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Chrome OS has stalled out

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Re: Chrome OS has stalled out

#151

Post by theamk »

zouhair wrote: post #106
andrewmutz wrote: post #73

I use Chrome OS daily to do my job and I think it is fantastic. IMO it is the ultimate work machine for your average knowledge worker. At my company, all the software that we use is web-based (SaaS), with the exception of software engineers, who are using local tools to develop web based applications. For non-engineers, the OS provides an extremely simple client to use to do their job. The OS is a slightly better web…

I don't think relying on a third party and especially one that is as fickle as Google to do the most basic workload is a sound idea. I won't be surprised if Google kills Chrome OS in the near future, as they killed a lot of stuff already[0]. I don't trust Google anymore. [0]: https://killedbygoogle.com/

But there is no lock-in there.

If Chrome OS is dead, we switch to regular Linux|MacOS|Windows laptop running Chrome. It is more annoying and less secure, but all the software still runs.

And Chrome-the-browser is pretty unlikely to be killed.

Re: Chrome OS has stalled out

#152

Post by oscargrouch »

dreamcompiler wrote: post #99

The utility of ChromeOS for me is that it enabled the creation of cheap Linux laptops. For $300 plus a 128GB A2-rated SD card, I can boot GalliumOS from the SD card and have a nicely functional Linux development machine with all my important stuff backed up to Dropbox and/or Github. If the laptop gets stolen I don't much care; I just buy another one and reinstall and I haven't lost any data. (I don't use Google's bui…

This is why i think a OS like Chrome is designed exactly to be this sort of trap. A cloud computing trap, where we are perfectly ok with alienating our digital life/data to third-parties without understanding the depth of the problem we are getting into.

The ones who control our digital properties, can control the world (information is power, remember?). They might not, but they can, and also can aid third parties with shady intentions (see all the Facebook fiasco). By the way, we should have learned this lesson already.

Also, people often forget how groundbreaking was to have a compiler (GCC) directly embedded with the OS because you could mess with the source and compile it yourself. Its very liberating to have a platform where you can code and modify it.

So i think a future where the likes of Chrome OS took over the world, is pretty scary as we ended turning our powerful and liberating computers into a sort of "interactive TV".

As i understand it, they will try to make it very easy for us to buy into this platform utopia, the problem is, in my point of view, that in the long term this will lead to some sort of digital feudalism. Lets not forget we are "digitalizing" our lives day-by-day, til the day there are very few useful things we do in the physical world.

So in the future if Google for instance want to ban your account, this could have severe problems, as a side-effect of your digital ostracism. (access to capital, bank, employment, etc..)

Re: Chrome OS has stalled out

#153

Post by turtlebits »

darren0 wrote: post #43

I bought a pixelbook last year as I was excited to play with the early native Linux integration. The technology that has been built is an amazing amount of work (crosvm, Wayland support, etc) but at the end of the day it's really only useful for simple use cases. This is a common theme for everything in ChromeOS. I've given up on ChromeOS for the time being as been capable of any serious work I do. The more frustrati…

What are you trying to do? I have VS code installed and regularly develop in js, python and go on my Pixelbook.

Re: Chrome OS has stalled out

#154

Post by steego »

dontblink wrote: post #110
zouhair wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think relying on a third party and especially one that is as fickle as Google to do the most basic workload is a sound idea. I won't be surprised if Google kills Chrome OS in the near future, as they killed a lot of stuff already[0]. I don't trust Google anymore. [0]: https://killedbygoogle.com/

Honestly this trope is tiring. FUD.

You might be tired of it, but what it underscores is that Google has developed a reputation for creating experiments and killing them off when they no longer serves Google's purpose. It reminds Google's users that they're not customers, but proverbial farm animals whose attention is being auctioned off to advertisers.

I get why they need to kill off products. I took a few minutes to look through https://killedbygoogle.com/ and there are a lot of fleeting, gimmicky things on that list that should have never been released in the first place.

Google has an image problem with this. By releasing all these unfocused products into the wild, they've signaled that they will create unfocused products and kill off the ones that aren't hugely successful.

Now when they launch a new idea, people are no longer excited, but legitimately suspicious. When Google launched Allo and Duo at the same time (while Hangouts still existed), it sent a clear message that they really didn't care about product management and continuity or communicating to their users. They would rather be the ADD company that built 3 competing things and measure usage than to nurture and improve already successful products.

People don't like having the rug pulled out from under them and the repetition of this trope will continue to echo so long as it resonates with readers. Even if it's FUD, this is a big problem for Google.

I don't think Chrome OS will be on this list anytime soon, but if something shinier comes around, can you honestly tell me Google won't drop Chrome OS for the shinier thing?

Re: Chrome OS has stalled out

#155

Post by throwGuardian »

I see googlers in tech talks and at cafes only use MacBook Pros. If their own PC isn't good enough for them, why should anyone else fall for their marketing?

The day I buy a Chromebook is the day I read that Google only issues Chromebooks to their employees

Re: Chrome OS has stalled out

#156

Post by stiray »

xorcist wrote: post #147
zouhair wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think relying on a third party and especially one that is as fickle as Google to do the most basic workload is a sound idea. I won't be surprised if Google kills Chrome OS in the near future, as they killed a lot of stuff already[0]. I don't trust Google anymore. [0]: https://killedbygoogle.com/

There not much relying involved. It's not like Android, which is considerably less useful without the Googley bits. It's just a regular Linux desktop with Chrome pre-installed. Even if Google would kill all of Chrome in its entirety you could still run other software on it. You would lose secure boot but that's about it. It's more like a PC than an embedded system.

Exactly. I am running android with microg without any google software installed. I cope with it, I had to reverse and patch banking software as it was using "safety net" but it works perfectly with few smali gotos added. If you take chrome os you have installed spyware as an os.

Sorry, maybe "I have nothing to hide as a person, but as a bussiness I have plenty to hide.

Or just avoid Adobe scenario (I live in EU): https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/7/20904030/adobe-venezuela-...

Re: Chrome OS has stalled out

#157

Post by takeda »

zouhair wrote: post #106
andrewmutz wrote: post #73

I use Chrome OS daily to do my job and I think it is fantastic. IMO it is the ultimate work machine for your average knowledge worker. At my company, all the software that we use is web-based (SaaS), with the exception of software engineers, who are using local tools to develop web based applications. For non-engineers, the OS provides an extremely simple client to use to do their job. The OS is a slightly better web…

I don't think relying on a third party and especially one that is as fickle as Google to do the most basic workload is a sound idea. I won't be surprised if Google kills Chrome OS in the near future, as they killed a lot of stuff already[0]. I don't trust Google anymore. [0]: https://killedbygoogle.com/

> https://killedbygoogle.com/

Looks like they are missing DejaNews / Google Groups (it started as an index /browser to Usenet, but was transformed as a tool for mailing lists)

Re: Chrome OS has stalled out

#158

Post by turtlebits »

Kipters wrote: post #25

I often see price being cited as a selling point for Chromebooks, but I have never found them to be really cheap. Maybe it's a regional thing? Looking now on Amazon (.it) I can find a Pixelbook equipped with a measle i5-7Y57, 8 GB of ram and 256 GB SSD for 1999 € . That's crazy. For that kind of money I could get a 10th gen i7 (where applicable) 16 GB ram/512 GB SSD Surface Laptop 3, Surface Pro 7 or Surface Pro X (i…

The Pixelbook is/was a Chromebook with top of the line hardware. (IMO the best convertible notebook) and never was sold with cheap price in mind.

I bought my i5/8g/128g variant for You can definitely find a Chromebook for ~$200 USD.

Re: Chrome OS has stalled out

#159

Post by stevenwliao »

lowdose wrote: post #139
andrewmutz wrote: post #73

I use Chrome OS daily to do my job and I think it is fantastic. IMO it is the ultimate work machine for your average knowledge worker. At my company, all the software that we use is web-based (SaaS), with the exception of software engineers, who are using local tools to develop web based applications. For non-engineers, the OS provides an extremely simple client to use to do their job. The OS is a slightly better web…

I second this 100%. But this needs to be advocated more. Yesterday on a trending ask HN question how to prevent technology scams for family members I recommended a chromebook. But every negative windows os comment gets downvoted so hard that it left me 0 points at the bottom. Ask HN How do you protect your parents against tech scammers? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21934736 My answer: > Give them a chromebook…

There's a direct link at the "x days ago" timestamp:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21935330

Re: Chrome OS has stalled out

#160

Post by [deleted] »

andrewmutz wrote: post #73

I use Chrome OS daily to do my job and I think it is fantastic. IMO it is the ultimate work machine for your average knowledge worker. At my company, all the software that we use is web-based (SaaS), with the exception of software engineers, who are using local tools to develop web based applications. For non-engineers, the OS provides an extremely simple client to use to do their job. The OS is a slightly better web…

[deleted]
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