Chromebook + Enlightenment + Ubuntu: The Divine Trio

To better understand what makes the Samsung Chromebook such a great Linux sub-notebook/netbook, first a quick look at its merits:

• Dual core 1.7GHz Samsung Exynos ARM processor
• Mali T604 GPU (also used in the Samsung Galaxy Note)
• Terrific battery life (a true 6.5 hours)
• Lightweight (2.4 lbs)
• SD slot (be warned, the near-identical HP cousin loses the SD slot, but gains micro-usb charging)
• Incredibly loud stereo speakers (why can't Apple figure this out?)
• Chrubuntu - a tailor-made distribution of Ubuntu
• Netflix support (haven't gotten this working in Ubuntu yet, but you can boot into Chrome OS if the need arises)
• USB 3.0
• HDMI out
• No moving parts

I got my latest Chromebook as an open box for $150 at Best Buy, but you can get brand new ones at Amazon (prime) for just north of $200 as of this posting.

For storage, I've got a 32GB SDHC card that I cut to half height so it doesn't stick out. (Many modern SD cards are actually micro-USB sized inside, your mileage may vary.) There are also some flush half-height SD cards made for Macbooks which may work well.

The Chromebook's case is somewhat flimsy and marks easily, so I use the Pearl mCover hard case, which also comes with some handy flip-up keyboard-style feet. It snaps on and fits perfectly.

I won't go into the merits of Ubuntu, except that Chrubuntu makes installing it a snap. There are other distributions such as Bodhi and Arch Linux that you can also put on your Chromebook. 

Now, the case for once-mythical Enlightenment (E17/E18/E19?) window manager:

• Extremely lightweight
• Fast, elegant desktop effects / eye candy
• 2D/3D hardware acceleration (using EGL/GLES, more on this in a future post)
• Very active development

Really, though, it's the snappiness, visuals and hardware acceleration that make Enlightenment such a great match for the Chromebook. The desktop effects are designed to make the most of limited CPU/GPU power and leave you with an experience that doesn't feel sluggish. An alternative would be Compiz with the more bloated Gnome/Unity or XFCE, but with all of these options you need to compile them yourself for GLES support (including Enlightenment), and some of them are more daunting than others.

So, there you have it. This trio makes a great, portable Linux notebook that provides a decent and highly portable Linux desktop experience.