I'm considering replacing ChromeOS on my mom's Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 Chromebook. It has a 14-inch Full HD display, MediaTek Kompanio 520 processor, 4 GB of RAM, 128 GB SSD, ARM Mali-G52 graphics, and a German QWERTZ keyboard.
She mainly browses the web, watches YouTube and streaming services, uses email, shops online, reads the news, looks at photos, makes video calls, writes simple documents, and occasionally prints or scans. She isn't comfortable troubleshooting drivers, using a terminal, or fixing problems, so I would need to set everything up once and have it remain reliable afterward.
I was considering Debian, Ubuntu, or another lightweight ARM distribution with XFCE or LXQt, but I'm concerned about hardware support and long-term maintenance. In particular, I'd like to know about Wi-Fi, audio, GPU acceleration, hardware video decoding, suspend, the touchpad, external displays, the webcam, battery life, updates, and overall stability on the Kompanio 520 Chromebook.
If this were your family member's computer, would you keep ChromeOS or attempt a Linux installation? If Linux is practical, which distribution and desktop environment would you choose, and what would you avoid?
3 Answers
This particular hardware is a difficult Linux target. ARM Chromebooks commonly have firmware and boot restrictions, and support for the Kompanio 520, Mali graphics, webcam, suspend, video acceleration, and other peripherals can be incomplete or require device-specific work. Generic Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, or Armbian advice does not guarantee that the installation will work on this Chromebook. Linux Mint also does not provide a normal ARM edition, so it isn’t a realistic choice here.
Unless there’s a specific problem with ChromeOS, I’d leave it installed. For web browsing, streaming, email, shopping, documents, and video calls, ChromeOS already does exactly what she needs and is much less likely to turn you into permanent tech support. Replacing it won’t make those tasks easier, and even a carefully configured Linux system can eventually need troubleshooting.
I’d only consider replacing it if the Chromebook had stopped receiving security updates or a required website or peripheral no longer worked. In that case, replacing the entire machine with a well-supported used x86 laptop may be safer than modifying this one.
If Linux is essential, I’d look for a used Intel or AMD laptop with well-supported Linux hardware instead. A modest x86 machine with 8 GB of RAM, an SSD, and a common integrated GPU will generally be easier to install, update, and troubleshoot than this ARM Chromebook. You could configure a familiar desktop and test printing, scanning, webcam calls, streaming, sleep, and external displays before handing it over.
A lightweight Linux system can work very well for older relatives when the original operating system is obsolete, but that’s a different situation. If your mom is happy with ChromeOS and it still receives updates, changing it mainly creates new responsibilities.
Lightweight desktops such as XFCE or LXQt would help RAM usage only after you have a working operating system and hardware support. They don’t solve the Chromebook firmware or driver problems.