Installing Linux on a Chromebook

Installing/Running Linux on a Chromebook

There are a few ways to run Linux on a Chromebook. One of the more common methods would be using Crouton, a script that allows the installation of Linux distributions from Chrome OS, without requiring to boot separately:

1. First, you need to enable Developer Mode on your Chromebook. To do this, you’ll need to hold down the ESC and Refresh keys and then press the Power button. This reboots your Chromebook into Recovery Mode. Once you’re at the Recovery Mode screen, press Ctrl+D. This will bring up a prompt asking if you want to turn on Developer Mode. To confirm, press Enter.
2. Once you’re in Developer Mode, you’ll need to download Crouton. You can do this by visiting the GitHub page for Crouton and clicking the “goo.gl” link at the top of the page. This will automatically download the Crouton installer to your Downloads folder.
3. Open a terminal in Chrome. You can do this by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T.
4. In the terminal, type shell and press Enter. This will give you a full bash shell and is also the step where you’ll perform the rest of the actions in this guide.
5. To install Crouton, type sudo sh -e ~/Downloads/crouton -t xfce and press Enter. This will start the installation process.
6. When the installation is finished, you can start your new Linux system by typing sudo startxfce4 into the terminal and pressing Enter.

Remember, this process will make your Chromebook less secure, so make sure you understand the risks. Always ensure to back up your data before making any major changes to your system.

Once you’ve followed all of these steps, you should be able to run Linux on your Chromebook.

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