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ChromeOS is Linux with Google’s desktop environment

aboutchromebooks.com

21–30 of 194 posts

Re: ChromeOS is Linux with Google’s desktop environment

#21
post #3
post #2

Yeah, it is funny how successful Linux became as a desktop while basically noone was paying attention. I just wish the keyboards were more developer friendly. Give me F keys!

Yeah, I put Linux on my Chromebook, but I've yet to figure out how to use the F keys, in ChromeOS fn does it.

You can do Search/Launcher + [action key here], for example Search/Launcher + ← triggers F1. There is also a setting on ChromeOS that makes the action keys into function keys.

Re: ChromeOS is Linux with Google’s desktop environment

#22
post #15

Google put in a ton of work to make all the Linux and Android sandboxing while still being able to do file sharing into the sandboxes, Wayland GUI app bridging, usb pass-through, and a bunch of other stuff. https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromiumos/docs/+/HEAD/con... ChromeOS got good and is wildly underrated for software development. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Do google developers develop on Chromebooks ?

Yup!

Re: ChromeOS is Linux with Google’s desktop environment

#23
post #16
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do google developers develop on Chromebooks ?

All new devs are given Chromebooks unless they need a specific device (like a MacBook for iOS devs)

Are they still given a Debian workstation besides that? Didn't know they are dogfooding ChromeOS that seriously.

Re: ChromeOS is Linux with Google’s desktop environment

#25
post #16
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do google developers develop on Chromebooks ?

All new devs are given Chromebooks unless they need a specific device (like a MacBook for iOS devs)

But aren't devs also provided with: SSH, CI build minutes, and GCP budgets for containers and VMs?

To actually dogfood Chromebooks internally like Chromebooks for Education and for Families, Google would need to deny its devs containers behind a greyed out "Turn on Linux" button and deny them access to Colab notebooks and AI platform etc (while only allowing Play Store apps); nothing to SSH to, no notebooks, no devpod, no local git repos (!), no local terminal to run e.g. pytest tests with, no devtools JS console, etc.

Re: ChromeOS is Linux with Google’s desktop environment

#26
post #16
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do google developers develop on Chromebooks ?

All new devs are given Chromebooks unless they need a specific device (like a MacBook for iOS devs)

Which brand, though? I have a feeling it's one of those first-party Google Chromebooks...

Re: ChromeOS is Linux with Google’s desktop environment

#27
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All new devs are given Chromebooks unless they need a specific device (like a MacBook for iOS devs)

Are they still given a Debian workstation besides that? Didn't know they are dogfooding ChromeOS that seriously.

Nopes, everyone uses cloud VMs by default. These VMs were very powerful too.

Re: ChromeOS is Linux with Google’s desktop environment

#28
post #15

Google put in a ton of work to make all the Linux and Android sandboxing while still being able to do file sharing into the sandboxes, Wayland GUI app bridging, usb pass-through, and a bunch of other stuff. https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromiumos/docs/+/HEAD/con... ChromeOS got good and is wildly underrated for software development. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Do google developers develop on Chromebooks ?

They do, but for the googlers I know it's just as a thin client for their remote desktop software (https://remotedesktop.google.com/).

Re: ChromeOS is Linux with Google’s desktop environment

#29

Google put in a ton of work to make all the Linux and Android sandboxing while still being able to do file sharing into the sandboxes, Wayland GUI app bridging, usb pass-through, and a bunch of other stuff. https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromiumos/docs/+/HEAD/con... ChromeOS got good and is wildly underrated for software development. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Couldn't agree more. I recently bought a cheap $200 Chromebook and I have to say that it outperforms my high end Windows + WSL2 machine from work for programming related tasks.

Linux just works without all the WSL issues, I can run Visual Studio Code, Docker and anything that I tried so far.

It's actually a delight to work on. I can only imagine how much better yet it will be with a top tier Chromebook

Re: ChromeOS is Linux with Google’s desktop environment

#30

Google put in a ton of work to make all the Linux and Android sandboxing while still being able to do file sharing into the sandboxes, Wayland GUI app bridging, usb pass-through, and a bunch of other stuff. https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromiumos/docs/+/HEAD/con... ChromeOS got good and is wildly underrated for software development. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Paying top dollars/euros for a laptop with 8GB/128GB isn't my idea of an ideal developer laptop.
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