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You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

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Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#101

Post by redial »

dfaigonio wrote: post #84
timvisee wrote: post #4

I wonder why they are using a VM running Debian for Linux applications, as Chrome OS is already Linux (Gentoo) based itself.

Why does the Chrome OS team do anything the Chrome OS team does? They decided the best idea for low-end hardware is to run everything as a web app. They decided to make it practically useless without an Internet connection because clearly no one will use an ultraportable somewhere without Internet access. They decided to develop their own distro mostly from scratch because contributing to an existing project would be…

> Linux desktops could catch on in the mainstream market just fine if they had the marketing budget, brand recognition, and vendor support of Google

The problem with Linux on the mainstream is Linux, it has nothing to do with not having a huge brand like Google's nor with marketing, just ask Dell. Linux offers exactly what the enterprise market needs and it is a huge success, far bigger than anyone in the 90s ever imagined. Linux does not offer what the mainstream market demands and no amount of marketing or brand recognition can change that.

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#103

Post by jdietrich »

xfer wrote: post #71
city41 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

MacBooks are out for me now that they have the touchbar and bad keyboard. I currently use a ThinkPad and it's pretty good, but the touchpad is mediocre at best. I think a ChromeBook with really first class support for Linux apps is very compelling. I run Linux in a VM on Windows 10 on my ThinkPad and it's a great setup. A ChromeBook would be a very similar setup but probably with better native OS integration (for exa…

You mean pixelbook, $300 chromebooks would obviously be of poor build quality; although i am not sure of the hardware quality of pixelbook either. For me a thinkpad works pretty well for a linux machine.

A lot of the lower-end Chromebooks are surprisingly well built. Education is a huge market for Chromebooks, so durability is important. My Acer Chromebook is mostly plastic, but there are hefty metal hinges and a metal backplate for the LCD. I've dropped it several times and it just seems to bounce. The keyboard and trackpad aren't exceptional, but are perfectly pleasant to use. The only major downside is the screen, which is a fairly dim and low-res TN panel. Still, you really can't complain for the price.

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#104

Post by peatmoss »

xanderstrike wrote: post #100
mschuster91 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Give me a Thinkpad with a full aluminium body, a touchpad with a size that's actually usable and we'll talk. Sorry but I have developed a real dislike for small touchpads incapable of reliable gestures and full plastic bodies.

> a touchpad with a size that's actually usable The touchpad is inferior to the trackpoint, so I'd much rather they get rid of it entirely instead.

I wrote off the Trackpoint back in its glory days, but I recant my former position. Trackpoint is the bees knees once you get used to it. The Apple touchpads have gotten huge and easily triggered, Trackpoint is the cure.

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#105

Post by pier25 »

tambourine_man wrote: post #70

You hear that Adobe? You now have a lot of potential costumers to sell your Creative Cloud package to. I bet those Chromebooks are selling like hot cakes and many schools would love to offer training for your tools. As a side benefit, you'd get a lot of neglected Pro Apple costumers (well, one at least), which would love to use some blessed by Adobe Linux distro. Also… >…meaning that even less powerful machines shoul…

I seriously doubt Adobe will release Linux apps, ever.

They hardly can keep up with Mac and Windows...

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#106

Post by pier25 »

z3t4 wrote: post #29

I guess "web apps" are not as successful as Google hoped. There are some great web apps, but they are electron apps ... Maybe bake in "elevated" mode in Chrome so it basically becomes Electron, but with some kernel hooks to limit an apps abilities and let users pick what the app is able to access, network, hdd, etc.

You are missing the point. This is purely intended for advanced users.

Web apps and Android apps are more than fine for the large majority of Chrome OS users.

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#107

Post by bobajeff »

fdrs wrote: post #88
bobajeff wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I'm happy there is official support for using Linux on a chrome book. Still holding out until Crostini is supported by more Chromebook manufacturers and can be used outside of developer mode before I get one.

crostini does not need developer mode to run. what happens is that it is still in chrome os developer channel, which means is still in beta and can have bugs, but is something diferent then developer mode, just to make things clear.

Oh great. Thanks for clearing that up. I'll still wait until it's on the release channel but it's good to know I don't have to turn on developer mode to use it.

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#108

Post by hutzlibu »

dfaigonio wrote: post #84
timvisee wrote: post #4

I wonder why they are using a VM running Debian for Linux applications, as Chrome OS is already Linux (Gentoo) based itself.

Why does the Chrome OS team do anything the Chrome OS team does? They decided the best idea for low-end hardware is to run everything as a web app. They decided to make it practically useless without an Internet connection because clearly no one will use an ultraportable somewhere without Internet access. They decided to develop their own distro mostly from scratch because contributing to an existing project would be…

Did you actually used ChromeOS?

Anyway, short answer: because they heavily customized and changed a lot of things. They could not have done this with an existing Distro so easy. And sad as it is -> their goal is and was not to help the linux desktop - it is to help the google Eco system. Cloud-Service. Webapp. Makes perfect sense. No matter how much you want them to support the things you (or me) want.

We linux users are not the target group, target group are ordinary newbs who like that everything just runs and don't like that their exe files somehow don't run anymore. But the ones who handle exe files per hand are rapidly declining I guess.

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#109

Post by hutzlibu »

derefr wrote: post #20
rukittenme wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I had to guess its because they want to move to their own proprietary systems and don't want to support backwards compatibility with "native" linux applications.

Exactly–ChromeOS being Linux-based is, at this point, an implementation detail. No ChromeOS "apps" depend on that fact, because they all run under their own VMs or ABI sandboxes. This means that Google could make a Fuchsia-based ChromeOS and nothing in userland (save for the code of those VMs and sandboxes) would have to change.

Isn't Fuchsia OS as well, kust no GPL?

Re: You can now run Linux apps on Chrome OS

#110

Post by mattnewton »

willtim wrote: post #97
mschuster91 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Give me a Thinkpad with a full aluminium body, a touchpad with a size that's actually usable and we'll talk. Sorry but I have developed a real dislike for small touchpads incapable of reliable gestures and full plastic bodies.

A metal body is heavy, prone to dents and attenuates radio. Why are you so keen on having one? The X1 Carbon is lighter, tougher and more serviceable than a MacBook Pro, in part because of a better choice of materials. As for trackpads, Apple keep making them larger and larger, so a ThinkPad trackpad is no smaller than a MacBook from a few years ago. The keyboard is surely the primary concern.

The trackpad is also terrible compared to modern MacBooks aside from the size. It flexes, feels worse and does not reliably track gestures. The whole thing feels stuck a decade ago.
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