Chrome OS Is A Google Disaster! A True Linux Distro Is The Solution

In this video, we take a look at Chrome OS on an HP x360 Chromebook with an Intel i3 to see how this OS has progressed. We look at the Linux implementation and how it's simplified over the years to expanding the capabilities of a Chromebook. Finally, we ask: where does this device fits into the PC marketplace?

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[GroudFrank]

It's funny how you somehow manage to distil ChromeOS's popularity down to the education, enterprise and people's ignorance. I used Linux as my daily driver for almost a decade and I am a web developer but yet I own a Pixelbook Go. Why? I wanted something that can facilitate a solid media consumption experience, is portable, elegant, fanless and has solid battery life but can do more if I am in a pinch. What Linux vendor can provide that experience for me, *especially* in the battery life department? People don't live in platforms as much as they live in apps and the most important app in the world today is the web browser. A lot of people just need a device that gives them access to the web and Chrome OS does that extremely well.

This entire video is a living, breathing stereotype of the typical Linux enthusiast - you can't see past the walls of your echo chamber and you need to drag down an alternative to elevate the thing you have chosen. That's not surprising though. The Linux community is notorious for doing that within their own community (KDE vs GNOME, Ubuntu vs Arch, Systemd vs systemvinits, QT vs GTK, etc.)

Slapping Linux onto a machine isn't the answer to everyone's computer woes. For some people, perhaps more than you would be willing to acknowledge, something besides Linux might be the better option. Linux has a long way to go before it becomes mainstream on the desktop. ChromeOS isn't the disaster you think it is, especially when compared to the Linux ecosystem where there are forks of forks that were forked and which is so chaotic its own community can't rally around any one technology and is busy fighting with itself. I can't even plug in headphones without having to do finger gymnastics in the terminal to switch outputs and you're out here talking about another platform being a disaster?

[Abraxis-Gnosis]

I recommend this to basically everyone who isn't in IT. 99% of people only use a web browser and that's it.

[robrossini]

That's the thing: most people don't need to do any "real computing". They are ignorant about computers, they don't want to learn, they have other interests in life. All they want is a simple system to do their jobs easily. That's why Chromebooks are popular and Linux is not. If Chromebooks used Linux, they probably wouldn't be so popular. I've seen a number of examples of schools and universities using Linux and students just hate it with a passion! On the other hand, they love Chrome OS, it's like a big version of their smartphones.

[redrobbosworkshop]

Hmm...have to disagree. Chromebooks are generally light on resource use, super fast booting and shutdown, proper hibernation, battery life which leaves linux and windows laptops for dead, stability, monthly tested (optional) updates, and a productivity suite which isn't far short of MS, and of course if you have a 365 account then the mobile and online versions of Office are pretty functional. Sensible inbuilt utilities such as screen recorder at the click of a button and recent improvements to the file manager. They also handle android based classic game emulation really well.
In short they do what 90% of computer users want at a fair price, without the bloat and resource requirements of Windows and the unreliable mess of Linux today.

All systems have their place. Having run Linux on the desktop for about 5 years I conclude it should stay in server land (I use it now as a music server), Windows suits the corporate workplace where access to heavy standardised apps is required, and Chrome OS works as the lightweight home user OS for general use without hassle.

[Littrell]

I have been using a chromebook for years and it does 99 percent of what I need to do. Only my ham radio stuff needs windows. NO security to worry about, updates happen flawlessly, it's light weight and can go all day on a charge, including watching videos.

[linuxlounge]

I hate to say it but you're totally missing the point of ChromeOS and don't understand why people buy these things, the point isn't to have control or capability, the point is to have a computer that turns on and runs Chrome, that's all it's supposed to do and for many people that's enough, for many people more than that just over complicates things and makes using a computer cumbersome.

I think the problem is that us Linux users forget how to empathise with the average computer user, most people just want a computer that turns on and runs Chrome, that's it, anything else over complicates things as far as these people are concerned and that's totally fine and valid. As Linux users we're not the target audience of these devices, not even remotely close.

[nunyobiznez]

I'm not surprised they sell well, they're cheap. But I am surprised that no one else has made a similar inexpensive Linux based system, when there's clearly a market for it. The Pine64 laptop is the only such system that I've seen, that offers a Linux based laptop for under $200. But it's a small company, not easy to find/buy, and they have to be imported from Hong Kong. If a large company were behind the pinebook, they'd sell like crazy and just about everyone would have one.

[licentiousdreams]

I was gifted a cheap chromebook and wasn't sure what I was gonna do with it. It is now my portable emulator and I love it for that. Other than that it's just something to lay in bed and watch youtube or browse the web. Dreamcast saved it from never getting used.

[moochincrawdad]

It's really interesting reading the comments on this page because the techies pretty much hate it, the fanboys love it but the unifying theme that ties both groups is that to an extent, almost everyone who owns a Chromebook has found at least one good reason to keep using it and in my books that can't be a bad thing! 😃

[xilikone]

Well, smart people are buying them for the hardware. They are highly subsidized by google because of the user data that they are going to sell. Buy the chromebook for the hardware spec, wipe it and install a linux distro. Freedom and control is yours…

[dingerling]

I have apps on my phone for editing and music that are imo better than equivalent programs on Linux, and require less power because they're mobile apps. I don't have a chromebook but this video is very biased. Chromebooks seem similar to buying a decent tablet, just that you have the keyboard attached. Linux is good for privacy, but most everything else is amateur hour and why you will never see the average linux distro have any real appeal to most people.

[ravitejaknts]

You dont even understand Chrome OS dude. Why comment on it and make Linux community a bad community that just brags on every company

[CubicleNate]

Does the keyboard have proper function keys? Every Chromebook I've used has their worthless media keys.

[LaserBread]

The main thing I say about Chromebooks is that if you think they're too weak and featureless, you're not the target demographic.

The target demographic is the people who want to surf the internet, stream video, check their email.
Indeed, Google has pivoted to more deceptive marketing strategies, and Chrome OS feeds into Google's main business as an advertising company.

However, Google has been very open to letting users install an entirely different OS. I got one when I started high school, and I installed Manjaro when my Windows laptop fell apart in my freshman year of college. I now have EndeavorOS GNOME on it and it runs like a charm. It's not powerful, but for a 11-inch computer I can shove into a bag for coding or creative writing, it does the job.

As for Google's data harvesting, you can't really avoid it. Most jobs use G Suite, their ad trackers are all over the internet, and your ISP also sells you out to Google. At this point, the only solution is for government to step in and ban this surveillance capitalism.

[florianfelix]

Chrome os laptops are actually the most easily available corebooted devices that can often kinda easily be “liberated”, so I’m ok with them spreading them. I’m just frustrated that so many companies push their flagship tablets with the newest crazy ARM chips out with android and not chromeOS, that would be much more convenient ;)
Of course, overall, it’s not great.

[tannhaus]

People like them because they are simple...point and click and inexpensive. They don't have to worry about doing something wrong and breaking the os. They just get on the net and go

[CaNTBREaKCHRiS]

Most people are not technically inclined enough for Linux, and windows doesn't run very well unless you spend a shit ton of money on great hardware, which most people can't afford. Don't get me wrong I love Linux, been using it since the late 90's, but at the same time if you have both Chrome OS and Linux running on systems with the same hardware, Chrome OS is generally more snappy, polished and easy to use. Allowing android and Linux apps to run on it is just icing on the cake... I'm not really into a lot of the chromebooks that are out there because of the low spec hardware, I'm a performance snob, so instead I'd rather take an old windows 8/10 laptop, throw a Samsung 870 EVO in it and install chrome os to use for normal every day things like email, web browsing, downloading shit, scanning and eFax-ing documents, etc... For games and media production I have a windows 10 desktop, and for anything else like playing around with UI customization I have Linux on a surface 2-in-1. I wish Linux had the polish of Chrome OS... that would be amazing!

[Willghanistan]

As an owner of multiple business', a chromebook is great to purchase whole sale for all employees. Great for business applications like inventory and use as a POS device. For what I do, a chromebook shines.

[BroonParker]

I used this working in an educational environment where just a single pc was available in every classroom as a universal workhorse used for lecturing, registration, and any number of pedagogic and administrative tasks. Switching from one task to another was a pain (for instance, interrupting a presentation to check an urgent email or register a latecomer was a pain, turning off the projector then on again to hide anything confidential). It is possible to use a phone or tablet for some of this, but a supplementary chromebook was light enough to move around the classroom and transport between classrooms/institutions, big enough to share the screen where necessary, had really good battery performance and was cheap enough to cope with the everyday disasters that happen in busy colleges (i.e., both relatively secure and easily replaced - I got through a few of them). Having a keyboard in this context was great compared to tablet or phone - a useful supplementary workhorse.

But outside this environment its use is much more limited and its built-in obsolescence a disaster. And why anyone would buy a top end chromebook at those prices beats me!

[aullvrch]

It makes sense if all you want is an extremely good battery life with all you’re computation being in the cloud. Imagine coding in the woods in a hammock or at the park on a bench!?