Chromebooks have gotten a lot more interesting for Linux users. Google announced at its I/O event this week that all new devices launched this year would support the popular open-source OS “right out of the box.”
Savvier types have already figured out how to run Linux distributions parallel to Chrome OS via chroot generator Crouton. There’s also a dual-boot distro optimized for Chrome called GalliumOS.
Google has made the process considerably easier, however. As ZDNet explains, users can now run Debian simply by launching the Termina VM. Ubuntu and Fedora connoisseurs may also conjure their distro of choice with a few shell commands.
Echoing Crouton’s implementation, Linux runs alongside Chrome OS simultaneously, allowing users to easily move files between the operating systems.
At Google I/O in Mountain View, Google quietly let slip that “all devices [Chromebook] launched this year will be Linux-ready right out of the box.” Wait. What? In case you’ve missed it, last year, Google started making it possible to run desktop Linux on Chrome OS. Since then, more Chromebook devices are able to run Linux. Going forward, all of them will be able to do so, too. Yes. All of them. ARM and Intel-based.