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It's now becoming very clear that the year of Linux will never come. It is obviated by a cross-platform free web browser that gives you access to an open web "O

It's now becoming very clear that the year of Linux will never come. It is obviated by a cross-platform free web browser that gives you access to an open web "OS." For now, Chrome (or Chromium) is that browser. Google snuck around the free operating system problem by changing what "operating system" means.

jshen 16y ago
I agree, but come to the opposite conclusion. The year of linux will come, but people want know or care what linux is (except the nerds).
- orblivion 16y ago
  That day will come as soon as we're all using Chrome OS.
- stuntmouse 16y ago
  I would argue that the age of Unix as an end-user OS is already here. See iPhone and Android sales figures. Also, WebOS, etc.
  - jshen 16y ago
    yeah, linux is too narrow. All of my devices are now Unix. Mac Desktops, Ipad, Iphone, and I use linux for servers. I haven't touched a windows box in many years. I've never used vista or windows 7.
    - ewald 16y ago
      Maybe you should give Windows 7 a chance. I use a Mac at home, and I really like Windows 7 at work.
      - jshen 16y ago
        I can't live without a unix shell.
  - blasdel 16y ago
    None of those are remotely Unixy from a user perspective. Neither the iPhone nor WebOS ever expose a filesystem to the user. Neither Android nor WebOS expose Unix to App developers. Android doesn't even present a real Unix system to the OS developers!
    - RK 16y ago
      I'm sure a lot of Unix old timers would claim that my Ubuntu desktop also isn't very Unixy. I'm not complaining though.
orblivion 16y ago
I wonder what will happen in the super long term. I think things sortof oscillate. We have desktop apps, people stopped buying them because of web apps, but then mobile web apps aren't as good as local mobile software so that started up again. Perhaps some day in the future we'll be talking about installing local apps onto ChromeOS like it's a brand new feature.
Perceval 16y ago
Chrome OS isn't a full Linux distribution, but it does use the Linux kernel with a new windowing system on top. This is bringing Linux to the masses in the same way that Mac OS X brought Unix to the masses—by hiding it under a pretty UI.
- SkyMarshal 16y ago
  And that Android brought Linux to the mobile masses. I suppose you can just think of Chrome OS and Android as just another couple of distros among the thousands already available. Same kernel, customized UI & apps. Fundamentally, that's what Linux is about - a FOSS platform that anyone can modify and redistribute.
  - blasdel 16y ago
    Android uses a heavily hacked kernel and essentially ignores the standard interfaces for everything it's userland stuff touches. It's also less of a distro than Slackware was -- every update has to be ported to the existing hardware platforms! Google finally wised up and will soon start shipping all the user-facing stuff through the Marketplace instead of tied to a kernel release. ChromeOS is better, it's just a spin of Ubuntu.
- blasdel 16y ago
  Neither of your points are really true: ChromeOS uses X Windows, just without a reparenting window manager. ChromeOS is not Unix 'hidden' under a pretty UI -- neither the filesystem nor the userland are exposed to the user or to application developers. There's no Finder as the main UI with a Terminal in the Utilities folder: both metaphors are simply gone.
  - papachito 16y ago
    There's a dev mod with full bash access.

jshen 16y ago

I agree, but come to the opposite conclusion. The year of linux will come, but people want know or care what linux is (except the nerds).

orblivion 16y ago
That day will come as soon as we're all using Chrome OS.
stuntmouse 16y ago
I would argue that the age of Unix as an end-user OS is already here. See iPhone and Android sales figures. Also, WebOS, etc.
- jshen 16y ago
  yeah, linux is too narrow. All of my devices are now Unix. Mac Desktops, Ipad, Iphone, and I use linux for servers. I haven't touched a windows box in many years. I've never used vista or windows 7.
  - ewald 16y ago
    Maybe you should give Windows 7 a chance. I use a Mac at home, and I really like Windows 7 at work.
    - jshen 16y ago
      I can't live without a unix shell.
- blasdel 16y ago
  None of those are remotely Unixy from a user perspective. Neither the iPhone nor WebOS ever expose a filesystem to the user. Neither Android nor WebOS expose Unix to App developers. Android doesn't even present a real Unix system to the OS developers!
  - RK 16y ago
    I'm sure a lot of Unix old timers would claim that my Ubuntu desktop also isn't very Unixy. I'm not complaining though.

orblivion 16y ago

I wonder what will happen in the super long term. I think things sortof oscillate. We have desktop apps, people stopped buying them because of web apps, but then mobile web apps aren't as good as local mobile software so that started up again. Perhaps some day in the future we'll be talking about installing local apps onto ChromeOS like it's a brand new feature.

Perceval 16y ago

Chrome OS isn't a full Linux distribution, but it does use the Linux kernel with a new windowing system on top. This is bringing Linux to the masses in the same way that Mac OS X brought Unix to the masses—by hiding it under a pretty UI.

SkyMarshal 16y ago
And that Android brought Linux to the mobile masses. I suppose you can just think of Chrome OS and Android as just another couple of distros among the thousands already available. Same kernel, customized UI & apps. Fundamentally, that's what Linux is about - a FOSS platform that anyone can modify and redistribute.
- blasdel 16y ago
  Android uses a heavily hacked kernel and essentially ignores the standard interfaces for everything it's userland stuff touches. It's also less of a distro than Slackware was -- every update has to be ported to the existing hardware platforms! Google finally wised up and will soon start shipping all the user-facing stuff through the Marketplace instead of tied to a kernel release. ChromeOS is better, it's just a spin of Ubuntu.
blasdel 16y ago
Neither of your points are really true: ChromeOS uses X Windows, just without a reparenting window manager. ChromeOS is not Unix 'hidden' under a pretty UI -- neither the filesystem nor the userland are exposed to the user or to application developers. There's no Finder as the main UI with a Terminal in the Utilities folder: both metaphors are simply gone.
- papachito 16y ago
  There's a dev mod with full bash access.