Not always, I have one with an amd chipset that I can't get Linux on (last time I checked).
You have to open them up and remove a screw then install different firmware.
The dell Chromebook 11 I got from eBay for under £20 was easy to get it working on though.
90s was Mandrake, early 2000s was all about Ubuntu.
Since then I've tried just about everything including BSDs. It's all pretty much the same thing, as long as you like the package manager and release schedule. I don't like snap or flatpak so avoid distros that use them a lot.
These days I mainly just use opensuse leap, although I love arch etc but it's just too much work for me now.
I only really need a terminal, firefox and emacs and I'm happy.