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Richard Stallman Says You Should Worry About Chrome OS

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Re: Richard Stallman Says You Should Worry About Chrome OS

#11

Post by gcb »

johngalt wrote: post #6

It's plain as day that people don't want to maintain their own computing environment. Do you think average Joe wants to worry about antivirus definitions? Patches? Drivers? Backups? Let alone building their own servers/services that handle their data. Chrome OS may fail, but the principle of computing as a managed service will happen regardless of any objections. The only questions are what form it will take, and how…

if that means i can't customize it. than you are wrong.

for a sneaky peak into the future, just see how many people root their android phones just so they can have the damn status bar black!

and the main reason i resist going back to windows or mac, is the loss of control i will have over my mouse buttons. i like to move windows click anywhere with some modifier key pressed and my buttons [xmod]mapped "1 9 2 4 5 6 7 1 3" very much, thank you.

Re: Richard Stallman Says You Should Worry About Chrome OS

#12

Post by gcb »

JunkDNA wrote: post #2

I profoundly disagree with many of Stallman's opinions. However I have tremendous respect for his timing and ability to capitalize on the buzz surrounding something new, and use it as an opportunity to re-state his position.

that's his job. it's not like he have to stop coding to write those. so i think it's very easy for him to be always on top of things

Re: Richard Stallman Says You Should Worry About Chrome OS

#13

Post by dualboot »

gcb wrote: post #11
johngalt wrote: post #6

It's plain as day that people don't want to maintain their own computing environment. Do you think average Joe wants to worry about antivirus definitions? Patches? Drivers? Backups? Let alone building their own servers/services that handle their data. Chrome OS may fail, but the principle of computing as a managed service will happen regardless of any objections. The only questions are what form it will take, and how…

if that means i can't customize it. than you are wrong. for a sneaky peak into the future, just see how many people root their android phones just so they can have the damn status bar black! and the main reason i resist going back to windows or mac, is the loss of control i will have over my mouse buttons. i like to move windows click anywhere with some modifier key pressed and my buttons [xmod]mapped "1 9 2 4 5 6 7…

I have to imagine that it's less than 10% of Android owners that root their phones.

Certainly there is power in niche markets in this modern world where the barriers for distribution have been mostly obliterated by the internet..

That wonderful reality also blurs the importance of the majority though.

Most people just want things to work without having to deal with it.

Re: Richard Stallman Says You Should Worry About Chrome OS

#14

Post by trotsky »

I think he makes a good point about cloud stored data, but failing to acknowledge having a developer mode baked in to the OS and a trusted boot process that doesn't prevent modification was a real mistake. Google obviously went to great pains to buck the polar trends in OS security = either being in denial about the current security landscape, or removing all user control entirely for business purposes in the name of security.

Re: Richard Stallman Says You Should Worry About Chrome OS

#15

Post by trotsky »

cmoylan wrote: post #9

The best case scenario for cloud computing would be some sort of device that you could run on your home network that would provide services like email, web hosting, and file sharing. It would have to be painless to setup. Maybe it could backup heavily encrypted copies of your stuff onto off-site servers just in case. You could VPN/SSH into your cloud wherever you had an internet connection. Unfortunately, I think suc…

It seems like it'd be pretty easy to roll those features into the broadband router - and everyone seems to be able to handle one of those pretty easily.

Re: Richard Stallman Says You Should Worry About Chrome OS

#16

Post by gcb »

dualboot wrote: post #13
gcb wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if that means i can't customize it. than you are wrong. for a sneaky peak into the future, just see how many people root their android phones just so they can have the damn status bar black! and the main reason i resist going back to windows or mac, is the loss of control i will have over my mouse buttons. i like to move windows click anywhere with some modifier key pressed and my buttons [xmod]mapped "1 9 2 4 5 6 7…

I have to imagine that it's less than 10% of Android owners that root their phones. Certainly there is power in niche markets in this modern world where the barriers for distribution have been mostly obliterated by the internet.. That wonderful reality also blurs the importance of the majority though. Most people just want things to work without having to deal with it.

for most phones, root is as simple as copying something to the SD card, and booting with some buttons pressed.

pretty 'cheap' in effort to have a [insert slang kids uses these days] skin.

Re: Richard Stallman Says You Should Worry About Chrome OS

#17

Post by zackfern »

cmoylan wrote: post #9

The best case scenario for cloud computing would be some sort of device that you could run on your home network that would provide services like email, web hosting, and file sharing. It would have to be painless to setup. Maybe it could backup heavily encrypted copies of your stuff onto off-site servers just in case. You could VPN/SSH into your cloud wherever you had an internet connection. Unfortunately, I think suc…

Sounds a lot like me for a perfect use for a Mac Mini Server or Pogoplug.

Re: Richard Stallman Says You Should Worry About Chrome OS

#18

Post by brisance »

mahmud wrote: post #8
ax0n wrote: post #4

He brings up some good points for those who agree with his stance. While they sometimes have a bit of wisdom to impart, I have a tendency to not listen to the jaded and disenfranchised old guard once they begin whining.

It was only yesterday when the cloud kicked wikileaks out. Then 200 private boxes sprung up, and came to its aid. When people own their data, and their computing resources, they tend to do whatever they want with it. Could you imagine waking up one morning to find your computing privileges revoked because you have an overdue parking ticket or some such?

Good points. Not to mention that a large, visible target like Google would attract even more people with malicious intent since the payoffs would be much higher.

And no, Google is not invulnerable, as evidenced by last year's intrusions that originated from China.

Re: Richard Stallman Says You Should Worry About Chrome OS

#19

Post by Adaptive »

If your only tool is a Stallman, every problem looks like an OS.

That said, data in the cloud is absolutely less secure from fed perusal. Of course, the lack of commonplace point to point encryption (see the Phil Zimmerman witch hunt in the early 90s) was in many ways a more critical nail in the messaging security coffin.

Re: Richard Stallman Says You Should Worry About Chrome OS

#20

Post by cmoylan »

zackfern wrote: post #17
cmoylan wrote: post #9

The best case scenario for cloud computing would be some sort of device that you could run on your home network that would provide services like email, web hosting, and file sharing. It would have to be painless to setup. Maybe it could backup heavily encrypted copies of your stuff onto off-site servers just in case. You could VPN/SSH into your cloud wherever you had an internet connection. Unfortunately, I think suc…

Sounds a lot like me for a perfect use for a Mac Mini Server or Pogoplug.

I use a spare computer and a couple virtual machines. The only thing that makes me nervous is the possibility of natural disaster or hardware failure.

The Pogoplug looks like it's geared towards file sharing, but it's very promising.

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