Hacker News Reader

Comment by swalladge | Hacker News Reader

Disappointed this list doesn't include Matrix/Riot as an alternative to Hangouts/Allo. Also there are many Google Drive alternatives including Syncthing (p2p), Dropbox, Nextcloud/Owncloud (selfhosted), Sugarsync, SpiderOak, etc.

View on HN

Disappointed it does not mention people should NOT be using Chromebooks either. It's become quite prevalent these days.

If you're buying a Chromebook because of the low price point, there is a way out.

Many (not all) of them can be reflashed with a ROM that allows for a mainstream Linux distro to be installed. https://johnlewis.ie/custom-chromebook-firmware/rom-download...

What about the chroot/Crouton route?

Crouton leaves ChromeOS in place and running, so I assumed it was out of place for this discussion. I don't know how much the chroot does to mitigate that. I assume, for example, it's still Google's kernel in place?

Yes, it's still using the same kernel.

People shouldn't use ChromeOS, but Chromebooks are fine.

Buying a Chromebook still results in advertisement, money and power for Google.

Money: I really doubt Google profits off the hardware sales at the price points they go for (I'd guess they recoup their costs with ChromeOS), but even if they do that's fine. I'm okay with paying a company for hardware.

Advertising: Strip off the ChromeOS logo or cover it with an EFF or FSF sticker.

Power: Not really giving them any power simply by using their hardware with a Linux distro.

Someone asks you "What device it that?" - "A Chromebook" - "Ah nice, I heard they are good!" - "But I've removed the operating system, replaced the logo and don't use any Google services!" - "Yeah, whatever."

The next day: He buys a Chromebook and uses it with ChromeOS and without a sticker.

That's a ridiculous hypothetical with many opportunities to avoid the unlikely conclusion. If you wanted, you could just say it's "an Acer" or "an Asus", and mention GalliumOS in the same breath.

Okay you're right. Still buying a Chromebook increases its sail numbers which does mean advertisement.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com