AntConc and Chromecast

[Paul Thompson]

I am posting this on behalf of a colleague who is running a corpus linguistics module online, and some of the sessions require students to use AntConc. One of the students taking the module has written in to say that he has a Google Chromecast and doesn't have access to a Windows or Mac computer (because of lockdown he can't go out to a computer cluster or an Internet café, so the Chromecast is the only option). 

Laurence makes it clear in the FAQ section of the AntConc page that AntConc doesn't run on Chromecast, but I wonder whether anyone can suggest a workaround - does anyone know of any kind of VM or emulation software that we could advise the student to use, or some other solution? 

Thanks in advance for any help offered,

Paul

Dr Paul Thompson 

Reader in Applied Corpus Linguistics

University of Birmingham

[Laurence Anthony]

Hi Paul,

First, I should say that "Chromecast" is a kind of digital media player developed by Google for streaming content on TVs. Can I assume you mean a Chromebook?

https://www.google.com/chromebook/

A quick Google search revealed the following:

https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/20/21524585/google-chrome-os-windows-apps-chromebooks-parallels-desktop-features

If there are commercial tools to run Windows on Chromebooks, I would guess there are also freeware tools that can do the same. A quick Google search shows that this is possible via the freeware Virtualbox software.

Running virtual machines is not a simple matter, so I guess the student would need some help to get this working.

In theory, I would have thought the Linux version of AntConc should run on Chromebooks, because they also run on Linux. But, I don't have a machine to test this on.

I hope that helps!

Laurence.

###############################################################
Laurence ANTHONY, Ph.D.
Professor of Applied Linguistics
Faculty of Science and Engineering
Waseda University
3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan
E-mail: antho...@gmail.com
WWW: http://www.laurenceanthony.net/
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[Paul Thompson]

Hi Laurence

Thanks for this - yes, of course, Chromecast is not what I meant and I am glad that you worked out what I was really after. I had the same thought as you, that the Linux version should work but like you I don’t have anything to try this out on. If anyone in this discussion group has tried this, I’d like to hear from you.

The Parallels option is quite pricey ($70 per user) and seems to be restricted to Enterprise users. I found something called CrossOver Chrome OS which can be downloaded from the Google Play Store (requires a Chromebook with an Intel processor, 2019 on), cost between 32 and 48 pounds, and can run Windows programmes on Chrome OS. Again, if anyone has attempted to use AntConc on a Chromebook using CrossOver (or equivalent) it would be great to hear from you!

Best

Paul

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[Laurence Anthony]

Paul,

Note the following point I mentioned earlier:

"A quick Google search shows that this is possible via the freeware Virtualbox software. "

Laurence.

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[Paul Thompson]

Hi Laurence

Yes, duly noted. A free solution would be good, as long as the student can cope with setting up a virtual machine (they will need, as you point out, some help, how much it is difficult to tell). Again, has anyone in the discussion group had experience of using Virtualbox on Chrome OS to run AntConc?

Best

Paul

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[Dax Thomas]

Hi Paul,

Laurence mentioned that the Linux version of AntConc should in theory run on Chromebooks.  It looks like it has to be enabled first. On newer Chromebooks there seems to be a setting that allows you to set up Linux (Beta).   I found this:

https://opensource.com/article/20/9/linux-chromebook 

If the particular Chromebook supports it, setting up Linux from the settings like that might be easier than installing a third-party Windows virtual machine, but I don't know for sure.   I wish I had a Chromebook myself to test it on. 

Don't know if this helps on not.

Good luck with it.

Take care,

Dax

 

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