We’ve already seen Ubuntu loaded up on Samsung’s $249 ARM-powered Chromebook, but the Linux modding hasn’t stopped there.
Indeed, ARM employee Andrew Wafaa recently ported openSUSE to run on the device, while blogger George McBay posted a guide for accessing some of the underlying features of Chrome OS – without affecting the operating system’s behavior.
As Liliputing’s Brad Linder notes, Chrome OS is actually based on Linux. Specifically, Samsung’s Chromebook is running a specialized version of Gentoo Linux. As such, you can call up a Linux terminal and install the Go programming language or execute OS-specific commands.
”One of the key advantages to Chrome OS is that all of your settings, apps, and other preferences are automatically backed up online and synchronized with your other devices,” explained Linder.
“If you start making changes to the Gentoo system you lose those synchronization features…. [However], you do keep the ability to use Chrome OS while also getting an opportunity to run some other Linux software.”
As TG Daily previously reported, Samsung’s Chromebook features an 11.6 inch display, a Samsung Exynos 5 dual core ARM-based processor (Cortex-A15) and approximately 6.5 hours of battery life.
Additional specs for include 802.11n/WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, a USB 3.0 port, a USB 2.0 port, HDMI output, a VGA camera, 16GB of storage, 2GB of RAM, 10 second boot time and instant resume from sleep.
Chrome OS can best be described as a Linux-based operating system designed to work exclusively with web applications and Mountain View’s cloud-based Google Drive.
The operating system was announced on July 7, 2009, with the first Intel-based Chromebooks shipping on June 15, 2011.
