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Why isn't Chrome OS counted as Linux? It runs on a Linux kernel.

• NovaDudely 3y ago
  It is more the spirit of it and how it is used by the users rather than the technicality of it. I mean Android has a Linux kernel but it is not used in the same way as a desktop computer.
  • charcircuit 3y ago
    Android isn't there because it's a mobile operating system which is why it isn't there. Chrome OS is a desktop operating system built on top of Linux. The idea that some of the Linux community has that anything that makes Linux actually user friendly or gives it wider appeal and gets popular no longer counts as "Linux" is a self defeating mindset.
    • pjmlp 3y ago
      Chrome OS is a desktop operating system built on top of Chrome, using the Linux kernel to jungle Chrome processes. On some selected models, one is able to start a sandbox version of a GNU/Linux distribution, just like WSL on Windows. Android Tablet with keyboard and mouse do provide a desktop experience, which doesn't matter for Linux desktop, as the userspace is Java/Kotlin, ISO C, ISO C++ and Android specific native APIs, zero POSIX.
• glimshe 3y ago
  Chrome OS "is" Linux, but it's like the Borg assimilating the good guys... It's a giant spyware machine reusing open source and doesn't feel "free as in Freedom" irrespective of the license details.
• pjmlp 3y ago
  Because the userspace is a browser, and only selected models expose a GNU/Linux experience, running on their own sandbox, WSL style.