ChrUbuntu hits Alpha for ARM-powered Chromebooks



Samsung’s $249 ARM-powered Chromebook may be one of the most anticipated devices of the years for devs, modders and Linux enthusiasts.



Indeed, we’ve already seen Ubuntu loaded up on the cloud-centric laptop, along with a port of openSUSE and a published guide to accessing the Gentoo Linux kernel that powers the versatile Chromebook. 



And now a developer has released ChrUbuntu 12.04 Alpha 1, a version of Ubuntu Linux that is specifically coded for the Google’s new lineup of ARM-based Chromebooks. 



As expected, there are a number of issues associated with the Alpha build, including no sound, finicky touchpad a lack of accelerated graphics and a missing browser (Chromium can be installed).  



What does work? WiFi, Bluetooth and battery monitor, as well as support for the USB/SD card.


Interested? You can check out download and installation instructions here.

As TG Daily previously reported, Samsung’s Chromebook features an 11.6 inch display, a Samsung Exynos 5 dual core ARM-based processor (Cortex-A15) and approximately 6.5 hours of battery life.

Additional specs for include 802.11n/WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, a USB 3.0 port, a USB 2.0 port, HDMI output, a VGA camera, 16GB of storage, 2GB of RAM, 10 second boot time and instant resume from sleep.

Chrome OS can best be described as a Linux-based operating system designed  to work exclusively with web applications and Mountain View’s cloud-based Google Drive.

The operating system was announced on July 7, 2009, with the first Intel-based Chromebooks shipping on June 15, 2011.