I’m thinking of replacing Chrome OS on an older Chromebook (Acer CB-314) that’s been slowing down a lot. I don’t know what Google is doing but it feels like planned obsolescence. It’s becoming unresponsive even for regular web browsing and VOD. Based on some online guides I think I need to open the device to flip a hardware switch that makes the firmware write protected, so I need to convince my significant other to let me do it, because it’s her laptop, but she keeps complaining :)
I was thinking of putting Mint on it, I want it to be super simple.
I would also consider some atomic distro so she can’t break it :) Maybe Fedora Silverblue or something like that.
I’ve done the hardware mod on an older chromebook and it’s about the least risky mod you could possibly do. And it looks like your model just requires disconnecting the internal battery cable temporarily which is similarly easy to the method I needed (removing a screw).
Probably a little bit of risk from possibly fragile connectors, but that should be okay if you take care.
Silverblue is what I’m putting on my partner’s older PC, the fact that it atomic is a big plus-point.
Be warned though, some less common non-cli packages are more difficult to install. If your SO needs something along those lines, mint may be better.
For example, nordVPN has a nice GUI interface, but it has no appimage or flatpak, so it won’t work on silverblue without modifying the ostree. That’s not a good idea, so on my (bazzite) PC I have installed a simple openVPN GUI package, and set it up to use our nordVPN account. It works fine, but it’s not a pretty map-based interface, just a giant list of servers.
You can install local RPM files, but you would have to manually update them (by uninstalling the old and installing the new) with each update.
I use Mullvad on Bazzite, and have had no issue just installing the app using rpm-ostree. Works just fine. Dunno if they have the Nord app in the repository.
You might also be able to run it in a Fedora toolbox or Arch distrobox, but I never tried.
I am aware of the limitations. She is a really BASIC user. Just uses the web browser (Chrome, because it’s a Chrome OS, well — I’ll switch her to Firefox and she won’t notice ;) ), she surfs the net, watches YT and VOD (I know the DRM limitations, again, not an issue with her, she’s perfectly happy with 720p in a window) and chats Facebook Messenger (sadly). I think an atomic distro can do all that out of the box and there’s nothing to install that’s not a web app or a Flatpak.
Is rpm-ostree how you get the other packages? I don’t know much about it apart from what’s on Fedora’s website, my understanding is it modifies the local system image so whatever you install from RPM becomes part of it. But, again, she won’t need it. She’s the compete opposite of a power user.
Yes, that’s exactly how RPM works. it’s supposed to be a last resort if options like distrobox or homebrew can’t deliver what you need. It can break stuff if you are not careful.
That’s the beauty of it, though. If it breaks, you just roll back to the previous layer and carry on like nothing happened. Totally get where you’re coming from though.
I’m thinking of replacing Chrome OS on an older Chromebook (Acer CB-314) that’s been slowing down a lot. I don’t know what Google is doing but it feels like planned obsolescence. It’s becoming unresponsive even for regular web browsing and VOD. Based on some online guides I think I need to open the device to flip a hardware switch that makes the firmware write protected, so I need to convince my significant other to let me do it, because it’s her laptop, but she keeps complaining :)
I was thinking of putting Mint on it, I want it to be super simple.
I would also consider some atomic distro so she can’t break it :) Maybe Fedora Silverblue or something like that.
I’ve done the hardware mod on an older chromebook and it’s about the least risky mod you could possibly do. And it looks like your model just requires disconnecting the internal battery cable temporarily which is similarly easy to the method I needed (removing a screw).
Probably a little bit of risk from possibly fragile connectors, but that should be okay if you take care.
What did you put on your Chromebook instead of Chrome OS?
I told her I will buy her a new laptop if I screw up :D Even with that risk I’d like to try.
Silverblue is what I’m putting on my partner’s older PC, the fact that it atomic is a big plus-point.
Be warned though, some less common non-cli packages are more difficult to install. If your SO needs something along those lines, mint may be better.
For example, nordVPN has a nice GUI interface, but it has no appimage or flatpak, so it won’t work on silverblue without modifying the ostree. That’s not a good idea, so on my (bazzite) PC I have installed a simple openVPN GUI package, and set it up to use our nordVPN account. It works fine, but it’s not a pretty map-based interface, just a giant list of servers.
You can install local RPM files, but you would have to manually update them (by uninstalling the old and installing the new) with each update.
I use Mullvad on Bazzite, and have had no issue just installing the app using rpm-ostree. Works just fine. Dunno if they have the Nord app in the repository.
You might also be able to run it in a Fedora toolbox or Arch distrobox, but I never tried.
I am aware of the limitations. She is a really BASIC user. Just uses the web browser (Chrome, because it’s a Chrome OS, well — I’ll switch her to Firefox and she won’t notice ;) ), she surfs the net, watches YT and VOD (I know the DRM limitations, again, not an issue with her, she’s perfectly happy with 720p in a window) and chats Facebook Messenger (sadly). I think an atomic distro can do all that out of the box and there’s nothing to install that’s not a web app or a Flatpak.
Is rpm-ostree how you get the other packages? I don’t know much about it apart from what’s on Fedora’s website, my understanding is it modifies the local system image so whatever you install from RPM becomes part of it. But, again, she won’t need it. She’s the compete opposite of a power user.
Yes, that’s exactly how RPM works. it’s supposed to be a last resort if options like distrobox or homebrew can’t deliver what you need. It can break stuff if you are not careful.
Anyway, then I’d definitely go with silverblue.
For what it’s worth, I’ve never had an RPM install break anything on Silverblue, and I fuck with it mercilessly at times.
Thanks for sharing. I’m too paranoid, as I have very little free time to fix stuff if it breaks. Still good to know.
That’s the beauty of it, though. If it breaks, you just roll back to the previous layer and carry on like nothing happened. Totally get where you’re coming from though.