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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think iptables allows you to authenticate the knocks? Also, anyone listening to your network would be able to replay the sequence and open the port.
This project reminds me a bit of moxie's knockknock[1], where the idea of port knocking is kept intact, but with some added security. Plus, it seems really easy to setup, compared to writing dozens of iptables rules.
I have an Acer C200 (low-end Chromebook) running Crouton. I use it for all my day-to-day programming because it has great battery life (about 10 hours).
There are occasional slowdowns, mainly when using Firefox. The 16Gb of SSD are quite limiting, but it's usable.
I mainly develop using Emacs with various extensions. I've tried Eclipse and it wasn't even remotely powerful enough. I do Python, C++, Web dev and a bit of Common Lisp.
Be aware that dual-booting Linux isn't yet possible on BayTrail-powered Chromebooks because of compatibility issues with SeaBIOS.
What's a Lada on top of a hill? A miracle.
What' two Ladas on top of a hill? Science-fiction.
What's three Ladas on top of a hill? A weird place to build a Lada factory.
There's also libtcod[0], a library to help creating roguelikes. There are bindings in a lot of languages (Common Lisp, Nimrod, Lua, Go, D...) and it's a real pleasure to use! I used to work on a Python roguelike, and I can't recommend this lib enough.