Chromebrew

Package manager for Chrome OS

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Overview

Chromebooks with Chrome OS run a Linux kernel. The only missing pieces to use them as full-featured Linux distro were gcc and make with their dependencies. Well, these pieces aren't missing anymore. Say hello to Chromebrew!

Prerequisites

You will need a Chromebook with developer mode enabled. To do so, select your device on the ChromiumOS Wiki and follow the instructions listed there.

Please be aware of the fact that developer mode is insecure if not properly configured. Setting a password as instructed in the VT-2 login screen is recommended. It is also recommended to enable signed boot:

sudo chromeos-setdevpasswd
sudo crossystem dev_boot_signed_only=1

Supported Systems

Architecture	Supported?
x86_64	Yes
i686	Yes*
armv7l	Yes
aarch64	Yes

^* We can only provide limited support for i686 since Google has discontinued support. Although we can no longer support GUI apps, we will try to continue to support CLI programs.

Installation

The beta, dev, and Canary channels are not supported and should not be used with Chromebrew. Failure to take notice of this will cause major issues with your Chromebrew installation. See issue #2890 and the FAQ for more details.

Open the terminal with Ctrl+Alt+T and type shell.

If this command returns ERROR: unknown command: shell, please have a second look at the prerequisites and make sure your Chromebook is in developer mode.

Then download and run the installation script below:

curl -Ls git.io/vddgY | bash

On a rooted Google OnHub, the command needs to be run with the "chronos" user. In order to make su work, a password is needed for the chronos user.

# passwd chronos
Changing password for chronos.
Enter new UNIX password:
Retype new UNIX password:
# su - chronos
Password:
$ curl -Ls git.io/vddgY | bash

Help

Please check out the wiki to find out more information about Chromebrew including helpful tips, resource links and frequently asked questions. Also please check existing issues before submitting a new one.

Usage

crew <command> [-k|--keep] <package1> [<package2> ...]

Where available commands are:

Command	Description
build	build package(s) from source and store the archive and checksum in the current working directory
const	display constant(s)
deps	display dependencies of package(s)
download	download package(s) to CREW_BREW_DIR (/usr/local/tmp/crew by default), but don't install
files	display installed files of package(s)
help	get information about command usage
install	install package(s) along with dependencies after prompting for confirmation
list	available, installed, compatible or incompatible packages
postinstall	display postinstall messages of package(s)
reinstall	remove and install package(s)
remove	remove package(s)
search	look for package(s)
sysinfo	show system infomation in Markdown style
update	update crew itself
upgrade	update all or specific package(s)
whatprovides	regex search for package(s) that contains file(s)

Available packages are listed in the packages directory.

Chromebrew will wipe its BREW_DIR (/usr/local/tmp/crew by default) after installation unless you pass -k or --keep when running crew install.

crew install --keep <package1> [<package2> ...]

Recently Upgraded Packages

Name	Description	Date Upgraded	Version
gdb	The GNU Debugger	2021-09-25	11.1
llvm	The LLVM Project is a collection of modular and reusable compiler and toolchain technologies.	2021-09-24	12.0.1
binutils	The GNU Binutils are a collection of binary tools.	2021-09-24	2.37-1
inetutils	The Inetutils package contains programs for basic networking.	2021-09-24	2.2
elfutils	elfutils is a collection of utilities and libraries to read, create and modify ELF binary files	2021-09-24	0.185
neon	neon is an HTTP and WebDAV client library, with a C interface.	2021-09-24	0.32.1
pango	Pango is a library for laying out and rendering of text, with an emphasis on internationalization.	2021-09-24	1.49.1
libadwaita	Library of GNOME-specific UI patterns, replacing libhandy for GTK4	2021-09-24	1.0.0-alpha.2
gtksourceview_5	Source code editing widget	2021-09-24	5.2.0
gspell	A flexible API to implement the spell checking in a GTK+ application	2021-09-24	1.9.1-2

Latest Packages

Name	Description	Date Added
gnu_time	Utility for monitoring a programs use of system resources	2021-09-24
gnome_text_editor	GNOME Text Editor (2021)	2021-09-24
vuze	Vuze (formerly Azureus) is an extremely powerful and configurable BitTorrent client.	2021-09-21
smallbasic	SmallBASIC is a fast and easy to learn BASIC language interpreter	2021-09-19
logisim	An educational tool for designing and simulating digital logic circuits	2021-09-16
cros_adapta	Gtk+ compatible themes for styling UI elements from Crostini to match Chrome OS defaults.	2021-09-10
chafa	Image-to-text converter supporting a wide range of symbols and palettes, transparency, animations, etc.	2021-09-04
qtlocation	Qt Location and Positioning	2021-08-30
qtmultimedia	Qt Multimedia	2021-08-30
qtscript	Qt Script Tools	2021-08-30

License

Copyright 2013-2022 Michal Siwek and all the awesome contributors.

This project including all of its source files is released under the terms of GNU General Public License (version 3 or later).

This project embeds docopt.rb at lib/docopt.rb. We retain its MIT license.