Hackers Dual-Boot Chrome OS With Ubuntu Linux on CR-48 148
jbrodkin writes "Google's Chrome OS makes Web surfing an incredibly pleasant and secure experience, but most of the knocks against it relate to what it can't do — namely, nearly everything traditional desktop operating systems like Windows, Mac and Linux can. The easiest solution might be dual-booting, allowing users to choose either Chrome OS or a Linux distro at startup. Google's Chromium project site is now hosting instructions for booting Ubuntu Linux alongside Chrome OS. The process is cumbersome but indicates that dual-booting Chrome OS should be possible — and hopefully a bit simpler — once Google releases commercially available netbooks in mid-2011."
Re:Wow, really? (Score:5, Interesting)
Testing the boundaries of the cage is among the OS tests I care most about. Already, we know it's superior in this respect to, say, an iPad, which isn't dual booting a damn thing.
Re:This is hacking now? (Score:5, Interesting)
The author of the article - who as you said followed instructions he found on the Chromium site - was referring to whoever wrote those instructions as hackers, not those like him who followed them.
From the sounds of it, the manufacturer has every intention of making it hard for the user to duel-boot. The prototype the author has suggests this as well. So I think this more than qualifies as a hack, as it gives the user control over his hardware that he might not otherwise enjoy.
You've just misidentified who the hacker in this story is.