Anyone using Kubuntu on a Chromebook?

[DoYouKubuntu]

I bought an Acer Chromebook earlier this month, and it took all of...oh, about 30 minutes!, to realize its OS--despite being Linux--wasn't going to work for me. So I installed Kubuntu on it. NOW I'm happy.

Anyone else using Kubuntu on a Chromebook? If so, which method did you use? I first did the Crouton method, then ChrUbuntu. I stuck with the latter. I'm very pleased, really.

[NickStone]

Never thought about getting a Chromebook myself but now that I am back at work I am contemplating getting a Nexus 7 and installing Bodhi Linux on it (because of the Enlightenment desktop is designed for mobile computers as well as desktop/laptops).

[DoYouKubuntu]

I had Bodhi on my [recently departed] older HP laptop, and I really liked it. My newer HP laptop is running Kubuntu, of course, as are all my desktops and my newest addition, the Chromebook. I got a great deal on an Acer with a 320GB hard drive (that was a requirement for me--it MUST have an actual hard drive!), and while it's taken some getting used to (because of its MUCH smaller size than my real laptop), I love its portability. It's so light and small, I can just grab it and head outside to my patio. I have yet to take the plunge and get a tablet...and don't think I will any time soon. I like REAL keyboards and screens.

[GreyGeek]

No, I haven't run Kubuntu on a Chromebook, but I've been wondering if it were possible because Chromebooks are good, affordable computers at $200. A month ago I was at a state surplus sale where 6, 8 and 10 year old laptops (P4 and dual core) were selling for over $150 each. Broken ones and ones with parts missing were selling for $25 to $75 each!

So, it is good to hear that Kubuntu runs find on Chromebooks.

[NickStone]

...I have yet to take the plunge and get a tablet...and don't think I will any time soon. I like REAL keyboards and screens.

Like you I love computers and I prefer desktops/laptops to netbooks/tablets but I still love computers of all shapes and sizes. If I was to get a tablet I would only be using it for browsing webpages and watching / streaming videos. Everything else I'd still use my desktop and laptop.

[NickStone]

...A month ago I was at a state surplus sale where 6, 8 and 10 year old laptops (P4 and dual core) were selling for over $150 each. Broken ones and ones with parts missing were selling for $25 to $75 each!...

We have sales like them here in the UK but we call them computer fairs. You can buy just about anything computer related at a fair and much cheaper than the regular stores. I've also seen pirated copies of Windows for sale. Of course as I hate Windows that much I wouldn't even buy a very cheap pirated copy of Windows.

[DoYouKubuntu]

Hey there, GG!

Yes, Kubuntu runs fine on my Chromebook. There's supposedly some way to boot back into ChromeOS, but why would I?!

It seriously took only about 30 minutes and I was done with COS. I didn't like having to log in to the system with my gmail account, I didn't like doing things 'in the cloud' (which is not my cup of tea), and more. As soon as I put K on it I felt like I was home.

[GreyGeek]

Doesn't it use an SDD instead of an HD. How much local storage does it have?

[DoYouKubuntu]

The model I bought has a 320GB hard drive. So I'm able to install real [non-cloud] apps to my heart's content, store data as I please, and share its drive on my network for backing up files. It's really no different than any of my other computers...except for its much, much smaller size. Look at the difference between it and my real laptop:



When I first got it, I couldn't stop hitting all sorts of weird, random keys! The keyboard was just so little. But I'm much better at it now.

[SteveRiley]

You forgot to remove the warning labels.

[DoYouKubuntu]

You forgot to remove the warning labels.

But I covered up all signs of window$ [on the HP--the Chromebook doesn't have any signs of window$! ] with Kubuntu stickers. Do I get bonus points for that?

[GreyGeek]

The Chromebook shown in those pics looks exactly like my wife's Acer 0D521 netbook, an Xmas gift two years ago. I replaced XP with Kubuntu on it and she's been using with without a single problem since she got it. A beautiful little PC. Her's has an HD for storeage, not SDD.

[DoYouKubuntu]

The Chromebook shown in those pics looks exactly like my wife's Acer 0D521 netbook, an Xmas gift two years ago. I replaced XP with Kubuntu on it and she's been using with without a single problem since she got it. A beautiful little PC.

This is my first experience with Acer, so it's good to hear personal accounts of them being good. I hadn't bought anything but HP in years, but I'd read good reviews of this Acer Chromebook and--considering its price--I figured, what the hell! Also, I did something I almost never do--bought an additional warranty. So for an extra $49 it's covered for ALL issues (like spilling coffee in it) for two years.

Hers has an HD for storeage, not SDD.

Yeah, as I've said, I insisted on an actual hard drive. I mean that was one of my requirements. Its 320GB drive isn't the largest in the world, but for the limited use the Chromebook gets/will get, it's fine.

[GreyGeek]

This is my first experience with Acer, so it's good to hear personal accounts of them being good.

My first Acer was a 3690Li, bought in 2005. It was so good that I bought my wife one too. A farmer friend asked me to write a PLL tractor control program for a new kind of farm tractor he was inventing and to put him off I suggested that I would if he would buy me the new 18" Gateway game laptop being sold at the time while buying another Acer 3690 for himself to use to upload the PLL code to the control unit on the tractor. To my surprise he agreed, trapping me into writing the code for that tractor. A couple pictures of it are here.

He's still using it. I used the 3690 Acer until I replaced it with a Sony VAIO 17" laptop. A little pricey and slow but it worked Ok. When my older grandson wanted a computer I gave him the Sony and bought a 16" Acer. I used that for a year until my younger grandson said he wanted a computer so I gave that Acer to him and bought the Acer I am running now, the V3-771G. It is a 17" box with an i7 CPU and 6GB of RAM and a 750GB HD. It has an Intel HD4000 primary video and an NVidia GeForce GT 650M secondary video. The HD4000 runs so fast on the more recent upgrades of the i915 driver that I uninstalled Bumblebee and removed the optimus command from my menu structure for graphical programs.

Since 2005 I've never had an Acer fail or give one moment of trouble, and I only run Linux on them. On the Acer Aspire the only thing that doesn't work is the battery monitor, but that is probably because I never bothered to reset the keyboard to the "acer keyboard" instead of the default "Generic 101 PC keyboard". It resides in the upper left drawer of my desktop, plugged into the charger. When she wants to check her gmail or browser she opens the drawer, unplugs the charger, takes her Acer and mouse to the couch, does her thing and then returns it to the drawer. Very convenient for her and me. Since I put Kubuntu on it just after Xmas in 2010 I've never touched it or upgraded it beyond what is done automatically. The only problems she has is when a website tries to do something tricky or she inadvertently hits a combination of keys and gets a dialog she is not familiar with. But, her techie is setting close by so he gets the call!

I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Acer if I needed a new computer ... but ... my son's System76 Gazelle arrived a few days ago and I helped him set it up. Very sweet. Doesn't look like an Acer but it custom made for Linux and will probably be my next computer buy when this Acer's keyboard gets its letters rubbed off.

[DoYouKubuntu]

I know nothing about tractors, GG, but I must say that's a mighty impressive looking tractor! And I love how you got roped in as far as doing the programming.

Your experience with Acers mirrors mine with HPs. I just simply have no problems with them, other than the occasional hard drive dying, but that's not HP's fault. Hard drives die, that's just a fact of life in computing. So I kind of went out on a limb buying the Acer Chromebook, but, honestly, for its price ($200)--which, as I've said, included a 320GB real hard drive--it was too good to pass up. And I've been very pleased with it thus far. Its small size is definitely a challenge as far as typing goes, but as I've mentioned I'm getting better at it! I'm not longer hitting as many random keys as I was three weeks ago when I first got it. The best thing about it is its portability. It's just SO EASY to grab and go.