SoylentNews

-- OriginalOwner_ [tinyurl.com] writes:

from the now,-install-something-less-limited dept.

Chrome Story reports [chromestory.com]

Back in 2014, Google announced that they would be officially updating Chromebooks for 5 years after their release date.

This seemed reasonable [and] the CR-48 is still receiving updates despite the fact that [its] official EOL date was December of last year.

[...]While every model has a date, the vast majority of them aren't "official", meaning support could extend beyond those dates. So far, the only two devices to have been "Officially announced" are the CR-48 (December 2015) and the Samsung Series 5 (June 2016)--and remember the CR-48 is still receiving updates, so even official doesn't mean official.

[...]Perhaps [Google is] supporting the CR-48 for nostalgia purposes. But it stands to reason that if the CR-48 is still receiving updates that maybe the Samsung Series 5 will too.

[...]Just please don’t complain if your device stops receiving updates. You’ve officially been warned. Your best bet is to assume that your device is going to stop receiving updates when it hits [its] official EOL date and any subsequent updates after that are just bonus.

Another device to keep an eye on is the Acer AC700, which has an EOL date of August 2016.

Linux advocate and blogger Robert Pogson writes about Liberating Crippled Chromebooks [mrpogson.com]

He points to How to Install Any Linux Distro on a Chromebook [linuxconfig.org]

the devices are hopelessly hamstrung by their ChromeOS operating system which both cuts down on the number of apps the device can run and makes it dependent on an Internet connection to get anything done.

Pogson says

This [pave-over notion] seems like a great idea for anyone already confident in their use of GNU/Linux. Liberate the Chromebook from the straight-jacket of Chrome OS [which] is a GNU/Linux OS but anchored to the browser. This procedure should permit full use of the hardware to run general applications.

A comment by typically-insightful oiaohm (once you get past his dyslexia) says

Now we are seeing chromebooks be treated exactly the same way Linux users have treated windows PC.

Original Submission