Chromebooks get support for Linux apps

Google has announced during its own developer conference that the operating system Chrome OS will support Linux. Chromebooks will eventually allow users to run Linux applications and execute Linux commands.

Chrome OS product manager Kan Liu told VentureBeat that the environment for Linux applications will be placed within a security sandbox, with the apps running on a Debian-based virtual machine. This should provide a user experience that is comparable to a computer with Linux installed as the operating system. The apps run from a Chrome OS window.

Launching the Linux apps from the launcher is similar to how the web apps and Android app launch on Chromebooks. According to a Google spokesperson, the virtual machine is designed specifically for Chrome OS and boots up in a second. The functionality is also integrated with other Chromebook features so that different windows can be used and files opened directly from the apps. The files are also in the VMs, which makes it more secure, according to Liu, because malware for the Linux environment, for example, cannot affect the rest of Chrome OS in this way.

Google’s own Pixelbook will be the first to receive support for Linux apps, but more devices will follow after that. Support for Linux apps on Chromebooks is still in early development. Ultimately, it should be available for all Chromebooks, although it will require additional file space of 300MB and a Linux kernel version of 4.4 or higher. The support in Chrome OS is not available by default; users have to activate it themselves.

A commit was noted in February, suggesting that Chrome OS might make it possible to run Linux applications. Code was added indicating that the operating system might eventually support running Linux virtual machines.