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ChromeOS is Linux with Google’s desktop environment

aboutchromebooks.com

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Re: ChromeOS is Linux with Google’s desktop environment

#101

Post by jeffbee »

doubled112 wrote: post #95
jeffbee wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this an adaptation to some past trauma? I can't imagine a good reason to do this today, certainly not with ChromeOS.

I don't think it's trauma, although I've been burned with suspend/wake cycles before. Suspend works great. It is usually that wake part if it's going to go wrong. If I close the lid, when I get back _I_ need a clean slate. I'll never remember what I was doing anyway. Modern machines boot and launch apps so fast I'm not really saving any time sleeping an empty desktop either.

Interesting. It certainly costs several seconds to start and login to ChromeOS, while I have always enjoyed the fact that unlike other operating systems it is up and running before I even get the screen unfolded, from sleep.

Re: ChromeOS is Linux with Google’s desktop environment

#103

Post by aesh2Xa1 »

pentagrama wrote: post #102

That looks nice. I like the Material You look and feel and UX. I want to try it. Can I install Chrome OS as simply as I installed Ubuntu? With a USB drive and a friendly install process (on a separated partition on my SSD, my main OS is Windows 11 now).

Yes. The chromeOS Flex installer image can be written to a USB drive and then booted from your usual computer.

https://support.google.com/chromeosflex/answer/11552529

You can unzip this archive and write the unpacked BIN to a USB flash drive using `dd` like you would for Ubuntu. You can also just follow the Google instructions.

https://dl.google.com/chromeos-flex/images/latest.bin.zip

Re: ChromeOS is Linux with Google’s desktop environment

#104

Post by Bu9818 »

daft_pink wrote: post #93

Except that most people view Linux as open source etc. Chromebooks aren’t Linux in the sense people who want a Linux computer care about

Most of it is open source similarly to the Chrome/Chromium situation. But you're right that many Linux desktop users won't care about it due to it being locked down and limited, which was demonstrated in the article. It's not something I'd use on my personal devices.

Re: ChromeOS is Linux with Google’s desktop environment

#105

Post by Bu9818 »

eikenberry wrote: post #66
maxamillion wrote: post #6

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)_/¯

How much of that has been upstreamed? I dug around a little but could only find things on upstreaming kernel patches.

What in particular needs to be upstreamed and to what projects?

Re: ChromeOS is Linux with Google’s desktop environment

#106

Post by curt15 »

legolas2412 wrote: post #27
nolist_policy wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Is gLinux[1] still a thing?

https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/developers-practitioner...

Re: ChromeOS is Linux with Google’s desktop environment

#107

Post by danans »

evasb wrote: post #80

Google should invest in ChromeOS as a serious PC/Laptop OS. It is ridiculous that Google made the choice to make ChromeOS the "cheap" OS.

> It is ridiculous that Google made the choice to make ChromeOS the "cheap" OS.

The original goal was to make a laptop performant enough for a wide swath of common web based tasks that was very affordable to purchase and administer. It succeeded at that very well, especially in primary/secondary education.

For many years now there have also been high performance Chromebooks available that can run a full Linux environment, drive multiple monitors at high resolution, and run heavy software like Figma.

The engineering investment has been there, but the storytelling about the capabilities of these devices hasn't taken place. Now that's starting to happen, and probably non-coincidentally when Adobe Photoshop for the web is available.

Re: ChromeOS is Linux with Google’s desktop environment

#108

Post by jauntywundrkind »

c-hendricks wrote: post #100
daft_pink wrote: post #93

Except that most people view Linux as open source etc. Chromebooks aren’t Linux in the sense people who want a Linux computer care about

https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromiumos/

That'd be more interesting a reference if it were actually possible to run without making your own conformamt special hardware.

Google built their own embedded controllers to power this platform, unlike anything else that came before. The source may be open, but no other machine anywhere will run this.

It has taken heroic efforts to port ChromoumOS to conventional x86 hardware platforms. Google then bought the people who spent years porting their proprietary impossible to run system on normal laptops. I don't know enought to say how actively Neverware's efforts have been continued, but so far it still seems like running Chromium OS elsewhere requires epic feats, that integration has not proceeded any further than before the acquisition. https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/16/22179242/google-neverwar...

Re: ChromeOS is Linux with Google’s desktop environment

#109

Post by yjftsjthsd-h »

jeffbee wrote: post #101
doubled112 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it's trauma, although I've been burned with suspend/wake cycles before. Suspend works great. It is usually that wake part if it's going to go wrong. If I close the lid, when I get back _I_ need a clean slate. I'll never remember what I was doing anyway. Modern machines boot and launch apps so fast I'm not really saving any time sleeping an empty desktop either.

Interesting. It certainly costs several seconds to start and login to ChromeOS, while I have always enjoyed the fact that unlike other operating systems it is up and running before I even get the screen unfolded, from sleep.

> while I have always enjoyed the fact that unlike other operating systems it is up and running before I even get the screen unfolded, from sleep.

Other devices, maybe; it's at least as much firmware as OS. To this day the fastest wake from sleep I've seen was a random midrange Lenovo laptop that I got used, which is slightly maddening.

Re: ChromeOS is Linux with Google’s desktop environment

#110

Post by yjftsjthsd-h »

nnwright wrote: post #79
maxamillion wrote: post #6

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)_/¯

Completely agree. Now if they would just add a meta key to the bottom row of the keyboard I'd be a happy user. Ctrl and Alt are not enough. And seriously, they are comically large on every chromebook I've owned. Give me a meta key in all that wasted space.

There's the button that replaced caps lock. I mean, yes, I'd still rather have another button, but it does work in my personal experience.
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