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>> How is this justifiable, in terms of security? >It isn't. Neither is it in terms of environmental impact. Neither is it in terms of consumer rights. Ther
by harry8 6y ago
>> How is this justifiable, in terms of security?
>It isn't.
Neither is it in terms of environmental impact.
Neither is it in terms of consumer rights.
There ought to be laws to ensure there is a defined and working path out of the garbage google operating system software stack to something that will be supported at the minumum. Still if you bought the device because you need the google garbage you get burned. So probably a giant "expiry date" on the lid announcing when the device will become unsupported so you can see the maximum useful life remaining of the device as originally sold at all times.
It's the sort of insane "but with a computer" that terminates all thought by politicians, public servants and most consumers so it gets a total end-run pass around all of our generally accepted modes of commerce that nobody would accept in any other field.
The inevitable car analogy. "We decline to make replacement brakepads anymore so you must now replace the entire interior and controls of your car to use something third party or drive completely unsafely." Just nuts. Linux and Firefox get security updates done for you for no cost if you're a vendor. Treating customer safety and public with contempt really should have consequences in computing as it does in literally every other field of commerce.
- 908B64B197 6y agoSince a lot of these are purchased by institutional buyers, it would be completely possible to mandate EOL policy by writing some legislation. I've also wondered if a large enough school district could design it's own Chromebook to make them repairable. Having the display, chassis, logic board, disk, IO shield, keyboard/trackpad and battery be easy to disassemble. The idea being that when a machine gets damaged it's used to scavenge spare parts and rebuild complete machines. Logic boards would most probably be updated to a newer revision over-time, and machines would silently get upgraded as they break, so you wouldn't even have to keep Chrome OS working any longer than it does now. But this would pretty much require a California-sized district to agree to use the same model and buy them together. I don't see it happening.
- sangnoir 6y ago> Neither is it in terms of consumer rights. Is there a right to (free) software updates? Should one be there? How long should the mandated updates/support last?
- harry8 6y agoThere's an implied right that the goods are fit for purpose for their lifespan. I don't think a lack of security because they stop offering /any/ updates at /any/ price is resulting in machines fit for purpose. Updates should last as long as they say on the tin (eg "the lifespan of this laptop expires in jan 2022") when you buy it and it should be noted in bold that the machine should be considered unusable after that date.