how to write go rest apis on a pixelbook: day 1
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Well, I’ve seen a few folks post their experience on using some chromebooks as a lightweight web development tool, but what about building web services in compiled languages? Let’s take our first shot at doing so with Go!
Well, I’m working on a project in golang, and I sold my trusty iPad Pro, because while it’s an amazing tablet, it’s not enough of a portable dev/entertainment machine that I’d like. I want to be able to leave the 15” MacBook Pro at home when I take flights or travel and I’m not gonna need all the power (read: andweight) of the machine with me.
Enter, used pixelbook. The awesome part about the iPad Pro was that it took less than 2 hours to find a buyer for it (it was in like new condition, under warranty, and I still had all the boxes, like a madman). Now armed with unexpected new cash, I turned around and procured a used, excellent condition, Google Pixelbook with the following configuration:
- Core i7-7Y75 Processor
- 16GB RAM
- 512GB NVMe SSD HD
Now, I could have gotten by with a lower spec’d machine (Core i5/8GB), but I was concerned about the eMMC SSD (yes, it’s solid state, but more akin to a fast embedded SD Card and not like the SSD in my MacBook Pro), and since I planned to do a lot of development in file-system heavy ways (oh, node_modules, also compilation of binaries in Go. Or Java. Or something else), I figured I might as well go with a spec I’m used to in my day-to-day dev life.
Pretty good pickup at $700 (I was eyeing the Pixelbook Go, but the max config w/ 16GB RAM is still pre-order only, the iPad Pro cash was burning a hole in my pocket… and y’all don’t care about any of this. My bad).
So, I boot the thing up, and damn - I’ve only had one other machine in my life boot to a GUI this fast in recent years (my home linux NUC, that thing is a beaut).
Sign in w/ my Google account, and here we are.
Step one: Enable Linux in chrome://settings
Less than 10 minutes later, I have Linux enabled and a terminal prompt (would’ve likely been faster over a faster wifi connection - this one clocked in at 2.4Mbps, but I wasn’t complaining. It was free and at my favorite coffee shop).
Step two: Install golang
Well, I downloaded the linux tarball from this link, and then wondered how I would access it in my terminal. Using the Files app, I right-clicked and shared it with Linux, and that… was it. Damn.
After that, we run a quick command to untar the package into my userspace: sudo tar -xzvf -C /usr/local go1.13.4.linux-amd64.tar.gz
and let it do its thing… pretty fast too. (If you’re new to terminal or haven’t dealt with tarballs often, that command translates to: “while using superuser privileges, untar this package into the path I specified in the -C option”. Here’s the manual pages if you’d like to get the actual definitions for each of the options.
Step three: Add the go
command to my user’s PATH So, in order to make go
accessible without me having to type /usr/local/...
every time, we want to add it to our user’s path. I did that with export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin
, and now all of the executables that come with golang’s install are available to my user without needing explicit file paths. From there, I want to make sure this is always available, so I edit ~.bash_profile
, and add that line to it. Then to make sure it loads, I type source ~/.bash_profile
, and boom, it’s there.
And now, my golang install is done.
Step Four: Fix something at work This is where I’ll stop the post, as I have to finish this setup later tonight, but I wanted to get this all down before I went to teach my class later tonight and forgot what all I did. becuase that's definitely a thing.
Tune in for part 2!

Written by Jayson J. Phillips
Jayson is a former(-ish) DJ turned software engineer and now leader, having written code or led teams for over 18 years. Currently, he's a Senior Engineering Manager, speaker, bootcamp instructor, and sometimes distance runner.
In his downtime, he can be found trying to put dent in his Netflix queue, playing FPS and fighting games, and livestreaming code and technology on his Twitch channel.
You can read more about what he's up to now or read more about him here. Also, here's the obligatory prompt to interact with him on Twitter.