ChromeOS is running on a Linux kernel under the hood already, but it doesn't expose that to end users by default. However, there are a number of options for getting a familiar software toolset running on your Chromebook.

We'll talk about reasons why (and why not) you might want to consider Chromebooks as a hardware choice, take a look at the choices for using the hardware as a platform for running Linux software with a particular bent towards development and sysadmin type usage, and talk about some of the trade-offs between the options.