

Ask HN: Do you use a Chromebook for dev? What is your toolchain? - jklein11

I am thinking about getting a Chromebook to use on the go to thinker with. I like that it is light weight and inexpensive. I&#x27;ve also read some positive reviews about using crouton but was curious if anyone has been successful with it more than just as a proof of concept.
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watchdogtimer
I had been using a C720 with crouton up until a week ago. I usually just close
the lid to hibernate it, but that particular day I turned it off. When I
turned it back on, I couldn't restart crouton ("Cannot open /dev/tty0 (No such
file or directory")

I suspect that's the result of an update in the underlying ChromeOS, but I
can't say for sure. Regardless, I think I'll wipe ChrOS off anyway and just
put Debian Jessie on it. I don't like to think my setup can be broken by an
underlying OS update.

I mostly like the hardware. My biggest gripe is the lack of a delete key on
the keyboard, and the placement of the power button just above the backspace
key makes it easy to hit inadvertently,

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brudgers
I was thinking about one. I bought a used ThinkPad X201 off EBay for
significantly less money...including a replacement battery.

I avoided to jumping through hoops to get Linux installed, avoided managing
scarce local storage, gained a copy of Windows 7, and got glorious hardware
with a robust secondary support market.

Oh, and the keyboard. What I gave up was spending an extra $100 to get
something new. For me it was worth it. YMMV. If I didn't want Linux (or
Windows) The calculus might be different.

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Sfi81
I run Ubuntu Trusty with kernal 3.19 on HP Chromebook 14 4GBRAM on which I
upgraded the SSD to 64GB as my personal dev machine.I mostly work with Go, JS
which work very well & Android Studio - the last is a bit slow but bearable -
battery life is excellent. The most important enablers were buying a Haswell
processor based model with support for Legacy boot and upgrading the ssd
without which it's not really feasible to use it as a dev machine.
[http://chromebook-falco.blogspot.in/?m=1](http://chromebook-
falco.blogspot.in/?m=1)

Look up the ChrUbubuntu script for pointers on partitioning but it's not
really needed as newer Linux kernals have most of the patches it applies.
[http://chromeos-cr48.blogspot.in/2013/10/chrubuntu-for-
new-c...](http://chromeos-cr48.blogspot.in/2013/10/chrubuntu-for-new-
chromebooks-now-with.html?m=1)

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vwoolf
I've never owned one but have a friend who uses one (although I don't recall
his model). He observed that it works reasonably well for stuff that's
primarily going to happen server-side (shocking, I know) but that he prefers a
conventional OS X / Linux / Windows system because he often finds himself
wanting to do things locally that should be easy (i.e. scripting, little GUIs)
but actually turn out to be hard. It's 90% there but that last 10% makes it
not really worth it for him.

He also observed that modern MacBooks and good Linux machines, like that 13"
Dell, can be bought for $1000 – $1500 and last for years. For those prices
he'd rather buy, either new or refurbished, and have less hassle.

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rajeshmr
Asus x205ta is a better, lighter, cheaper alternative to chromebooks. Install
vagrant and use linux. This works perfectly fine for me, have been using this
setup for months now, and did i tell you the screen quality and battery life
are excellent! All i needed was a browser and command line. I got both with
this tiny little machine :)

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EpiphanyMachine
I use one daily, I replaced my macbook pro with the pixel 2. I also use a
Toshiba Chromebook 2.

I use node, ruby, postgres, redis, rvm, nvm, terminator, atom, and smartgit.

I have tried sublime and visual studio code also and both work, I just prefer
atom.

All programs I have open in their own window or tab and use chromeos native
browser for web browsing and dev tools. One exception is smartgit. It spins up
multiple processes and I haven't figured out how to run it without running a
full Ubuntu desktop.

If you plan to try it out install crouton with xiwi,extension targets and use
xiwi to open the programs.

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axaxs
My only dev computer anymore is an HP Chromebook 14 with 4GB ram. I run linux
on it only(antergos at the moment, but ubuntu installs fine too), no dual
booting or traces of ChromeOS left behind. This is not just a proof of
concept, it is my daily driver and I can answer any questions about it.

Pros -

Lightweight

~8 hours battery life

Great keyboard

Boots and shuts down very fast

Extremely durable for what it is. My 90 lb bloodhound steps on it constantly,
and has never harmed it despite my freaking out.

Cons -

Suspend/hibernate is flaky - I disable them

The touchpad was hard to get used to

Hard drive space can be limited (16 GB in my case).

Overall, I much prefer it to a fullsize laptop. If you have any questions, let
me know.

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Simsor
I have an Acer C200 (low-end Chromebook) running Crouton. I use it for all my
day-to-day programming because it has great battery life (about 10 hours).

There are occasional slowdowns, mainly when using Firefox. The 16Gb of SSD are
quite limiting, but it's usable.

I mainly develop using Emacs with various extensions. I've tried Eclipse and
it wasn't even remotely powerful enough. I do Python, C++, Web dev and a bit
of Common Lisp.

Be aware that dual-booting Linux isn't yet possible on BayTrail-powered
Chromebooks because of compatibility issues with SeaBIOS.

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geoffw8
Used one travelling Xmas 2013, its pretty good value theres no denying that. I
did have some problems with some binaries, I'm sure someone else could better
explain it but I think it was something to do with the processor it runs on,
mySQL (I think it was) was a nuisance to get up and running because of it.
Must have worked, though, because I worked on it for a month or so.

Obviously it doesn't compare to something like a Macbook Air - which I have
with me this time round.

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groundCode
I've been using a Samsung Series 5 XE55 for quite a while - about 2 years now.

I've installed crouton and the extension that lets it run in a browser tab. It
works pretty well for development tasks. I also use a couple of cloud dev
environments (nitrous.io and codeanywhere) and of course just straight up ssh
into a server if I feel like it.

I tend to work in any of ruby, python, c#, go, php, general front end
javascript, html, css and lots of database stuff - so essentially various
forms of web dev. I've never really had any trouble getting things up and
running in croutaon - even managed to get mono and c# working and the latest
visual studio code on it.

Which of the three options I use (crouton, cloud, ssh) is really down to whim.
I'm comfortable using different dev environments, which I think helps - I'm
not fanatical about any particular editor or tool chain - so I'm happy in vim,
sublime text, visual studio, online editors etc and climb in and out of
languages as I need to. The key for me is to have a disciplined git workflow
with my repositories stashed nicely online. The only thing I miss now and
then, is some easy image optimisation in the chromeos itself.

I kind of love the fact that the chromebook has great battery life, a pretty
comfortable keyboard and that it's basically disposable (I got a factory
second for less than £100). It's also pretty sturdy. I've travelled a fair bit
with it, dropped it and banged it around, it's been splashed, had coffee
poured on it, children's grubby fingers poking the screen - I just don't
care...I wipe it down and carry on. It's kind of nice to not be precious about
my equipment and the discipline a small hard drive forces on me means
everything is properly stashed and backed up so if the machine dies...well
c'est la vie.

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AustinDizzy
I've been using a Toshiba Chromebook 2 (4GB, full-HD display version) that I
got on sale at Best Buy for ~$280 during their Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales
and it's really done good for me so far. Crouton took no time at all to set
up, and I only use it when I can't do something in the cloud or SSH'd to one
of my servers. Since most of my time, including most development time, is
spent "in the cloud" then the only thing I really need my Chromebook for is
basic web browsing and an SSH client. I also occasionally use Koding for
development, and I'm looking into Cloud9 just for the added ability of being
able to hook it up to my own server(s). Most of my work is web development
(Go, JavaScript/Node.js, HTML stuff, python, ruby, etc.), software development
(Go, Linux stuff, etc.), and security auditing/light pentesting (which I can
do with a small set of tool using crouton or other tools that live on my
servers).

Overall, if you have something that's nearly always on - like a server or VM -
then the Chromebook will treat you really well. Even if you don't have one,
you can easily use free services such as Koding and Cloud9 for development
systems, all without even touching crouton. The only thing you'd really need
crouton for is if you want more fine grain control of the software living on
your machine, install other program (e.g. firefox, tor browser, atom, or any
linux programs).

As far as hardware, the Chromebook has just what I need to survive. The
speakers on the Toshiba Chromebook 2 are awesomely loud, and made by
SkullCandy which explains that. The battery life at 100% can easily last 10-12
hours of full use. The display is a gorgeous 1080P IPS display, and it has
HDMI out just in case. The 4GB full-HD model also has a 2.58 GHz intel celeron
processor, so I don't have to worry about ARM compatibilities and it just runs
very well, plus it has 4GB of RAM to help with that processing. One factor I
was very surprised about was the weight: it's barely there. Seriously though,
I didn't expect it to be that light. But it doesn't have a fan, so that could
explain why it's so light - not enough thickness to pack heavier componentry
into. And it doesn't get too hot at all either, unless you're using it from
100% to dead constantly with heavier processing then it gets just a bit warm.

Overall, if you can shell out the couple hundred dollars for a Chromebook, I'd
go for it.

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robgibbons
I use a Samsung Chromebook 2 running XFCE via crouton. I use it as my main
machine for work and play. Because I do web development, the only real
drawback with this setup is the ARM processor (not all software has builds for
ARM) but in return I get incredible battery life. Like, really outstanding
battery life.

Some software that won't run on ARM:

\- Skype (use Google Hangouts instead)

\- SVN (why aren't you using Git already?)

\- Sublime Text (I begrudgingly use Geany or Ninja IDE)

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penguinlinux
I use the same setup XFCE on my Samsung chromebook. I code python on my
machine but for things that won't run ARM I have a Mac Mini that has virtual
box where I run headless virtual machines. I can reach my server from anywhere
using OpenVPN as it is hooked to my home router and use dynamic DNS to reach
the OpenVPN server. I am testing lots of projects with that setup. I use
Docker, Ansible, Cloudier Hadoop and other projects :) my own private cloud
server.

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Kareeeeem
I have a acer c720p. I run a CLI only linux (crouton) that I run and then
access via the chrome secure shell plugin through localhost. From there it's
just zsh + tmux + vim. I mostly do python web dev with postgres and am
learning some C and Haskell on the side. No problems so far.

I like it like this because I really just need a browser and a terminal.
ChromeOS _is_ a browser so no need for a full DE.

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RogerL
I did for awhile for Python development. I use the NumPy/SciPy stack, and only
used Chromebooks with the 2955u chip, so it ran pretty snappy for me. Bad
screen got to me, and rather than drop money on a Pixel I bought an HP x360
Spectre and haven't looked back. The Chromebook is still nice for
travel/coffeeshop where damage/loss/theft is a concern as they are priced so
cheap. I spilled a beer on one, shrugged, went out and bought a replacement.
And how can you knock an all day battery?

Right now the Chromebook is being used as a chrome cast station that I leave
by the couch. Today it was streaming classical music youtube videos for me.

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dopeboy
I don't personally develop on a Chromebook but I teach kids who do and they'll
use a cloud based IDE like Cloud9 or Nitrous.

