A Chromebook is a very nice device that is easy to use. However, it also has some limitations. Nowadays you can partially bypass that by activating Linux mode.
For most home users, a Chromebook as a laptop will provide everything they need. You can use it for word processing, emailing, browsing and so on. Android apps are also supported, so a bit of gaming and using apps already purchased for your smartphone is also an option. Now, however, the Chromebook is mainly designed for running PWAs or Progressive Web Apps.
The idea was simple: run all program code in a browser window. You can ‘install’ a PWA locally, keeping the app in the browser cache. Unfortunately, Google never distinguished between separate general browser cache and ‘code cache’. Something to remember, because if you empty your browser cache on a Chromebook, your software will not be available without an internet connection.
Beta-Linux
The biggest problem with PWAs is that there are still very few of them after years. And what is there is not always good quality. Lots of experiments, a lot of abandonware. As mentioned, you can also fall back on Android and its well-stocked Play Store. Only: do you buy a Chromebook of a few hundred Euros for that? You will also see that not all Android apps come into their own on the screen of a Chromebook. And (or) don’t know how to properly handle a physical keyboard. In short: there is still quite a lot to improve on. Now we have to wait and see what Google will do: hope that it will eventually turn out okay with those PWAs, betting on Android and high-quality apps specially developed for a Chromebook or perhaps plan C: Linux.
Limitations
Since the more recent versions of Chrome OS – the Chromebook operating system – you can turn on a Linux mode. What then actually happens is that a Linux virtual machine is getting ready. Is arranged quickly and you don’t even have to think about it. In any case, you get the well-known terminal, but desktop programs are also supported. However, there are also several shortcomings. For example, external hardware connected to a USB port is not yet supported. There are also other things that are not fully compatible with a complete Linux. This is reflected, for example, in software crashes every now and then (Libre Office turned out to be a perfect example of this during our experiments). Or it manifests itself in minor quirks, such as the values ​​that cannot be entered via the keyboard in some fields of a program such as GIMP (where Control-V then strangely works again).
Activating Linux mode
It is not without reason that Google has assigned this Linux mode in Chrome OS the predicate Beta. In other words: in principle it works, but not everything will be 100% in order. Activating Linux mode is very simple. Click on the ‘clock block’ in the bottom right corner of the screen and then in the expanded panel on the settings gear. In the window that opens, click in the column on the left Linux (beta). Click on the block Linux and on the right side Enable Linux. Wait a minute and ready!
In your app overview (button at the far left of the dock or the Plank as Google calls that thing) you will find an item Linux apps, actually an app group. Within it you will find a Store, which makes it easy to search for apps, install and manage them (or remove them again). Installed apps can be dragged from the Linux apps app group to the dock if desired. Remember, however, that all apps and their data are stored in the virtual machine.
If you switch off the virtual machine, it is important to first secure all your files created in it. For that you start the app Files and click on your left Linux files. Copy the apps you want to keep available outside the Linux virtual machine to (for example) the folder Downloads, or if necessary to an external NAS.
App store
To install software, as mentioned, start the app Software in Linux apps. Divided into various categories, you will now find a mountain of well-known (and less well-known) Linux software. As mentioned, we unfortunately encountered problems with Libre Office that crashed again and again after a few seconds to half a minute of use. GIMP and Inkscape are doing well and are very welcome additions to a Chromebook! To install a Linux app, click on an app in the overview (or on an app found after a search). In the app’s info window, click Install, follow any directions and you’ll find the app in the app group after installation Linux apps. Ready. Now you may not see an app in this app store the first time you open Software. In that case you unfortunately have to switch to the Linux command prompt once. You will also find them in the app group Linux apps. Then type the following line followed by pressing Enter:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
Tap on Y. if you are asked to do so; if it is a bit of a success, the standard supplied app store now works. Don’t you see an ‘app store’ in Linux apps at all? Then you may have to install it manually first. To do this, type the following command in the command prompt, followed by an Enter:
sudo apt-get install gnome software gnome package kit
Trying out
You may have to execute the update and upgrade command from one floor higher. Finally money that you have that command (sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade, so) every now and then to perform manually; the content of the software store (with almost only open source and therefore free software on board) is not yet automatically refreshed. For the rest, you actually have little more to do with the Linux prompt if you do not need it. Install the software you want to use. Check that everything is working properly; for example, by getting started with a freshly installed program for 15 minutes. If it crashes quickly, it is not yet compatible with the Linux virtual environment within Chrome OS. Now Google is still working hard on that, so it may be that the case will work properly in the future. So wait and see.
Backup
Once you have installed a series of Linux programs, it is wise to back up the entire virtual machine. You do this through Settings under Linux (beta) clicking on the Linux block. Then click Backup and restore and then on Backup. Choose a folder where you want to keep the backup and go. Unfortunately, only internal drives and folders can be used to store the backup. Unfortunately, because it is often a large file and that on a Chromebook with traditionally little internal storage space; 64 GB is currently the average. You can optionally use a micro SD card. Or even more convenient: temporarily store the backup locally on your Chromebook. Then you can copy it to NAS via Files. If you want to restore the backup, copy the backup file back to the Chromebook temporarily. Where you should not forget to delete that file after a restore action to keep valuable disk space free.
Mount NAS folder, that’s how it goes
By the way: to make a shared folder of your NAS accessible via Files – say the Explorer of ChromeOS – in Files, click the button with the three dots placed one below the other in the top right of the window. Then click in the open menu below Add new service on SMB file share. Fill in the requested information and that has been arranged!
