Linux Foundation is giving away Chromebooks

The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization that sponsors Linus Torvalds and runs many programs to accelerate the growth of Linux, is now giving away free Chromebooks to those who enroll in one of its training courses during September.

Free Chromebook. To everyone. Throughout September.

The foundation has chosen Dell’s Chromebook 11 for this program. The $299 Chromebook features a 11.6″ display, is powered by 1.4Ghz processor, and comes with 4GB of RAM.

Who is eligible for the free Chromebooks?

The foundation said in a press statement that individual learners are eligible for this offer which started Sept 1 and ends on September 30, 2015.

All courses available for enrollment this month are offered through the end of the year, giving students flexibility in scheduling. The Linux Foundation’s training courses are tailored for both beginners and intermediate developers and IT professionals and range from Essentials of Linux System Administration to Embedded Linux Development, said the foundation in a press statement.

A Linux Foundation spokesperson told me that this offer is available worldwide — except for region specific programs, including the special pricing programs the foundation recently launched in India.

In most cases users enrolling for the training courses will be able to complete their work using the Chrome OS, but if they are taking an instructor-led source then they may have to install another Linux distro on the devices, the spokesperson said.

Jim Zemlin, the executive director of Linux Foundation said, “We want students of Linux to experience a Linux desktop and Chromebooks are a great way to do that – either through Google’s Linux-based OS or by installing one of the many Linux distros available. We hope this offer can provide the freedom Linux developers and IT professionals value and spark new ideas and discoveries as they embark on our Linux training program.”

The program is fully funded by the Linux Foundation. If you are interested in the course run by the Linux Foundation, you can enroll on this page.