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This is great! ChromeOS Flex doesn't get enough credit. While I recently migrated from Windows to Linux on my production machine, ChromeOS Flex is my OS of cho

by binkHN 2y ago

This is great! ChromeOS Flex doesn't get enough credit. While I recently migrated from Windows to Linux on my production machine, ChromeOS Flex is my OS of choice for a simple Push Here Dummy (PHD) machine. There is zero maintenance from an OS standpoint and the ChromeOS Flex Certified models list allows me to pick from a variety of quality hardware, not just some cheap Chromebook. I have more than one of these lying around the house and I often take one on personal trips as well.

circularfoyers 2y ago
It's a shame then that Google are moving away from ChromeOS in favor of Android. This also explains the improvements to desktop mode in the latest Android betas.
- yjftsjthsd-h 2y ago
  First, a disclaimer: I also overwhelmingly prefer ChromeOS over Android for a bunch of reasons and wish that if they had to merge them the result was a thin Android compatibility layer on the much more robust bones of ChromeOS. That said... if Google wants to fold ChromeOS into Android, I think they'll have to make Android fully supported on x86 as a first-class platform (because most Chromebooks are x86). And if they do that, they should have little problem making a... Android Flex or whatever you'd call it that boots on normal PC hardware just like ChromeOS Flex does today and fills the same role.
  - pjmlp 2y ago
    Asus and other OEMs have had Android tablets on x86 for quite some time. In any case, except for shared objects written with the NDK, the actual CPU hardly matters, even across ARM there is enough variation.
- faust201 2y ago
  Manythings like network/Bluetooth/Display server stack are better optimised in android. Low power long battery life. If similar to ChromeOS it is directly updated by Google then it will be a huge win for all computer users. No pain from OEM. I mean some Gemini crap from Google but that is tolerable.
bubblethink 2y ago
ChromeOS Flex is what CentOS was to RH. I don't see it lasting very long.
d3Xt3r 2y ago
The main problem with ChromeOS Flex is it's limited hardware support. I installed it on my mum's old Dell Optiplex as a trial, and whilst it worked fine, it didn't support her Canon Pixma printer/scanner. I looked it up online and others had the same issuse as well, and Google said unfortunately there was nothing you could do besides getting a compatible printer. The second problem is that ChromeOS Flex has a limited support period. It's no doubt longer than Android, but it's still artificially limiting the life of older hardware that has potentially still many more years of service left. Like my mum's Optiplex 9020 which reaches end of support in 2026 - whereas I believe it's got at least 5 years, if not more, especially considering that I could upgrade the RAM/CPU/disk if required. The third issue is that it's Google. There's no telling when they'll pull the plug on this. The "PHD" solution I ended up going for was Aurora (an immutable distro based on Fedora Atomic). Aurora uses KDE, which was simple and familiar enough for my mum to use with almost no training, and its got atomic automatic updates with the last two images also available in the boot menu, in the rare event something goes wrong. It's practically zero-maintenance like ChromeOS, with none of the drawbacks. Oh and in case Aurora ever decides to fold, it's easy enough to rebase to another Fedora Atomic variant with just a single command, without affecting your data.
- faust201 2y ago
  > third issue is that it's Google. There's no telling when they'll pull the plug on this. That is exactly the reason to use ChromeOS/flex. The UI is well designed to use cloud as storage space. i.e no worries when anything folds including hardware failure. I have not used Aurora but does it automatically do FDE? Does the user need to install chrome or Firefox? I have seen people saving passwords locally and not syncing. One fine day Xorg (or wayland gives up). Then one needs to go to users place and fix it. I did install flex on my parents machine in the other side of globe. It still works updates seamless. I recommended ChromeOS (despite the pain of needed ublock origin ) mainly because users need to remember only one password. i.e Google 's password. While I am a daily driver of Linux/Xubuntu, the UI from kde/gnome etc is not that friendly as ChromeOS (which mimics Android). Not detecting printer is specific situation. This could also happen with many Linux distros. Of course it is all IMHO.

by binkHN 2y ago

circularfoyers 2y ago

It's a shame then that Google are moving away from ChromeOS in favor of Android. This also explains the improvements to desktop mode in the latest Android betas.

yjftsjthsd-h 2y ago
First, a disclaimer: I also overwhelmingly prefer ChromeOS over Android for a bunch of reasons and wish that if they had to merge them the result was a thin Android compatibility layer on the much more robust bones of ChromeOS. That said... if Google wants to fold ChromeOS into Android, I think they'll have to make Android fully supported on x86 as a first-class platform (because most Chromebooks are x86). And if they do that, they should have little problem making a... Android Flex or whatever you'd call it that boots on normal PC hardware just like ChromeOS Flex does today and fills the same role.
- pjmlp 2y ago
  Asus and other OEMs have had Android tablets on x86 for quite some time. In any case, except for shared objects written with the NDK, the actual CPU hardly matters, even across ARM there is enough variation.
faust201 2y ago
Manythings like network/Bluetooth/Display server stack are better optimised in android. Low power long battery life. If similar to ChromeOS it is directly updated by Google then it will be a huge win for all computer users. No pain from OEM. I mean some Gemini crap from Google but that is tolerable.

bubblethink 2y ago

ChromeOS Flex is what CentOS was to RH. I don't see it lasting very long.

d3Xt3r 2y ago

The main problem with ChromeOS Flex is it's limited hardware support. I installed it on my mum's old Dell Optiplex as a trial, and whilst it worked fine, it didn't support her Canon Pixma printer/scanner. I looked it up online and others had the same issuse as well, and Google said unfortunately there was nothing you could do besides getting a compatible printer. The second problem is that ChromeOS Flex has a limited support period. It's no doubt longer than Android, but it's still artificially limiting the life of older hardware that has potentially still many more years of service left. Like my mum's Optiplex 9020 which reaches end of support in 2026 - whereas I believe it's got at least 5 years, if not more, especially considering that I could upgrade the RAM/CPU/disk if required. The third issue is that it's Google. There's no telling when they'll pull the plug on this. The "PHD" solution I ended up going for was Aurora (an immutable distro based on Fedora Atomic). Aurora uses KDE, which was simple and familiar enough for my mum to use with almost no training, and its got atomic automatic updates with the last two images also available in the boot menu, in the rare event something goes wrong. It's practically zero-maintenance like ChromeOS, with none of the drawbacks. Oh and in case Aurora ever decides to fold, it's easy enough to rebase to another Fedora Atomic variant with just a single command, without affecting your data.

faust201 2y ago
> third issue is that it's Google. There's no telling when they'll pull the plug on this. That is exactly the reason to use ChromeOS/flex. The UI is well designed to use cloud as storage space. i.e no worries when anything folds including hardware failure. I have not used Aurora but does it automatically do FDE? Does the user need to install chrome or Firefox? I have seen people saving passwords locally and not syncing. One fine day Xorg (or wayland gives up). Then one needs to go to users place and fix it. I did install flex on my parents machine in the other side of globe. It still works updates seamless. I recommended ChromeOS (despite the pain of needed ublock origin ) mainly because users need to remember only one password. i.e Google 's password. While I am a daily driver of Linux/Xubuntu, the UI from kde/gnome etc is not that friendly as ChromeOS (which mimics Android). Not detecting printer is specific situation. This could also happen with many Linux distros. Of course it is all IMHO.