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Linux on chromebook
(reddthat.com)
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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You might find just the inbuilt linux (crostini) under chromeos is fine.. it's basically debian.
If you want just a linux box you basically start by installing coreboot to turn it into something more like a standard PC. See https://mrchromebox.tech/ - from the looks of that site the Lenovo isn't supported and the Acer is, but needs hardware modification.
Of course there's always the option of just getting a Thinkpad from ebay - really cheap and can run linux out of the box.
Crostini is only sort of built-in Linux. It's more like a built-in Linux VM, and performance suffers a bit because of it. If they're not doing anything heavy, you should be correct, it'll be fine.