What if the user is not "the kind of developer who likes to build an open source operating system form scratch"?
The fact is that this FAQ on www.chromium.org gives no pointers into Google Git to find the files to which you refer. It does not even give a link to chromium.googlesource.org, aside from the BSD license. If the reader following the "For everyone" link is not a developer, not a "UI designer" and not a "Contributor", she does not want to be treated like those types of people, she just wants the source code. If she were a developer she would have followed the "For developers" link at www.chromium.org. Interestingly, there is no "For users" link at www.chromium.org.
Not everyone looking for source code is a "developer", or thinks like one, and even if they are a developer, they may not be one "who likes build an open source OS from scratch".
I am an end user, not a developer, and I have been building an open source OS from source code for over 15 years. This FAQ makes some bold assumptions about end users. I do not believe that calling this out is "disingenuous", a "put down", nor "snark", at least, not according to the definition of that term I found on FOLDOC. I have always run my customised systems in a configuration similar to what Google calls "developer mode" (in fact, I use a more flexible, simpler configuration), however I am not a developer. The name "developer mode" is suggestive and silly.
One does not need to be a "developer", or think like one, to read, edit, write or compile software. Google seems to prefer to pretend such users do not exist. A Chrome OS user who is not a developer, UI designer nor contributor who wants the source code gets funnelled to the Chromium OS website, and then is provided with the advice to "follow the developer instructions". No link to the source code, or even to the "For developers" section. Too add to this, the user is given the caveat that "Chromium OS is not for general consumer use". This "For everyone" page is a dead end for non-developer users who want source code.
Imagine you are a "general consumer", i.e., an end-user, who is told Chrome OS is "open source". You go looking for the source code tree and tarballs and you are directed to Chromium OS. Then you arrive at www.chromium.org and are told Chromium OS is "not intended for general consumer use" and "if you a developer who likes to build an open source operating system from scratch you can follow the developer instructions". This is extremely presumptuous.
Nor everyone who wants to see the source code wants to build Chromium OS. Building "modern" web browsers like Chrome from scratch is unreasonably resource intensive. Some people may not want to read through all the opinionated developer instructions whose primary audience appears to be Google staff. Some people just want the source code to Chrome OS. That's it.
Yes, people not working for Google can get it. I can get it (with some effort). I never said otherwise. However, as I pointed out, it is "Chromium OS" not "Chrome OS" and there is a lot of cult-like mumbo jumbo for non-Google staff to wade through in order to find what one is looking for. The "open source" OS is Chromium OS not Chrome OS. That is not a "half-truth" it is a fact. Is all this a deterrent for those interested in Chrome OS source code? That is for the reader to decide. I think it could be made easier but that is only my opinion.
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