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What? If the Linux support remains how is it "less Linux"? Linux is embedded inside ChromeOS and could be Fred and nobody would know any difference. The co

What? If the Linux support remains how is it "less Linux"? Linux is embedded inside ChromeOS and could be Fred and nobody would know any difference. The complaining on HN is becoming just baffling. seems for the sake of just complaining. We finally have a machine that support GNU/Linux applications out of the box and from the UI standpoint basically a first class citizen. But the most secure GNU/Linux machine you can get. Honestly there is no reason the same technique being used by Google could not have been also done by MS and/or Apple. Could even have been a standard. Click, container comes down, spins up, do what you need, disappears. It is a bit insane we have basically the same hardware for Windows, Macs and ChromeOS and we make each different in the OS. I get some CBs are ARM but really not as common as people think.

newnewpdro 8y ago
It's less Linux because this is another step towards Chrome OS devices not running any Linux at all except for in niche situations, and in those cases only as a VM. The decision to use a VM is the telling part. If they were committed to Linux as the underlying kernel in Chrome OS this would just use process-level isolation like containers. When measured in terms of number of devices actually running a Linux kernel on physical hardware, in a post-Fuchsia Chrome OS world there will be less Linux kernels executing on devices at the bare metal, according to my prediction. Between this and Android pivoting to Fuchsia, the number of non-server devices executing Linux kernels on physical hardware will have dropped substantially. For anyone who values having a well-supported GPL kernel with maintained and modern hardware drivers as an option it should be viewed as incrementally more bad news. Microsoft and WSL is another facet of this attack on the Linux kernel. By providing a way to run a Linux userspace directly from existing proprietary Windows installs, they remove a bulk of the impetus a Windows user may have had to attempt running the Linux kernel directly on their physical hardware. We're headed towards a future where relatively few people run Linux at all directly on non-server hardware. Which enters into a self-reinforcing scenario of even fewer people doing so because the kernel development community will be working with fewer resources to keep up with hardware developments. I hope I'm wrong, but it's looking increasingly like the future of Linux-based clients will be IoT and raspberry pi like devices.
- jacksmith21006 8y ago
  ChromeOS supporting GNU/Linux applications now has ZERO to do with this new capability. Completely unrelated. Different kernels and even GUI is forwarded. Plus how they implement Fuchsia is unclear or even for sure going to happen. ChromeOS already uses Skia so could be where they chose to tap into. But once again this has ZERO to do with this. "it should be viewed as incrementally more bad news. " Bizzare statement. GNU/Linux is using virtual drivers so if Fuchsia does a better and more secure job then all is good. What you do not seem to understand is what Google has done is no different than if it was done on Windows or OS X. It is purely a coincidence both are using the Linux kernel. Running GNU/Linux on the client just got the biggest tail wind since it came out. This is a huge development for GNU/Linux on the desktop. 60% of K12 in the US is CBs. That is a big number of people now going to be able to use CBs to support things like AP CS 1 and 2. BTW, how Google implemented is a huge plus to be intact if they moved to Fuchsia for ChromeOS not less.

newnewpdro 8y ago

It's less Linux because this is another step towards Chrome OS devices not running any Linux at all except for in niche situations, and in those cases only as a VM. The decision to use a VM is the telling part. If they were committed to Linux as the underlying kernel in Chrome OS this would just use process-level isolation like containers. When measured in terms of number of devices actually running a Linux kernel on physical hardware, in a post-Fuchsia Chrome OS world there will be less Linux kernels executing on devices at the bare metal, according to my prediction. Between this and Android pivoting to Fuchsia, the number of non-server devices executing Linux kernels on physical hardware will have dropped substantially. For anyone who values having a well-supported GPL kernel with maintained and modern hardware drivers as an option it should be viewed as incrementally more bad news. Microsoft and WSL is another facet of this attack on the Linux kernel. By providing a way to run a Linux userspace directly from existing proprietary Windows installs, they remove a bulk of the impetus a Windows user may have had to attempt running the Linux kernel directly on their physical hardware. We're headed towards a future where relatively few people run Linux at all directly on non-server hardware. Which enters into a self-reinforcing scenario of even fewer people doing so because the kernel development community will be working with fewer resources to keep up with hardware developments. I hope I'm wrong, but it's looking increasingly like the future of Linux-based clients will be IoT and raspberry pi like devices.

jacksmith21006 8y ago
ChromeOS supporting GNU/Linux applications now has ZERO to do with this new capability. Completely unrelated. Different kernels and even GUI is forwarded. Plus how they implement Fuchsia is unclear or even for sure going to happen. ChromeOS already uses Skia so could be where they chose to tap into. But once again this has ZERO to do with this. "it should be viewed as incrementally more bad news. " Bizzare statement. GNU/Linux is using virtual drivers so if Fuchsia does a better and more secure job then all is good. What you do not seem to understand is what Google has done is no different than if it was done on Windows or OS X. It is purely a coincidence both are using the Linux kernel. Running GNU/Linux on the client just got the biggest tail wind since it came out. This is a huge development for GNU/Linux on the desktop. 60% of K12 in the US is CBs. That is a big number of people now going to be able to use CBs to support things like AP CS 1 and 2. BTW, how Google implemented is a huge plus to be intact if they moved to Fuchsia for ChromeOS not less.