Honestly a year ago I thought my Chromebook was a glorified paperweight with a keyboard. I bought it because it was cheap, light and the battery lasted forever.

And just recently I've become really interested in the computer science/dev side of things, my stack got to the point where i couldn't leave it on a hot wallet anymore and went down the rabbithole of HWs, and then i wanted to explore multisig, which i talked about here #1368924

So, I tried a few times to install Electrum on my chromebook but I just didn't have a clue, you can't use windows or mac and linux was the only other option and that was a total mystery, I think the Chromebook was saying to me, just use google docs like everyone else and stop trying to be clever!

Fast forward to this week and i’ve got Electrum, Sparrow and WhiteNoise all installed.

I’ve verified PGP signatures, sideloaded APKs without wiping the OS, and I’ve even got ZapStore feeding my Linux container through Obtainium so I never miss an update.I’ve verified PGP signatures, sideloaded APKs without wiping the OS, and I’ve even got ZapStore feeding my Linux container through Obtainium so I never miss an update.

All without throwing the thing against the wall. But!! I still can’t code my way out of a paper bag. I just got really good at asking AI the right questions and learning along the way

Enter the PenguinEnter the Penguin

As you know ChromeOS has Linux built into it, ai helped me go through the settings to get it up and running and the thing that was new to me, was the amount of preparation you need to give linux to run the file you see on the website

Like run this first to let linux know this happening, then run this to do this. Then!! You can ask linux to run your file

First Blood, ElectrumFirst Blood, Electrum

I downloaded the AppImage, tried to run it, got slapped with “no can do” I just pasted the error straight in to ai and it gave me a workround, after a few trial and errors, the wallet booted up. Seeing that electrum in the settings was a great feeling, but when i pinned it to my task bar it was the penguin, so few back and forths and we had the Electrum logo, success!!

Then came the moment of truth, verifying Thomas’ PGP signature. I’d never touched pgp before. The AI walked me through it all, when the terminal said Good signature I was actually really pleased

Sparrow Steps UpSparrow Steps Up

Electrum is solid, but Sparrow’s technical UX is famously complicated for newbies. Same as before, few tries and got it working I exported the zpubs, only thing was the webcam won't talk to linux and there's no workround apparently, so this is really just for testing and a protonmail had to do for sending the public keys

The APK WallThe APK Wall

Feeling invincible, I decided I needed WhiteNoise, Google Play? Nope, no way, if you want to add unknown apps, wipe everything!

I said to ai that it's impossible, not a problem it said, just use adb debugging, told me how to turn it on in settings, run the file in linux and bypass google!

ZapStore vs ObtainiumZapStore vs Obtainium

Then I installed ZapStore hoping to get all my FOSS apps, ChromeOS again threatened a powerwash. AI proposes another detour, keep ZapStore as a notification engine only, pipe the update into Obtainium running inside Linux, and let Obtainium pull the APKs. Sounds like I actually know what I'm talking about, but it works, im slowly turning my laptop into something that's actually useful, I'm like a few steps away from Graphene os on my phone, i can feel it 😄

The Emotional RollercoasterThe Emotional Rollercoaster

This whole journey has been 30% amazing, 70% frustration, i can definitely feel for real devs who had to do this back in the day with none of the tools available today

The Great PowerwashThe Great Powerwash

Next week I’m wiping the machine and rebuilding from scratch. Electrum, Sparrow, WhiteNoise, Obtainium and just trying to improve my knowledge with the help of ai of course

I honestly feel like I've learnt things over the past few days, but it's like a muscle, if i didn't do this again for a while, it would all go, so keep it up I guess

Anyways hope you had a nice read about someone new to dev stuff and hope you're enjoying your Christmas 🎄 eve

Merry Christmas 🎅 stackers and hope you're on the naughty list 🎁