Want to stay up to date on Linux, BSD, Chrome OS, and the rest of the World Beyond Windows? Bookmark the World Beyond Windows column page or follow our RSS feed. This ensures it’s always obvious when a Chromebook is in developer mode.

Your Chromebook will beep at you and bug you, providing a scary warning that the normal verification process has been disabled. You’ll have to press Ctrl+D or wait 30 seconds every time you boot. This will boot you into recovery mode, where you can “turn off OS verification.” After that, you’ll be able to have full access to the entire operating system-though that freedom entails some minor headaches. So you’ll have to enter developer mode before you can start installing Linux-check the official wiki for instructions, which are device-specific.

Outside of developer mode, these files are normally protected to preserve the operating system’s security from attack. It requires putting your Chromebook into “developer mode,” which gives you full write access to the entire operating system. Installing Linux isn’t officially supported by Google.

Install linux apps on chromebook