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I haven’t really used Chromebooks, so this is a genuine question, and not meant to be rhetorical. In a 3 OS ChromeBook, what does ChromeOS bring to the table t

I haven’t really used Chromebooks, so this is a genuine question, and not meant to be rhetorical. In a 3 OS ChromeBook, what does ChromeOS bring to the table that Linux and Android don’t already cover?

sverige 8y ago
Surveillance by Google.
- adam12 8y ago
  I'd be ok if it just stopped at Google. edit: (government didn't have access to the data)
  - bhandziuk 8y ago
    I don't really get this attitude. I trust the government more than Google
    - thedaemon 8y ago
      Exactly, a private corporation has no public control/oversight board. Our government is run for and by the people. I wonder where this mindset was started.
      - bhandziuk 8y ago
        Agreed. I'm of the mindset that the government is me basically. Maybe I disagree with them sometimes but I have the ability to change their behavior. I have no control over private companies (even if they are publiclly traded)
    - muro 8y ago
      ... to do what? You can vote to change the government in most countries, you can't with Google. But Google won't leak your data and will delete it when you request it. What do you trust the government to do better? Or what do you think google will do with it? Edit: I understand you don't want Google to have your data, that is fully your choice. I'm just curious what risk you are concerned about.
      - bhandziuk 8y ago
        > You can vote to change the government in most countries, you can't with Google There's a point for the government. Google is basically beyond my influence. They can do whatever they want with nearly no public oversight. Google might leak my data. Just like countless other private companies have leaked my data. > what do you think google will do with it god only know but the government already has all my sensitive information as it is. Warn about leaking SSN or tax information or addresses...but the government knows all that already. It's nothing new to them
    - thaumasiotes 8y ago
      Google has no power to make you do anything or to directly do anything to you. That is untrue of the government.
      - bhandziuk 8y ago
        People say this and yet I have much more unwanted interaction with Google than with the government.
- lucb1e 8y ago
  Unfortunately, Android covers that already.
sugerman 8y ago
Ease of use for a very non-technical user.
- realusername 8y ago
  Maybe 10 years ago I would have agreed but nowadays not so much, the latest Ubuntu is very polished and I had a lot of success with it with completely non-technical users.
  - sverige 8y ago
    My 83-year-old mom is running Manjaro now. She hated Windows 10 enough to try it.
  - rifung 8y ago
    Personally it's not the UX that I'm afraid of but when random drivers don't work or updates break things. Once upon a time I enjoyed learning and doing that kind of thing but nowadays I just don't have the time. Admittedly I haven't installed Linux for a few years and don't even have my own computer now so maybe the situation has improved.
- nickysielicki 8y ago
  Ease of use for technical users as well.
Thrymr 8y ago
Security. Linux and Android will still be sandboxed.
- realusername 8y ago
  It's slowly getting there with Snap.
  - samuraiseoul 8y ago
    I'm not sure what you mean by this comment but I got snaps working on the Debian Stretch Termina if you're having trouble and need help.
    - realusername 8y ago
      Thank you but I don't need help, my comment maybe wasn't really clear. I was just pointing out Snap as a good sandboxing tech for apps in the Linux world.
      - samuraiseoul 8y ago
        For sure. Snaps still unfortunately isn't extremely straight forward on the Debian install in Termina(maybe a normal Debian install as well, IDK, I don't normally run Debian) so I figured you might need help! :D Snaps are nice though for lots of software things and overall a nicer experience than apt, the sandboxing is just icing on the cake.
diegoperini 8y ago
Small disk space which converts to cheap hardware. It uses the cloud as a drive.
CameronNemo 8y ago
Management tools oriented toward enterprise and other organizations.
carlosdp 8y ago
Battery life, convenience of being able to wipe the whole thing and having your settings restored completely (if you're ok with storing everything with Google, of course)
- jethro_tell 8y ago
  >(if you're ok with storing everything with Google, of course) *online. You don't really need to keep anything with google other than a log in. My kids have chromebooks, and a google account for logging in and machine control, but then once logged in, they have access to entirely non google resources. (outside of the browser).
tpush 8y ago
Hardware acceleration for video so the battery doesn't die a quick and noisy death (like with Chrome or Firefox on a normal Linux distribution).
- jzymbaluk 8y ago
  This has been the big difference for me of using a Chromebook+Crostini vs installing Linux on a typical PC. The battery life on the chromebook just lasts forever and is buttery smooth out of the box while the laptops with linux installed have always had markedly worse battery life than when running their intended OS in my experience.
  - notimetorelax 8y ago
    Same contrast between a very powerful Windows laptop and a chrome book. Windows still feels choppy compared to the chrome book.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
izacus 8y ago
In my first hand experience: - Working hardware and driver stack - including HW video decoding/encoding and graphics acceleration (there are laptops that work with Linux well, but even the verified ones can be hit and miss at times - e.g. wierd Dell XPS issues with USB-C). - Very good support for high-res retina screens (Linux is getting there but font rendering is still better on CrOS). - Reliability - it's really hard to break a ChromeOS device (software-wise). It can almost always just be powerwashed and your next login completely restores it back to how you remember it. Don't underestimate this for less developer use-cases. The last point is especially useful for schools and companies- having laptops which you can easily replace within minutes is very useful for many employees. Especially since CrOS comes with good enterprise management suite.

sverige 8y ago

Surveillance by Google.

adam12 8y ago
I'd be ok if it just stopped at Google. edit: (government didn't have access to the data)
- bhandziuk 8y ago
  I don't really get this attitude. I trust the government more than Google
  - thedaemon 8y ago
    Exactly, a private corporation has no public control/oversight board. Our government is run for and by the people. I wonder where this mindset was started.
    - bhandziuk 8y ago
      Agreed. I'm of the mindset that the government is me basically. Maybe I disagree with them sometimes but I have the ability to change their behavior. I have no control over private companies (even if they are publiclly traded)
  - muro 8y ago
    ... to do what? You can vote to change the government in most countries, you can't with Google. But Google won't leak your data and will delete it when you request it. What do you trust the government to do better? Or what do you think google will do with it? Edit: I understand you don't want Google to have your data, that is fully your choice. I'm just curious what risk you are concerned about.
    - bhandziuk 8y ago
      > You can vote to change the government in most countries, you can't with Google There's a point for the government. Google is basically beyond my influence. They can do whatever they want with nearly no public oversight. Google might leak my data. Just like countless other private companies have leaked my data. > what do you think google will do with it god only know but the government already has all my sensitive information as it is. Warn about leaking SSN or tax information or addresses...but the government knows all that already. It's nothing new to them
  - thaumasiotes 8y ago
    Google has no power to make you do anything or to directly do anything to you. That is untrue of the government.
    - bhandziuk 8y ago
      People say this and yet I have much more unwanted interaction with Google than with the government.
lucb1e 8y ago
Unfortunately, Android covers that already.

sugerman 8y ago

Ease of use for a very non-technical user.

realusername 8y ago
Maybe 10 years ago I would have agreed but nowadays not so much, the latest Ubuntu is very polished and I had a lot of success with it with completely non-technical users.
- sverige 8y ago
  My 83-year-old mom is running Manjaro now. She hated Windows 10 enough to try it.
- rifung 8y ago
  Personally it's not the UX that I'm afraid of but when random drivers don't work or updates break things. Once upon a time I enjoyed learning and doing that kind of thing but nowadays I just don't have the time. Admittedly I haven't installed Linux for a few years and don't even have my own computer now so maybe the situation has improved.
nickysielicki 8y ago
Ease of use for technical users as well.

Thrymr 8y ago

Security. Linux and Android will still be sandboxed.

realusername 8y ago
It's slowly getting there with Snap.
- samuraiseoul 8y ago
  I'm not sure what you mean by this comment but I got snaps working on the Debian Stretch Termina if you're having trouble and need help.
  - realusername 8y ago
    Thank you but I don't need help, my comment maybe wasn't really clear. I was just pointing out Snap as a good sandboxing tech for apps in the Linux world.
    - samuraiseoul 8y ago
      For sure. Snaps still unfortunately isn't extremely straight forward on the Debian install in Termina(maybe a normal Debian install as well, IDK, I don't normally run Debian) so I figured you might need help! :D Snaps are nice though for lots of software things and overall a nicer experience than apt, the sandboxing is just icing on the cake.

diegoperini 8y ago

Small disk space which converts to cheap hardware. It uses the cloud as a drive.

CameronNemo 8y ago

Management tools oriented toward enterprise and other organizations.

carlosdp 8y ago

Battery life, convenience of being able to wipe the whole thing and having your settings restored completely (if you're ok with storing everything with Google, of course)

jethro_tell 8y ago
>(if you're ok with storing everything with Google, of course) *online. You don't really need to keep anything with google other than a log in. My kids have chromebooks, and a google account for logging in and machine control, but then once logged in, they have access to entirely non google resources. (outside of the browser).

tpush 8y ago

Hardware acceleration for video so the battery doesn't die a quick and noisy death (like with Chrome or Firefox on a normal Linux distribution).

jzymbaluk 8y ago
This has been the big difference for me of using a Chromebook+Crostini vs installing Linux on a typical PC. The battery life on the chromebook just lasts forever and is buttery smooth out of the box while the laptops with linux installed have always had markedly worse battery life than when running their intended OS in my experience.
- notimetorelax 8y ago
  Same contrast between a very powerful Windows laptop and a chrome book. Windows still feels choppy compared to the chrome book.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

izacus 8y ago

In my first hand experience: - Working hardware and driver stack - including HW video decoding/encoding and graphics acceleration (there are laptops that work with Linux well, but even the verified ones can be hit and miss at times - e.g. wierd Dell XPS issues with USB-C). - Very good support for high-res retina screens (Linux is getting there but font rendering is still better on CrOS). - Reliability - it's really hard to break a ChromeOS device (software-wise). It can almost always just be powerwashed and your next login completely restores it back to how you remember it. Don't underestimate this for less developer use-cases. The last point is especially useful for schools and companies- having laptops which you can easily replace within minutes is very useful for many employees. Especially since CrOS comes with good enterprise management suite.