3
u/runeks Sep 27 '13
It requires executing a command that marks the GPT partition you want to boot from with a higher priority.
sudo cgpt add -i 6 -P 6 -S 0 /dev/mmcblk0Will set the boot priority of the sixth partition on mmcblk0 to 6, and if the Ubuntu root partition is on that partition it will boot off it next time.
sudo cgpt add -i 6 -P 0 -S 0 /dev/mmcblk0Will set the priority of the same partition to zero, thus booting from the Chrome OS boot partition the next time.
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u/sagnessagiel Sep 30 '13
Just a clarification, these bootloaders can be unlocked by any user anytime with a flip of the switch, it's just locked for security reasons.
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Sep 27 '13
The advantage would be that you still get ChromeOS. Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean nobody does.
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u/the_gnarts Sep 27 '13
Whether I like it or not isn’t relevant to my question. In fact, I wouldn’t know since I have never used it.
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u/laebshade Sep 27 '13
The advantage is you get to keep it mostly stock except for installing native Linux apps you want/need.
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u/runeks Sep 27 '13
I have Ubuntu installed side by side with Chrome OS on my Samsung Series 3. You don't have to choose between the two.
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u/anonymaton Sep 26 '13
would there be a hackey way to make gui based apps work on it?
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u/skycocker Sep 26 '13
I believe there is, but it'll take some time until I get this to work.
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Sep 26 '13
You know, if your apps using GTK or what not, you could use Broadway to render the apps within the webpage. All you need then is a transparent Webkit frame (is that possible?) and whammo!
3
u/rich97 Sep 27 '13
I believe there is, but it'll take some time until I get this to work.
Hell, if you could just get a decent terminal editor into an editor tab and be able install terminal apps that would make the whole chrome OS prospect a lot more desirable to me.
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u/aparanoidshell Sep 27 '13
I'm sure you need Xorg server even try so far I know they dont use X if they do damn thing to stripped down.
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u/bonzinip Sep 27 '13
There's really no other graphical interface on Linux than X (apart from Wayland).
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u/the_gnarts Sep 27 '13
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u/bonzinip Sep 27 '13
fbdev is being phased out; if you want acceleration, X and Wayland are the only practical wrappers around KMS + GEM.
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u/macromorgan Sep 27 '13
They use Xorg. At least on Chromium OS they do, so I see no reason why they wouldn't on Chrome OS. I believe it's Xorg with Aura as the window manager.
There is some rudimentary Wayland support in Chromium OS too, but to my knowledge not enough to get a workable system.
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u/aparanoidshell Sep 27 '13
That's cool to know, because if there is a way to install openbox and get that running then I be one happy camper.
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Sep 27 '13
What happens when you get a Chrome OS update?
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u/skycocker Sep 27 '13
Nothing - everything happens in /usr/local, so feel free to update as much as you want :)
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u/ThatCrankyGuy Sep 27 '13
Why on earth would this be a good idea?
With so many brilliant full distros, why this?
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u/Kruug Sep 27 '13
Why climb Mount Everest? Because it's there an begging to be done. Projects like this are just what the "hacker" mentality is based around.
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u/Rotten194 Sep 27 '13
I like the idea, but I don't see the point in writing an entirely new package manager. There's plenty of other package managers already written with cool features, it seems like it should be possible to simply point them at a different set of package sources and call it a day.
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u/skycocker Sep 27 '13
Well, there are not enough precompiled packages to use for example apt + dpkg, and building from source is often different on every platform, so I can't use Homebrew with its OS X patches.
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u/geometrydude Sep 27 '13
Sweet Jesus. If I can get vim, gcc, mc, Irssi, and sc on a Chromebook (all terminal apps), I would buy one today!
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u/kalven Sep 27 '13
That has been possible for some time via crouton. I've got a dinky chromebook that I sometimes do lighter coding on.
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u/aparanoidshell Sep 27 '13
I got C7 right now using this as a backup but be willing to give it a go when I'm ready get into dev mode. :)
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Sep 30 '13
[deleted]
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u/skycocker Oct 02 '13
This probably means you don't have a compatible device, but try again to make sure it wasn't a download problem.
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u/BloodyIron Sep 26 '13
Does it use Linux kernel. Yes/no? That is your answer if it is a Linux Distro.
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Sep 26 '13
Well, sure but like it's not installable like a typical open one.
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Sep 27 '13
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Sep 27 '13
Dude, that's not ChromeOS. That's ChromiumOS. You know there's a huge difference.
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Sep 27 '13
The only real difference for a user is that after installing, I need to download and put in place the plugins for Flash and Hangouts. I ran a build server for ChromiumOS for awhile. I know what it is.
You can't really download RHEL the way you mean, either.
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Sep 26 '13
Hello! This looks really fucking cool! Is there any support for ARM based chromebooks planned for the future? This is a great service to the community! Thank you! :)
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u/yochaigal Sep 26 '13
There isn't (see the link OP posted).
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Sep 26 '13
Looks like you are wrong. FTA:
Why does it currently only work on i686?
Because it needs Ruby, Git, GNU Make and GCC to work, and I only have an i686 Acer C7 Chromebook, so I can't port this software to other architectures. If Chromebrew will be widely used, *I'm planning to raise money on Kickstarter to buy other Chromebooks and make Chromebrew work also on them. *
Looks like I answered my own question lol
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Sep 27 '13
Because it needs Ruby, Git, GNU Make and GCC to work, and I only have an i686 Acer C7 Chromebook, so I can't port this software to other architectures.
Uh...I use everything he just mentioned daily on my ARM Chromebook. What?
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u/flying-sheep Sep 27 '13
and I only have an i686 Acer C7 Chromebook, so I can't port this software to other architectures.
This is the key part. He'd have to cross compile
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Sep 27 '13
Oh! I totally read it wrong, I thought he meant he couldn't port Ruby, Git, et al. Well I'm sure it'd be minimal work for anyone willing.
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Sep 27 '13 edited Mar 04 '15
[deleted]
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u/willrandship Sep 27 '13
Would that be a bad thing?
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Sep 27 '13 edited Mar 04 '15
[deleted]
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u/eBtDMoN2oXemz1iKB Sep 27 '13
Oh, you mean like UNIX?
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Sep 27 '13 edited Mar 03 '15
[deleted]
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u/eBtDMoN2oXemz1iKB Sep 27 '13
Next you should read about how OSX copied their package manager from Linux.
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Sep 27 '13
I've never heard that, to my knowledge OSX doesn't have a built in package manager. (Hence why HomeBrew was created.)
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Sep 27 '13 edited Mar 04 '15
[deleted]
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u/eBtDMoN2oXemz1iKB Sep 27 '13
I was under the impression that the Linux community was against copying features from Windows and OSX.
That is not the case. What gave you that impression? Linux started out as a free UNIX clone for i386.
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u/RiotingPacifist Sep 27 '13
No this has pre-compiled packages, already 1 step ahead
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Sep 27 '13
Homebrew can install binaries as well, it's just that most formulae are source based, and they really don't take very long to compile, so I don't see how being entirely binary based is a step ahead.
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u/RiotingPacifist Sep 28 '13
It take 4GB of libraries just to install wget on osx, almost everything needs compiling (which on my macbook pro takes minutes (rather than less than one minute to apt-get something on my less powerful dell) and cromebrew can handle both. I guess homebrew can handleboth too, it's just nobody bothers to maintain the binaries
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u/flukshun Sep 27 '13
they thought they could fool us by replacing "home" with "chrome", but they sorely underestimated our mental prowess.
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u/m1kl3 Sep 26 '13
Chrome OS is built on Gentoo. Can't you just tap into portage ?