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ChromeOS is splitting the browser from the OS, getting more Linux-y
- smoldesu 3y ago> Previously ChromeOS was using a homemade graphics stack called "Freon," but now with Wayland, it'll be on the new and normal desktop Linux graphic stack. More interesting than I thought it would be. Hopefully this means better upstream GPU support for the plethora of ARM tablets/laptops that run ChromeOS.
- nerdix 3y agoThis is good because Chrome on Wayland has been an adventure and not in a good way. This will certainly mean that Wayland will become a first class citizen and be less prone to random breakage.
- zdragnar 3y agoAside from some flags needed for screen sharing, what problems have you faced? I've found chrome to run significantly better on Wayland than X11- the last time I tried chrome in X, the screen tearing during scrolling was almost nauseating. I'll admit, though, that it might be OS dependent. For some reason, chrome+Wayland+debian was more trouble to get screen sharing working right than on arch. Maybe I've mostly gotten lucky?
- hollerith 3y agoI remember bugs last year, certainly, but Chrome on Wayland on Fedora Workstation 38 has been working perfectly for 36 days here.
- sillywalk 3y agoProject LaCros looks to be finally finished. ChromeOS and Chrome browser can/will be updated separately, with Chrome being the same as the normal Linux version.
- dmazzoni 3y agoI hope it was worth it. I worked at Google when the project was started, I think it was around 5 years ago. One hell of a long and expensive refactor.
- unixhero 3y agoChromeos was Gentoo based at one point I believe.
- anonacct37 3y agoAs far as I know it still is. Just like the default image used for Google Kubernetes nodes, CoS.
- NoZebra120vClip 3y agoMicrokernel architecture FTW.
- qbasic_forever 3y agoChromeOS is still using the plain old monolithic mainline Linux kernel.
- femboy 3y agoHopefully running Firefox becomes easier ;)
- 1MachineElf 3y agoWant to try a browser-focused OS experience that uses Firefox? Try Tails OS. It's the Tor Browser based on Firefox.
- podgib 3y agoIt would be hilarious if the European Commission forced Google to add a browser choice screen to Chrome OS like they did on Windows ;)
- samspenc 3y agoI'm hoping this means we will be able to run Linux binaries on ChromeOS at some point - I'm specifically interesting in being able to run Visual Studio Code (for Linux) and some dev environments and use Chromebooks plus a Linux-compatible OS as my dev machine.
- Laremere 3y agoThis is already a thing: https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/9145439?hl=en https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/9145439?hl=en
- freedomben 3y agoI'm guessing GP means natively, not in a VM. I've been super grateful for the VM-based method, but I still prefer the native experience like that provided by Crouton[1]. With Crouton being "maintenance-only" now I share GP's hope that a similar thing will be possible and easy. [1]: https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton
- jauntywundrkind 3y agoCrostini should already host a fine vscode. https://chromeos.dev/en/linux https://chromeos.dev/en/linux ChromeOS seems to consider it an anti-goal for users to be using the OS like a general purpose OS. Crostini allows them to keep the rest of the system locked down, where-as just running vscode on ChromeOS directly would mean giving Vscode more unconstrained access.
- cbhl 3y agoIIRC Crostini requires certain hardware CPU features, so you need a Chromebook model that supports it. Most Chromebooks released after 2019, as well as select earlier models in the list in the Wiki https://chromeos.dev/en/linux/linux-on-chromeos-deep-dive https://chromeos.dev/en/linux/linux-on-chromeos-deep-dive
- sillywalk 3y agoVery doubtful as running random binaries under ChromeOS would defeat the entire security model for ChromeOS.
- jauntywundrkind 3y agoThe really stunningly good ecosystem ripple effect of switching to Wayland is that anyone who wants to make hardware for Chromebooks now needs driver support for the one clear obvious huge target they should have had been targeting anyways, Wayland. More directly obviously useful to most people though is just the fact that the shelf life of these units should hopefully be a lot longer. The OS might not longer get updates, but Chrome can keep upgrading & just run on whatever Wayland compositor is there.
- solarkraft 3y agoWell, Wayland doesn't really depend on any drivers, but most Wayland compositors (as well as modern X11, as far as I know) depend on the Direct Rendering Manager/Infrastructure and related features. I suspect that Chrome OS already uses these, so there may not be a bit ecosystem difference from that side.
- jauntywundrkind 3y agoThe forrest I feel you are missing in calling out these trees is that Chrome already supports a good variety of options on Wayland & can be nicely accelerated there. Where-as the old Skia based ChromeOS rendering made having actual hardware compositing support much more optional. The bar is just clearly much higher for what drivers will be expected to do now. Passing off stunted barely working custom low level drivers will no longer be enough. I can't see how anyone could rush to defend other views, at this point.
- daft_pink 3y agoI don't really understand the point of turning ChromeOS into Linux. The point of ChromeOS used to be a hardened secure browser only computer that would work identically with your login across systems on the platform. If you want a Linux laptop, why not just buy a Linux laptop. Why use do you want Google's dumbed down implementation of Linux.
- freedomben 3y agoThey're not "turning ChromeOS into Linux." ChromeOS can and will still be a hardened secure browser-only computer that works identically with your login across systems on the platform. Having separate binaries for the UI shell and the Chrome browser doesn't nullify everything else. TFA even points out that users won't really notice any difference.
- kotaKat 3y agoIt's pretty much turning ChromeOS into Linux. I remember when - and miss - the OS being "a single Chrome window, that's the shell, that's it". It was simple. Unbloated. Now it's an absolute mess that Google doesn't know what to do with - treat it like an Android device, or treat it like a computer.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- sillywalk 3y agoOne of the main points of the project was for security reasons. Updates to the Chrome browser build for ChromeOS came out later than the standard Linux/Windows/Mac Chrome builds because the special chromeos build needed time to be integrated/tested with the rest of ChromeOS. With LaCros, the browser can be updated independently from the rest of the OS.
- fivre 3y agoidk if you've used a chromeos device, but they have an infuriating update schedule where it seems like there are updates daily, and they _always_ require a full system reboot. they apparently can't be consolidated either, so half the time i'll reboot to apply one and immediately get a notification of another this presumably allows them to ease that a bit and apply some updates with the system still running, with maybe a quicker browser-only restart
- nektro 3y agowhat about fuschia?
- sillywalk 3y agoThey laid of a lot of the developers of Fuchsia.
- 2112throwaway 3y agoNot as many as you may think. It is doing fine. https://fuchsia.googlesource.com/fuchsia/+log https://fuchsia.googlesource.com/fuchsia/+log
- 1MachineElf 3y agoIt would be ironic if Microsoft took the OS, added Edge, and released EdgeOS running on Edgebooks, Edgeboxes, etc.
- 0cf8612b2e1e 3y agoThat…feels very plausible? Microsoft has to be peeved at how much of the education market has been taken over by Chromebooks. Providing some locked down OS, with minimal specs, friendly to corporate management software, Teams preinstalled, etc feels like a pretty good move. The Chromebooks only work though an app store, so this idea could feed into Microsoft’s as well. Unless Microsoft would rather target the cream of the market through their tablets. Edit: then again, maybe they have become hooked on the Win11 telemetry + ad revenue. Stripped down OS has a harder time justifying the need to include Candy Crush.
- FirmwareBurner 3y ago>how much of the education market has been taken over by Chromebooks. Why is this even a ting wherever this is(US?)? Mandating school kids use a platform owned by Google, a corporation specialized in advertising and data harvesting, feels like letting McDonalds's and Coca-Cola be in charge of the school cafeteria and educating kids about a balanced diet. Am I taking crazy pills, or am I missing something and I misunderstood the situation?
- rrdharan 3y agoIf you want kids to have laptops - which is really the questionable thing to begin with - then Chromebooks are safer and easier to secure against the typical kinds of threats a school cares about than Windows PCs and cheaper than Macs. I think a bigger question is why kids need laptops at all..
- yeahmaybe333 3y agoIt's pretty much this way anyway, the largest shareholders of CC and Mc Donalds are also the largest shareholders of largest outsource catering providers.
- zer0zzz 3y agoThis is terrible. I use chromeos because I want a secure locked down browser not another shitty Linux distro.
- biblbroxxx 3y agoThey will not convert whole system into native nabraries like gtk or qt. It is about dividing chrome binaries in order to get easier update process for developers.
- TheDesolate0 3y ago[dead]
- pentagrama 3y agoWondering if they will let you uninstall Chrome now, I don't think so. Currently you can't even remove the Chrome icon from the task bar.
- helf 3y ago[dead]
- deafpolygon 3y agoProbably needs to add more telemetry to the OS.