Hacker News Reader

Comment by skrowl | Hacker News Reader

I really wish the "Yay, linux on the desktop" crowd would rally around ChromeOS. ChromeOS is literally what the "linux on the desktop" crowd has been wanted for decades now.

View on HN

What...why? I'm perfectly happy using linux on the desktop as my full time OS, as I have for more than a decade. I tried ChromeOS on chromebooks, and see nothing they offer me that I don't already have. Not to mention the privacy implications of using such an OS...

Heavily integrated with proprietary services is definitely not what the "linux on the desktop" crowd wants.

The vast majority of Chromebooks are completely useless without Google services. That's not exactly the "freedom" that the Linux community envisioned when they spoke about "The Year of Linux on the Desktop".

Well, you can install regular linux and run whatever you want: https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/9145439?hl=en

Then why bother with ChromeOS? I can just... install regular GNU/Linux and run whatever I want.

And then you've just got an underpowered Linux laptop.

Chromebooks are great for what they are. Fantastic for people that just need access to the web. They're pretty much immune to the technically-challenged.

Can you run a 'normal' Linux desktop application written in C or C++ on a Chromebook? Or is it just Android Apps and Web Apps?

Yes, you can: https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/9145439?hl=en

You certainly can if you install Linux on your Chromebook. I've been using my Chromebook this way for years. But I use a real Linux distro independent of Google (my system will not run Android apps). I have no idea if Google's relatively recent Linux offering works as well.

Chrome OS doesn't give me the benefits that drive me to sometimes use the Linux desktop, so it doesn't really matter whether it addresses any of the (many, serious) problems that keep me from using Linux for everything.

You can run real linux as well a ChromeOS: https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/9145439?hl=en

Looks like its hardware support is limited to the point of being nearly useless (under "check what's not supported yet"). Besides, then you've still got spyware under your Linux, so at that point just run Win10.

But if one isn’t going to go the supported route, why don’t get a real laptop and install a real distro on it?

Yeah, but I can do that without buying a laptop from Google.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com