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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

#51

Post by sorenjan »

andrewmutz wrote: post #35
prmoustache wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does it do better than simply installing any decent linux distro?

The UX is extremely easy to use. For most users, you're just using web browsers and the window manager for chrome os is designed for just manipulating browser windows. Unless you install Linux stuff (most users don't) you can't download any software. This means no malware is possible. It guides you to store everything in the cloud, which allows you to treat your workstations as cattle rather than pets.

Can you install Firefox?

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

#52

Post by elkos »

andrewmutz wrote: post #41
AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are the "Linux features" exactly? Can you install packages? What distro or packaging format are they based off?

It's debian. Yes you can install packages. You get a built in terminal running bash but you can install a terminal program or she'll just fine. Linux app support is extremely good. Everything works with the window manager quite well. Even steam is available for games. Only limits I've hit are when interacting with hardware devices, but I havent done it enough to tell you exactly what the limits are

can you install Firefox on it?

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

#53

Post by alexnewman »

prmoustache wrote: post #28
andrewmutz wrote: post #23

I am writing this comment on Chrome OS Flex and can not say enough good things about Chrome OS Flex. I installed it on my wife's old macbook air (~2013) and it brought new life to a machine that we had written off as useless. The OS does a great job of exactly two things: web browsing and linux stuff. It won't do more than that, but if that's all you need it is great. I honestly think you could make some decent cash…

What does it do better than simply installing any decent linux distro?

The interaction between xwindows and native chrome is sickkkk!

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

#54

Post by alexnewman »

sorenjan wrote: post #51
andrewmutz wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The UX is extremely easy to use. For most users, you're just using web browsers and the window manager for chrome os is designed for just manipulating browser windows. Unless you install Linux stuff (most users don't) you can't download any software. This means no malware is possible. It guides you to store everything in the cloud, which allows you to treat your workstations as cattle rather than pets.

Can you install Firefox?

It’s a full fledged Debian

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

#55

Post by alexnewman »

bitwize wrote: post #42
dijit wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last time I ran chromeOS it was those unofficial builds by a guy called “Lex”, needless to say it was a long time ago. Back then it wasn’t possible to run anything other than Chrome itself outside of dev mode, but I’ve seen people running/installing VSCode on chromeOS (not in the web browser). Is that feasible? At the same time as I was seeing this, it appeared that the OS actually has a windowing system now, so you…

Microsoft has a whole blog post about VSCode on Chromebooks in their Crostini Linux environment. Which is just... gah: https://code.visualstudio.com/blogs/2020/12/03/chromebook-ge... I mean, the fact that it can be done is neat, but on most entry-level Chromebooks it will be a memory hog, and you might be better served with vim or emacs (one or both of which should be learned to functional competence levels by every…

The days of underpowered chromebooks is gone.

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

#56

Post by Zhenya »

sorenjan wrote: post #49

I've had two Google Nexus phones and one Android Wear watch, and all three became e-waste before their time purely because Google stopped updating them. In the case of the watch Google actually started sending out "updates" to their own apps that removed functionality from watches with older Android wear, with no possibility to update. It had less features when I threw it away than it had when I bought it. I'm using…

Not defending Google’s actions but it worth noting that not updating devices usually has to do with the SoC supplier ceasing support for the chip by not shipping BSPs which support new OS features. Yes google should have negotiated better support but it’s lack of support has to do more with inability to do so within reasonable means.

They have projects ongoing to decouple OS functionality from the base firmware (project treble and project keystone).

https://www.googblogs.com/tag/keystone/

This whole issue is probably one reason that Google went through all the trouble to first develop their own support silicon and then the main SoC (pixel 6).

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

#57

Post by car_analogy »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #21

Meanwhile, the Chromebooks we use at an after-school program where I teach are no longer receiving security updates. I'm not sure how old the machines are, but they're quite speedy compared to other Chromebooks I've used, and perfectly capable of browsing the modern web. I love the idea of Chrome OS Flex, but I wish Google extended the same support to hardware designed for Chrome OS...

Meanwhile 20 year old machines running linux still get updates. How is it that software support became tied to specific hardware? This used to be a solved problem, but with a lot of effort and ingenuity, a few corporations un-solved it, first for smartphones, tablets, and now for whatever Chromebooks count as.

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

#58

Post by andrewmutz »

elkos wrote: post #52
andrewmutz wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's debian. Yes you can install packages. You get a built in terminal running bash but you can install a terminal program or she'll just fine. Linux app support is extremely good. Everything works with the window manager quite well. Even steam is available for games. Only limits I've hit are when interacting with hardware devices, but I havent done it enough to tell you exactly what the limits are

can you install Firefox on it?

Yes

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

#59

Post by 5d8767c68926 »

andrewmutz wrote: post #37
dijit wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last time I ran chromeOS it was those unofficial builds by a guy called “Lex”, needless to say it was a long time ago. Back then it wasn’t possible to run anything other than Chrome itself outside of dev mode, but I’ve seen people running/installing VSCode on chromeOS (not in the web browser). Is that feasible? At the same time as I was seeing this, it appeared that the OS actually has a windowing system now, so you…

By default, there is only web browsers and no Linux. Which is nice because by default there can be no malware and it's a good OS for non technical users. But with one click it installs and makes available Linux. It appears to the user as a debain variant. You can install anything and when you run apps they seamlessly work with the window manager. I've used VScode for software development and it works great. Steam is…

Is it Google in name only or does it send telemetry of my every click to the mother ship? Would be interested in trying it as a VSCode remote development + minimal Linux utilities platform.

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

#60

Post by my123 »

Zhenya wrote: post #56
sorenjan wrote: post #49

I've had two Google Nexus phones and one Android Wear watch, and all three became e-waste before their time purely because Google stopped updating them. In the case of the watch Google actually started sending out "updates" to their own apps that removed functionality from watches with older Android wear, with no possibility to update. It had less features when I threw it away than it had when I bought it. I'm using…

Not defending Google’s actions but it worth noting that not updating devices usually has to do with the SoC supplier ceasing support for the chip by not shipping BSPs which support new OS features. Yes google should have negotiated better support but it’s lack of support has to do more with inability to do so within reasonable means. They have projects ongoing to decouple OS functionality from the base firmware (proj…

For Chrome OS not the problem a lot of the time, they drop support for devices using commodity SoCs that are still supported elsewhere... it's a quite hardcoded expiry date.

And they don't even drop support for all machines using a given SoC at the same time.

For Chrome OS updates are wholly owned by Google too.

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