Linux on a chrome book?

[Linux for blind general discussion]

Hi Cheryl,

My experience with a chromebook was years ago, an Acer
netbook, I think the C11 processor. Not sure if it will be
relevant to today's chromebooks, but here goes. With that
model, first you have to use a special key combination at
boot to set development mode.  Then you go through a
somewhat complicated process of installing your precious
non-google partition.  Then at every boot, the machine
prompts you if you want to leave development mode. The
problem is that by simply saying yes (hitting the space
bar) your whole painfully-installed system gets clobbered
and your netbook goes back to the factory default google OS.
So backup your data, and keep the USB key you prepared for
the installation: you may need it again.

My dad had a run of several years using his chromebook with
debian and a couple simple apps till one day he hit the wrong button
at boot. At that point it was easier to give him a new-used
notebook than duplicate the install effort, which was many hours
over several days.

joel

On Tue, Jul 31, 2018 at 01:59:16AM -0500, Linux for blind general discussion wrote:
> I have an iMac and a MacBook Air running Mac and of course I am using the
> terminal lots, mostly with MacPorts. But I have wanted a standalone linux
> machine. I know somebody who has a tablet and no longer wants the Acer
> chromebook. I don't yet know all the specs except that it is 15.6 inch and
> as I believe 2 usb ports; should find out more shortly. I wondered if it
> would be possible to install linux and install it accessibly on this
> machine. I have used debian and arch linux in the past and wondered what I
> should plan to use. I am more interested in the command line than in the gui
> though I won't totally rule out the possibility that I might also experiment
> with the gui in linux. When I started using linux, of course, the gui wasn't
> really an option.
> 
> There is one other thing I am concerned abut. I had thinkpads that ran linux
> for years. Both of them died and it appeared to be a fan problem. That might
> have been just a natural consequence of their age but I am concerned about
> getting an apparently new computer and having this happen. In my old Debian
> installs way back in the earlier part of this century, it seemed as if those
> settings were automatically set up and compatible with the running of my
> computers' fans. Are there any versions of linux that either still seem to
> have a good record or, on the other hand, have been known
> to leave so much to the user that a fan problem could quickly result. I also
> had this problem with a Mac minias fan though again, the mini had also
> previously had a long life with me as a Mac OS computer. I did have one Mac
> mini that never had any fan issues running linux.
> 
> Any inut as to the usability of a chromebook and the best linux distribution
> to use, especially for command line emphasis, would be appreciated. I would
> want to mostly use brltty with emphasis on its braille capabilities but
> wouldn't mind being able to set up speech also. I definitely would like to
> have sound for other purposes than speech if possible.
> 
> 
> -- 
> Cheryl
> 
> May the words of my mouth
> and the meditation of my heart
> be acceptable to You, Lord,
> my rock and my Redeemer.
> (Psalm 19:14 HCSB)
> 
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-- 
Joel Roth