Chromebooks are inexpensive options for those who can’t afford a full-fledged PC, but for those who know what they are doing, Chromebooks can be more than just glorified web browsers. Crostini, a feature that first appeared in Chrome OS 69, enables users to run Linux and Android apps, and now there are reports that a big problem with the feature is in the process of being fixed.
Running Linux and Android apps on Chrome OS with Crostini
Crostini wasn’t available on all Chromebooks at first, but it did eventually roll out to a greater number of Chromebooks with Broadwell processors. It’s still early, but it seems likely that the feature will also roll out to devices with Skylake chips as well.
PiunikaWeb notes that it hasn’t been smooth sailing for early adopters of Crostini. Those who started using it in the beta found themselves experiencing network issues, and the problems didn’t stop even after the feature was out of beta and in the public release. There have been even more bugs since Crostini became part of the final public version of Chrome OS 69.
Problems with the container size
One issue many have complained about is the increasing container size. Because of this issue, users must reinstall Linux apps to be able to keep using them. One user even posted a question on Twitter to see if they could fix the problem by having Chrome OS automatically delete and reinstall Crostini every night. The problem is that the feature isn’t able to resize the container, so it runs out of space all the time.
Chrome OS has never enabled users to set specific size limits for Linux containers, which means whatever the system determined to be the amount of space was the only option. Because of all the issues this caused, some suggested on Chromium that Crostini offer the ability to resize containers.
Google is apparently in the process of granting that request. PiunikaWeb spotted reports about the option to resize the disk space via a feature flag in the canary channel for Chrome, which means that it should come to the full public release at some point. The fact that it’s in the canary channel suggests Chrome OS users won’t have very much longer to wait.
