Enough Power

The Chromebook's performance feels the same under GalliumOS, even if the fans now sound a little louder, especially during videos. However, lm-sensors quickly shows that there is no reason for concern. The (still first) battery lasts for around two hours, so not quite as long as with Chrome OS.

Touchpad, audio, webcam, WiFi, and Ethernet work without further intervention, as does my LG TV connected via HDMI with 720p resolution. The TV is about the same age as the Chromebook and a perfect match. YouTube, Amazon Prime, and Jitsi Meet work without any problems; only videoconferencing causes frequent lag. (The processor or I/O systems are probably struggling with the data demands of videoconferencing.)

It looks like these life-extending measures have paid off. A USB mouse and a USB keyboard complete the setup. The ensemble has been running smoothly for several weeks, delivering music, videos, TV, or movies to the office every day. Take that, Google!

The Author

DeeAnn Little from California has been living in Regensburg, Germany, since 2016. She has worked in the open-source environment for more than 25 years on hardware, development, research, and documentation.

Markus Feilner, technology and network policy editor at Mailbox.org, has been involved with Linux since 1994 and was deputy editor-in-chief of Linux Magazin and iX. His company, Feilner IT, specializes in documentation and OSI layers 8, 9, and 10.