Linux Apps

Using Linux under chromeOS / Flex

Click here. to read an article from May 2024 called "ChromeOS Flex: The Flexibility and Complexity of Linux Apps" that might give you a few ideas that could work for you.

Methods for using Linux Apps

If you want full Linux Apps on your Chromebook, you can use an installation method known as Crouton which will work on any Chromebook, no matter the processor or Linux kernel version. 

If you want to easily switch back and forth between your Linux Apps and web-based tools, you can alternatively run a Linux desktop inside a single browser tab. 

If you’d prefer each App to have its own window [so that it feels more native] you can do that too.

If you want to install a GUI for Linux Apps then follow the instructions in this short video called "Chrome OS Flex - Google Play Store Alternative !"

Linux terminal commands

If you want full Linux Apps on your Chromebook, you can use an installation method known as Crouton which will work on any Chromebook, no matter the processor or Linux kernel version. 

If you want to easily switch back and forth between your Linux Apps and web-based tools, you can alternatively run a Linux desktop inside a single browser tab. 

If you’d prefer each App to have its own window [so that it feels more native] you can do that too.

cd

The cd command stands for “change directory” and it does exactly what you would think. In Chrome OS, the default directory for the command line is the Linux folder that’s in your Files App. Sometimes, you will need to access files that are not in the same tree as the Linux folder. Example: You need to add a third-party repository to your sources.list file so that you can download a package not available from Debian Stretch. The cd command is how you point the terminal toward the folder you are wanting to work with at that moment. In the example above, you would enter cd /etc/apt in the terminal. From there, you would be able to open the sources.list file with a text editor. If you are working a number of nested “folder,” you can move up one directory by typing cd .. and hitting enter.

ls

If you just want to see what files are inside a given directory, look no further than the ls command. Typing this command in the terminal will show you every file and directory inside the current directory. This makes it a lot easier to cd into another folder when you have a large number of files and you aren’t sure which one you need to open. The color of the text output will vary depending on what type of items are in the given folder. In my terminal, Folders/directories are blue and files are white or teal depending on their file type. If you’re trying to run a command and you get a “not found” error, ls is a quick way to see if the file exists in the active directory.

Sudo

The sudo command originally meant “superuser do” because it ran commands as the root super user without any privilege restrictions. More recent iterations allow users to run commands not only as the unrestricted root user but other, restricted users as well. In a full-blown Linux desktop environment, the sudo command isn’t needed as frequently as it is when you’re living life inside the terminal. For Chrome OS, using sudo more the rule than the exception. Many of the commands we use inside the Chromebook Linux terminal will require root access. Therefore, sudo is appended to the front of whatever command it is you are executing.

For example, when we are checking the Debian repository for package updates, we use the command apt-get update. Many Linux distros do this action via whatever software center they use and the priveliges needed are already in place. Like other operating systems, you will see an update notification and simply click to update. Since the default user in the Chrome OS Linux terminal isn’t technically the super user, you have to run the update command with sudo at the beginning like so:

sudo apt-get update

If you attempt to run a command in the terminal and you receive a message that says “are you root?,” then adding sudo will normally complete the execution. To switch to the root user in the terminal and negate the need for sudo, you can simply run the command sudo su and you will now be using the super user account.

top

Task managers are very handy little creatures and practically every operating system has its own iteration. Outside of the desktop environment, the top command is the quickest way to see what resources are being used by which packages. This command will give you a snapshot of cpu and memory usage along with other useful bits of information such as task ownership, shared memory and more. This is a quick, easy way to identify what packages may be draining your precious system resources.

uname

To find out basic system information, the uname command is what you need. If you type uname in the terminal and hit enter, the output should be “Linux” as that’s what’s running in the container. For a bit more detail, you can type uname -a and you will see the OS, Linux kernel version, release date and the native architecture of your container. This information is especially useful if you are running into issues with a program and are seeking help from other users. Kernel information and system architecture play a bit part in package compatibility and it’s good to have it on hand at a moment’s notice.

Bonus "Matrix" command

With the 4th installment of the Matrix in the works, wouldn’t it be fun to turn your terminal into a Matrix screensaver? You can do just that by installing cmatrix. Just install it with the command sudo apt install cmatrix and then type cmatrix in the terminal and hit enter. Pretty cool, huh? To exit the Matrix, just hit Ctrl+C and you’ll return to the command line prompt. That’s all for today. See you later this week as we dig a little deeper into the Linux terminal for Chrome OS.

Lacros Browser {Linux}

Click here to jump to it's dedicated page

Alternative Browsers

Brave Browser

Built to block ads and trackers, Brave boasts that their browser can attain speeds twice that of Chrome.

Click here to learn how to install the Brave Browser on a Chromebook.

Edge Browser from Microsoft

Click here to learn how to install the Edge on a Chromebook. Be sure to navigate to correct download page for the Linux (.deb) option

Tor Browser

The Tor Project has created a free, anonymizing computer network that anyone can use to maintain their privacy online. 

The Tor network uses the regular internet infrastructure along with its own overlay network of volunteer-provided Tor nodes.

Click here to learn how to install the Tor Browser on a Chromebook.

Flatpaks

Click here to read a ChromUnboxed article called "Install these popular desktop Apps and more on your Chromebook with Flatpak" that shows you how to install Linux Apps on a Chromebook.