> If I build an user land application on top of ChromeOS, can I directly call functions exposed by the Linux kernel in the standard way? If so, then ChromeOS ma

> If I build an user land application on top of ChromeOS, can I directly call functions exposed by the Linux kernel in the standard way? If so, then ChromeOS may indeed be a Linux distro. Of course you can. There's no "may" about it. You seem rather unsure of what ChromeOS actually is. Its just a linux distro. In fact, its much closer to more mainstream linux distro's than more exotic linux variants like android. It has the linux kernel (duh!), but also glibc, gnu coreutils, bash - the whole shebang. In fact, the only thing (purposely) left out in standard mode is a terminal allowing you to run bash. In dev-mode, that is given, so you then have terminal access to run bash, and automatic root access. Nearly all linux pkgs will compile, install and run, "as is". In fact, there's even chromeos-specific package managers which cater to chromeos just as apt caters to debian, rpm to redhat, etc. And google themselves give you a bash script which restores portage and installs various precompiled ebuilds. Yes, ChromeOS is effectively a Gentoo Linux build. Last I checked, gentoo allows you to "directly call functions exposed by the Linux kernel in the standard way" (but I've only been running gentoo since 2002, so what do I know?) > certified as such by The Open Group That may have been relevant in the 80's, but for over a generation, linux and/or the gnu suite has been the de-facto standard for what "unix" really is. Which is why most of the official "I've paid the open group their fee so that they can stamp me as official" unix distro's/os's have, in fact, a linux binary emulation layer. Gnu-linux is basically the lingua-franca of the unix world. The only reason they never got this certification which some think is so important is ... because noone wanted to bother paying the subscription fee back in the 90's. Thats it. >> Rendering your original complaint moot > I had a complaint? Hmm, looking back at this sub-thread, I guess thats more applicable directly to 'camus2'. You were wading in on that side of the fence, which is why I hung my reply off of your comment. It pretty much applies to both of you. Basically, he was saying "why bother with a chromebook, mac is 'proper' unix, and so can run lots of unixy stuff, in addition to chrome. Chromebooks can't". Well, ChromeOS is also a proper unix, and can run lots (and lots, and lots) of unixy stuff, in addition to chrome - with the caveat that you have to put it into dev mode first.