Google Gives the OK to Hack Any Operating System, Directly

On the Google Group, one ninja wrote:
"Developer channel (a.k.a. "dev channel")

Currently, by default, your Chrome notebook is on our beta channel, and is regularly updated with our beta version releases. Compared to the beta channel, the developer channel gets updated with versions of Chrome OS that may contain new features still being built, some of which may not always work as expected yet. Folks on the developer channel may also at times experience more instability (such as crashes). To find out about how to switch between the two channels, see here.

Developer mode (a.k.a. "dev mode")

While we try to make your Chrome notebook as secure and user-friendly as possible, at the same time we want to support developers who want to install their own builds of a Chromium-based operating system or another operating system and be able to tap into the full capabilities of our device. As such, we've implemented a physical developer on/off switch on your Chrome notebook that you can use to turn on developer mode and install your own OS. To find out how to switch between the two modes, see here."