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Early Access to Chrome OS Flex: The Upgrade PCs and Macs

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Re: Early Access to Chrome OS Flex: The Upgrade PCs and Macs

#12
post #10

I was really excited about Flex when I first heard about it. I then heard it didn't have Widevine or Android or Linux features. I don't know if that changed, but I wouldn't be surprised if not. If it did ship those it would be a great distro for a lot of people.

> I then heard it didn't have Widevine

That would strike me as a bit strange? You can get Widevine in open source versions of Chromium just by copying some files, e.g. https://ungoogled-software.github.io/ungoogled-chromium-wiki... Why lock it out of Chrome OS Flex?

(Not saying Google didn't do it anyway, just that I find it odd.)

Edit: Although in a way, I'd welcome more Widevine-incapable machines as a disincentive to websites requiring Widevine.

Re: Early Access to Chrome OS Flex: The Upgrade PCs and Macs

#13

With Google's track record for discontinuing products, would you commit to moving your school or business to this OS? Yes, schools and businesses often replace technology on a schedule, but standardizing on an OS is a longer-term decision than desktop replacement.

Agreed. This is def good for the industry as it’ll push Microsoft to be more competitive

Re: Early Access to Chrome OS Flex: The Upgrade PCs and Macs

#16
post #3

I wonder if my older "Samsung Chromebook 2 (2014)" model will work with this? Google removed support for that model a long time ago.

Is there a community of "ChromeOS distros" like how LineageOS does with open source Android for older phones?

My only experience trying to build ChromeOS was for "Container-Optimized OS" which doesn't have nearly the same "random binary blobs" problem as trying to build for a piece of consumer hardware

Re: Early Access to Chrome OS Flex: The Upgrade PCs and Macs

#17

With Google's track record for discontinuing products, would you commit to moving your school or business to this OS? Yes, schools and businesses often replace technology on a schedule, but standardizing on an OS is a longer-term decision than desktop replacement.

You shouldn’t be getting downvoted for that. It’s a fair question for those educated in Google’s history of cancelling products and uneducated in Chrome OS.

A lot of people are unaware that Google is deeply committed in the OS space. Apart from Android, which they saw/see as an existential need for their business, Chrome OS fills a similar space on the desktop (especially as MS ramps up their anticompetitive efforts with their own browser again).

Google also uses a chromium build internally in GCP/GKE, so the OS is being maintained for servers as well.

Lastly, Chrome OS has been around for a long time and is based off an open source project with passionate maintainers.

Re: Early Access to Chrome OS Flex: The Upgrade PCs and Macs

#20
post #10

I was really excited about Flex when I first heard about it. I then heard it didn't have Widevine or Android or Linux features. I don't know if that changed, but I wouldn't be surprised if not. If it did ship those it would be a great distro for a lot of people.

> Linux features

Not sure what you are referring to, but I am writing this post from Chrome OS flex and the linux features work perfectly.

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