Chromebooks with the right stuff inside now are able to install and run a complete Linux experience with the KDE desktop without giving up the Chrome OS on the same device. It is not yet flawless, but it does create a hybrid computing platform that lets Linux and Android apps coexist on top of the Chrome OS. I do not mean flashing the Galium OS distribution as a replacement for Chrome OS. I have done that on an end-of-life early Chromebook with usable results. However, I mean running a complete Linux graphical environment with the KDE desktop.
Hello Seadart,
Thanks for your note about trouble running the full KDE GUI in the Chromebook Linux partition. This disclaimer of sorts from early in my article is significant:
===> Chromebooks do not yet run an actual full Linux distribution within Chrome OS. The Crostini technology is a container-like space that accommodates running Linux apps, and now a graphical user interface (GUI). <===
Truth be told, running Linux apps has been far more successful than running the apps through a full graphical user interface (GUI). Also, consider that those directions surfaced some two years ago. Much as happened within the ChromeOS and Crostini updates for Linux in the interim. I suspect that much of the problem you are having results from the vast differences in Chromebook hardware and configurations from manufacturer to manufacturer.
I had partial success as the included photos show on that one Chromebook. On other models, the GUI was less successful. I have not tried installing the KDE desktop on newer Chromebooks mostly because running Linux apps without the desktop interface on Chromebooks is much more reliable. Other solutions might create workarounds to get KDE to load on your Chromebook. I am not aware of any, however.
I use Linux apps on a variety of Chromebooks, some several years old and others the latest models. Once you get comfortable installing each Linux app you want to use via the terminal, the icon becomes part of the integrated ChromeOS application menu. I put all the Linux apps that I use in a Linux folder within the menu so all I have to do is click on the icon just like launching Android apps downloaded from the Play Store on Chromebooks.
You do not need a full desktop interface for Linux on Chromebooks, although when and if it works that makes a nice feature within ChromeOS. I hope this smooths out your frustration. Between using PWAs within the Chrome browser, Android apps, and Linux apps, Chromebooks can provide a productive hybrid computing platform.
Seadart
Had Linux loaded already. Followed instructions for KDE - have quite a few new apps in the Linux folder.
KDE refuses to start:
-bash startkde unknown
Tried the initrc fix; restarted etc; no help. Tried some of the apps in the Linux folder - most worked, some odly: knotes seemed to work but cannot find the folder it had me create! Ksudoku works better than before - can save with ctrl S now.
How do I get the desktop to work? Acer Spin 13 8gb ram; i5 proccesor.
Chromebooks are to Notebook computers, as Android are to Nokia Symbian smartphones. Both Chromebooks & Android are new, and both threaten the majority holders in their market sectors.
Had some trouble understanding your writings, many months after you had written them. The hardware & software is obviously dated, but not enough detail was presented to understand how relevant the writing is to today's situation.
Here in Australia, we have so much home-schooling, remote working, etc. The internet has arrived, so physical transport (shopping, educations, meetings, exhibitions, etc) has almost ended. Covid-19 has made "THE FUTURE" arrive earlier than most had ever expected.
Not yet dead myself (frail, very old), so decided to see if the old systems can fit today's students. Not notebooks, not smartphones & not iPads. They are costly, limited & difficult for beginners. So we need CHROMEBOOKS.
Trouble is Chrome OS is the commercial version of Chromium OS (open source). Android at the beginning had this same beginning. Hopefully we might see Chromium Books one day, without the USA-government approved spyware from Google?
Luckily Google has dropped the impossible goal of "DO NO HARM". However if the USA government says "don't trust Huawei!", then Google obediently follows.
Back to Chromebooks: we need them for our non-profit, non-commercial agencies: education, lobby groups, special interest groups, etc. Lobby groups, like Donald Trump's Anti-Abortion groups" and Pro-Guns lobby? Yes. The USA government approves, so Google's Chromebooks allows this.
The other advantage of Chromebook is being able to run both Android & Linux applications. However the hardware is important. More memory, better CPU & GPU, makes everything work, if it works OK at all.
When recommending any hardware, we need to know the test hardware being used. Generally the latest hardware is lower priced, better featured than ancient hardware. Perhaps you might mention hardware features in later publications? It would save us need to web search whether your writings are still useful for us.
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How to Run the Linux KDE Desktop on a Chromebook
Posted by: Jack M. Germain March 11, 2020 11:22 AMChromebooks with the right stuff inside now are able to install and run a complete Linux experience with the KDE desktop without giving up the Chrome OS on the same device. It is not yet flawless, but it does create a hybrid computing platform that lets Linux and Android apps coexist on top of the Chrome OS. I do not mean flashing the Galium OS distribution as a replacement for Chrome OS. I have done that on an end-of-life early Chromebook with usable results. However, I mean running a complete Linux graphical environment with the KDE desktop.
Had some trouble understanding your writings, many months after you had written them. The hardware & software is obviously dated, but not enough detail was presented to understand how relevant the writing is to today's situation.
Here in Australia, we have so much home-schooling, remote working, etc. The internet has arrived, so physical transport (shopping, educations, meetings, exhibitions, etc) has almost ended. Covid-19 has made "THE FUTURE" arrive earlier than most had ever expected.
Not yet dead myself (frail, very old), so decided to see if the old systems can fit today's students. Not notebooks, not smartphones & not iPads. They are costly, limited & difficult for beginners. So we need CHROMEBOOKS.
Trouble is Chrome OS is the commercial version of Chromium OS (open source). Android at the beginning had this same beginning. Hopefully we might see Chromium Books one day, without the USA-government approved spyware from Google?
Luckily Google has dropped the impossible goal of "DO NO HARM". However if the USA government says "don't trust Huawei!", then Google obediently follows.
Back to Chromebooks: we need them for our non-profit, non-commercial agencies: education, lobby groups, special interest groups, etc. Lobby groups, like Donald Trump's Anti-Abortion groups" and Pro-Guns lobby? Yes. The USA government approves, so Google's Chromebooks allows this.
The other advantage of Chromebook is being able to run both Android & Linux applications. However the hardware is important. More memory, better CPU & GPU, makes everything work, if it works OK at all.
When recommending any hardware, we need to know the test hardware being used. Generally the latest hardware is lower priced, better featured than ancient hardware. Perhaps you might mention hardware features in later publications? It would save us need to web search whether your writings are still useful for us.