Linux is the ultimate productivity OS. This week we’ll show you how to divorce your Chromebook from Google, sync all your Linux desktops with free software and improve your workflow at the same time.
Plus the new tool from Red Hat you’ll be using soon, Ubuntu shows developers some love & the big game coming to Linux we’re excited about!
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— Show Notes: —
Because you asked…
Brought to you by: System76
Howto Install Linux on Chromebook
Suggest: ‘Linux on Chromebook how to’ LAS episode
The Acer C720 Chromebook (and newer Chromebooks in general) features a “legacy boot” mode that makes it easy to boot Linux and other operating systems. The legacy boot mode is provided by the SeaBIOS payload of coreboot. SeaBIOS behaves like a traditional BIOS that boots into the MBR of a disk, and from there into your standard bootloaders like Syslinux and GRUB.
Accessing the superuser shell with Chrome OS installed
If you have configured Chrome OS already:
- Open a crosh window with
Ctrl + Alt + T. - Open a bash shell with the
shellcommand. - Become superuser with
sudo bash
Enabling the pre-installed version of SeaBIOS
This method will allow you to access the pre-installed version of SeaBIOS through the Developer Mode screen in coreboot.
- Inside your superuser shell enter:
crossystem dev_boot_usb=1 dev_boot_legacy=1 -
Reboot the machine.
You can now start SeaBIOS by pressing Ctrl + L at the white boot splash screen.
Remove the write-protect screw to Perma-Disable the boot message warning
By removing the bottom panel of the laptop by removing the 12 visible screws and another one underneath the warranty sticker, then separating the plastic starting at the back
Finally completely remove the write-protect screw from the motherboard, which is labelled as #7 in this picture
ChromeeOS will install elementary OS (with ChrUbuntu) and apply automatically all the necessary fixes to run elementary OS on Chromebooks. You will be able to boot in ChromeOS or elementary OS on your Chromebook.
Troubleshooting
Legacy Boot Doesn’t Work
Sometimes it’s possible to break the SeaBIOS install in the flash (sometimes doing innocuous things like tweaking the GBB flags). If you do get into such a situation:
- Check that dev_boot_legacy is set to 1 when you run crossystem
- If it isn’t, then see the normal Legacy Boot section above
- if it is, then see below
You can safely reset the copy of SeaBIOS in your flash by running (as root):
# chromeos-firmwareupdate --sb_extract /tmp
# flashrom -w /tmp/bios.bin -i RW_LEGACY
OwnCloud 7 Digital Ocean Tutorial?
For xUbuntu 14.04 run the following:
sudo sh -c "echo 'deb https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/isv:/ownCloud:/community/xUbuntu_14.04/ /' >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/owncloud.list"
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install owncloud
You can add the repository key to apt. Keep in mind that the owner of the key may distribute updates, packages and repositories that your system will trust (more information). To add the key, run:
wget https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/isv:ownCloud:community/xUbuntu_14.04/Release.key
sudo apt-key add - < Release.key
Navigate to your ownCloud instance.
- If you are installing ownCloud on the same machine as you are accessing the
install wizard from, the url will be https://localhost/owncloud
Which is better files synchronizer – ownCloud or BitTorrent Sync?
BitTorrent Sync
Share directly from device to device. No cloud. No limits.
Syncthing
Syncthing replaces proprietary sync and cloud services with something open, trustworthy and decentralized. Your data is your data alone and you deserve to choose where it is stored, if it is shared with some third party and how it’s transmitted
over the Internet.
- Private. None of your data is ever stored anywhere else than on your computers. There is no central server that might be compromised, legally or illegally.
- Encrypted. All communication is secured using TLS. The encryption used includes perfect forward secrecy to prevent any eavesdropper from ever gaining access to your data.
-
Authenticated. Every node is identified by a strong cryptographic certificate. Only nodes you have explicitly allowed can connect to your cluster.
-
Syncthing in the official Arch Linux [community] repository – Syncthing Forum
Open Development
- Open Discourse. Development and usage is always open for discussion.
Syncthing Discussion Forum
* Open Source. All source code is available on GitHub — what you see is what you get, there is no hidden funny business.
Syncthing Source Code
* Open Protocol. The protocol is a documented standard — no hidden magic.
Syncthing Protocol Definition
* Open Development. Any bugs found are immediately visible for anyone to browse — no hidden flaws.
MEGAsync For Linux Desktops MEGA.co.nz Linux Sync Client
MEGAsync for Linux comes with most features available for other similar tools (like Dropbox): the tray icon displays the sync status (and if you use the Nautilus extension, the files have emblems which show their sync status), it supports selective sync, you can use proxies, you can copy a public link for a file via the Nautilus context menu and so on.
There are also some extra features: you can upload a link to MEGA directly from the tray/appindicator app and import links to your MEGA account
MEGA currently provides a multi-platform software development kit, and we have plans to release the source code to MEGAsync under an open-source license.
— PICKS —
Runs Linux
Hackers Run Linux, Acording to NBC
Desktop App Pick
slap
slap is a Sublime-like terminal-based text editor that strives to make editing
from the terminal easier. It has:
- first-class mouse support
- GUI editor-like keybindings*
- copying/pasting with OS clipboard support
- undo/redo
- syntax highlighting for many languages
- a Sublime-like file sidebar
- select word to highlight other occurrences; double-click to select word
- easy-to-use finding with regex support
- bracket matching
- … many other features that will make you leave nano, vim, and emacs behind
Weekly Spotlight
Simplicity Linux 14.10 Netbook and Desktop Alphas now available
David Purse has announced the availability of the alpha release of Simplicity Linux 14.10, a lightweight Puppy-based distribution with LXDE as the preferred desktop environment: “After a bit of a delay, the Simplicity Linux 14.10 Netbook and Desktop alphas are now available for download. All versions of Simplicity Linux 14.10 alpha are using the 3.15.4 kernel and are based on Puppy Slacko 5.9.3. As usual, Netbook is aimed at users who tend to do things online, but still want a pretty and professional looking desktop. It runs LXDE as the window manager, has Wbar as a dock, and comes complete with Firefox and TOR browser. Desktop 14.10 alpha is aimed at users who want a full-featured desktop Linux. It comes complete with LibreOffice, WINE, Java, VLC and a host of other applications. As with Netbook, it also comes with Firefox and TOR browser built in.” Here is the brief release announcement. Download (MD5): Desktop1410Alpha.iso (580MB), Netbook1410Alpha.iso (324MB).
— NEWS —
Red Hat Developers Introduce New Tool For Linux Storage Management
blivet-gui, a new open-source storage tool designed by Red Hat for configuring disks and file-systems.
This tool replaces the deprecated system-config-lvm storage management tool.
Open WebOS reborn in new LuneOS release
The Open WebOS mobile Linux operating system has been renamed “LuneOS,” and is available in an “Affogato” release supporting HP’s TouchPad and LG’s Nexus 4.
Canonical Releases Ubuntu Developer Tools Center, Makes It Easy To Install Android Studio And Android SDK In Ubuntu
The Ubuntu Developer Tools Center was created, a project to enable quick and easy setup of common developers needs on Ubuntu. For now, Canonical is focusing on Android developers, but more will follow, like Go developers, web developers, Dart and more.
Linux Gaming Round-Up: Borderlands 2, Wasteland 2 & Sanctum 2
In fact, it’s so good that we’re a little swamped by the latest bout of releases, teases and rumours! To help us (and you) get back on top of things, we’ll rattle off the biggest gaming stories of the past fortnight or so in one swoop.
cool-old-term is dead, long live cool-retro-term | Swordfish’s Labs
But why?… Well, cool-old-term was a sort of boilerplate name I chose at the beginning of the project and it stuck when the project became more popular. cool-retro-term keeps familiarity and has a very cool acronym so we can talk nerdy: “Have you tried CRT. It’s really great!”.
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