When Google announced Linux apps on Chromebooks, we were so full of hope. We even published an article where we claimed that Linux app support was coming to older Chromebooks, as developers were already working on backporting the essential kernel modules, such as vsock. Well, we weren’t technically wrong, as the developers definitely tried to make vsock backward compatible. But, as it turns out, vsock can’t be backported to Linux kernel 3.14.
The inability to backport vsock to Linux kernel 3.14 or older means that the devices with this version of the kernel won’t be able to install Linux apps. Here is the list of Chromebooks that use Linux kernel 3.14 or older and can’t run Linux apps:
| Device | Release Date | Kernel Version | Architecture |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acer Chromebase | August 1, 2015 | 3.10 | arm |
| HP Chromebook 14 G3 | October 18, 2014 | 3.10 | arm |
| Acer Chromebook 13 (CB5-311) | September 7, 2014 | 3.10 | arm |
| Acer C670 Chromebook 11 | February 28, 2015 | 3.14 | x86_64 |
| ASUS Chromebook Flip C100PA | July 1, 2015 | 3.14 | arm |
| ASUS Chromebook C201 | May 1, 2015 | 3.14 | arm |
| Acer Chromebox CXI2 | May 1, 2015 | 3.14 | x86_64 |
| Acer Chromebase 24 | April 1, 2016 | 3.14 | x86_64 |
| Toshiba Chromebook 2 (2015 Edition) | September 22, 2015 | 3.14 | x86_64 |
| Lenovo ThinkCentre Chromebox | June 2, 2015 | 3.14 | x86_64 |
| Google Chromebook Pixel (2015) | March 11, 2015 | 3.14 | x86_64 |
| Acer Chromebook 15 | April 30, 2015 | 3.14 | x86_64 |
| Dell Chromebook 13 7310 | August 13, 2015 | 3.14 | x86_64 |
| ASUS Chromebox CN62 | August 3, 2015 | 3.14 | x86_64 |
| AOpen Chromebase Mini | February 28, 2017 | 3.14 | arm |
| Asus Chromebit CS10 | November 2, 2015 | 3.14 | arm |
| AOpen Chromebox Mini | February 28, 2017 | 3.14 | arm |
As you can see, there are a lot of Chromebooks on this list, and some of them are fairly new. Even Google’s own original Chromebook Pixel, which was released in 2015, is on the list. Keep in mind that those with arm processors already had their support dropped due to the 32-bit infrastructure.
What’s making the situation better is that Google recently managed to extend the Linux LTS kernel’s support from 2 years to 6. So, a situation like that will most likely not happen again. The six-year Long-Term-Support will give developers and manufacturers the ability to keep their devices up to date for far longer. Also, there won’t be any need for wasting countless hours on backporting features.
Are you lucky enough to have a Chromebook device which is using Linux kernel 3.18 or newer? Here is the list of the devices which support Linux apps, or will support soon. You’ll soon be able to run Linux apps on it. But, for those of you who were out of luck, well, the struggle continues.
Source: Chromium Gerrit Via: Reddit
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