How Ubuntu Linux could help Google's Cr-48 notebook
Given the Cr-48's Web-centric focus, early attempts at dual-booting Linux might be a sign that that's what the product needs
Google's Chrome OS-based Cr-48 notebook computer may be in just a select set of hands so far, but it's been generating plenty of media attention.
Reviews to date have been largely mixed, though of course the details of the specific hardware in the devices right now won't matter much in the long run.
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What's been particularly interesting, though, is that while the world awaits the arrival of official Chrome OS notebooks, a number of enterprising technophiles have already found a way -- and a reason -- to add Linux to these early devices.
Looking beyond the browser
Linux aficionados, of course, have a long history of replacing factory-installed operating systems -- Windows, especially -- with a Linux distribution instead. In the case of Windows, there are countless good reasons to do so.
Such moves may be for practical or ethical reasons, but in the case of the Chrome OS notebook, it's clear from reviews that there are some things the Cr-48 just isn't designed for, such as most things outside the browser.
Google chimes in
So, in true Linux geek fashion, there's evidently been a concerted effort to get Ubuntu, the most popular Linux distribution of all time, up and running on the device.
And running it now is, if the YouTube video below is any indication.
Ubuntu 10.10, or Maverick Meerkat, is running on the device in that video, and despite the fact that the whole purpose of sending out the notebooks was to test Chrome OS, a separate post on Google's own site even offers a tutorial on making that happen.
