Chromebooks are for the striving developers & designers
I remember when I bought my first Chromebook. I was a freshman in college & my dad’s old Toshiba laptop that weighed around 11 pounds, or at least felt like it, finally cranked down & broke on me. To my surprise my dad wasn’t up to replacing it, despite my constant cries of “I need it for school” & complaints about me being strapped that month. “ How much was your paycheck?” he consistently replied which was always his polite hint to call him back when I’m near broke. So a trip to Walmart was the last option.
$150 dollars was the price I paid for my first Chromebook in 2013. Two Chromebooks later my mother paid the exact same price for a HP Chromebook 11 from a local pawnshop that I currently use to design & develop all of my coding & design projects. From developing Responsive Websites to building fully functional Web Apps & Mobile apps. To designing anything a job or task might require, rather Graphic, Web, UI or UX design.
With my trustee Chromebook I do it all.
Toward the beginning of my career, I constantly felt at a disadvantage. Even with a design, I was constantly frustrated that I could not use any Adobe products.
After 3 years, (& still counting), of professional use. My Chromebook stands strong. I’ve done some dope things with this machine. From completing over a 100 Freelance projects, rather it required designing graphic cover art, event flyers, business cards, websites, etc. for businesses to popular musicians. To developing a fully functional Web App that’ll translate into a mobile app where both will share features such as saving users, accepting payment, plus more.
I want to share my Development Environment & the resources that helped me get there. I believe this can assist any Programmer or Designer that has to overcome the financial hurdle of not being able to afford a Mac or even a Windows computer. Sure you can find one of those brands for cheap or an inexpensive old version.
But performance & your tools matter!
In a fast-growing tech industry old & cheap just don’t cut it. You gotta just try to go with cheap!
Below I will list how I setup my Chromebook for Web Development, Mobile Development, & all of my design needs. This is not a guide on how to create any project. But I will list material that will help get you fully set up.
Enter Developer Mode & Install Ubuntu Linux with Crouton
If you are new to software entirely learning Linux as your first Operating System is a good damn start! I can’t stress this enough, Linux is one of the hardest to master but makes any transition almost effortlessly. Setting up Linux on my Chromebook gave me an early introduction on how to use a terminal & a text editor way before creating software. Which became crucial of course.
Get Linux setup on a Chromebook with Crouton.
Follow these links & you should be good to go,
https://www.howtogeek.com/162120/how-to-install-ubuntu-linux-on-your-chromebook-with-crouton/
https://www.howtogeek.com/208368/how-to-run-a-full-linux-desktop-in-a-browser-tab-on-your-chromebook/
I have to add its best to run Linux through the browser. That way you can switch between using Chrome OS & Linux OS from a tab in your browser. This makes it ultra fast to design & develop while still using Chromebook’s awesome tools.
After downloading crouton my suggestion is to install “Xfce” due to its low impact on storage. It’s not the prettiest but it gets the job down & keeps your Book quick!
sudo sh ~/Downloads/crouton -e -t xfce,xiwi ( Install Xfce through browser )
I Use -e to encrypt Linux OS, meaning to require password before start.
sudo startxfce4 -X xiwi-tab (With Chromebook Crouton Extension)
*Above is the start command. That will be used regularly to start Linux OS.*
Keep in mind that your Chromebook was originally designed to only save minimum storage. All applications that are compatible with Chrome OS are ran through the browser. This is the whole concept of Chromebooks.
When installing Linux on your Chromebook you are accessing storage that is locally saved, not through the cloud. So be mindful to manage it well & sacredly.
From there the sky is the limit.
You can install Ubuntu Software Center & fill those little holes in your heart with products to advance your Design or Programming career.
You have a laptop that doesn’t only run Chrome OS anymore! That’s the important key, from there you can google search & find the best products for you.
Here are a quick list of Tools that got me started in Design & Developing.
Graphic Design — “Gimp” install through linux( Photoshop Alternative) , Canva (canva.com), Pixlr Editor (Chromebook App).
Web UI/UX — Too many great products out there to choose from.
Software Development — Sublime Text 3 (Favorite Text Editor for linux), Caret (Favorite Text Editor for Chrome OS), Ripple Emulator ( Demo Mobile Apps & Mobile View for Chrome OS).
The key for software developers is now you can install your programming language & additional libraries or tools locally.
I am a Ruby developer so all of my web development is based around Rails. But I also use Node/Npm & number of other technologies, especially with mobile development. I am confident you can code in just about any language.
If you are a Ruby developer like me * Fist Bumps* than setting up Ruby & Rails is as simple as a quick google search. A couple of commands & a 15-minute bathroom break later & you are good to go.
If you are interested in Mobile Development below describes to get you set up with Phonegap. Phonegap is an alternative to building both Android & Ios apps through their native code. It allows you code mobile apps using only HTML/CSS & JS.
If you want to develop native mobile apps you can get it done for android, not Ios. I must add the last step for deploying an Ios app through Phonegap does require a mac, but that isn’t until the last step & your Chromebook has carried you a long way.
I’m going to list just the resources that helped me get Phonegap up & running.
From there it’s up to you.
Set Up Phone Gap on Ubuntu Linux — https://gist.github.com/regdog/2d22d6a6415a8d46bbb7
Chromebook does make it difficult to test your app on devices for view, but luckily Phonegap has a mobile app called “Phonegap development” that let’s you run your app from a local server.
For quicker development you can also use Ripple to emulate your app.
I am often proud of my journey with my Chromebook so far, it’s been a learning experience but it gets the job done. Although I might one day get a Mac, just to not go without any tool I might potentially want. I see myself doing the bulk of my work on my handy Chromebook.
— My name is David S. a Designer & Ruby Developer. Creator of m0veapp.com & Co-Founder of the Startup The Move. A technology & event curating/promotions company.
You can find a little more about me on davidos.us . You can also check out my post From Novice & Beyond which details some beginning resources as I stepped into becoming a Ruby Programmer.
