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How is ChromeOS? Can you get a decent terminal or terminal app? Install and keep up to date the basic terminal utilities (ssh, tmux, vim, rsync, etc)? What abo

by blfr 12y ago

How is ChromeOS? Can you get a decent terminal or terminal app? Install and keep up to date the basic terminal utilities (ssh, tmux, vim, rsync, etc)? What about other software? Is the browser like the regular Chrome? Can you play regular media files (flac, x264 mkv)? Are there any unpleasant surprises?

krasin 12y ago
re: terminal. I very like the Secure Shell app: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/secure-shell/pnhechapfaindjhompbnflcldabbghjo?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/secure-shell/pnhec...
jakebasile 12y ago
I've used Chrome OS off and on since it released. There is a terminal that you can get to, but it isn't great. The best solution I used was to use the Secure Shell [1] app to SSH to a Linux box. This actually works quite well. The other solution is to just install a flavor of Linux on it. Ubuntu worked well, and you can even install it to a chroot and run both at once. The browser itself is pretty much regular Chrome, but I have no idea about the media files. [1]: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/secure-shell/pnhechapfaindjhompbnflcldabbghjo?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/secure-shell/pnhec...
dublinben 12y ago
It's completely simple to get a real terminal/SSH running with Crouton.[0] ChromeOS supports every common media format you'll come across.[1] [0]https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton [1]http://www.chromium.org/audio-video http://www.chromium.org/audio-video
- blfr 12y ago
  You can install only the command line tools[1]. Does this work as a nice terminal window within ChromeOS? I can't find that kind of setup on Youtube. [1] https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton#i-dont-always-use-linux-but-when-i-do-i-use-cli https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton#i-dont-always-use-linux...
thewordis 12y ago
I use Secure Shell ChromeOS app to connect to a DigitalOcean machine for all my terminal stuff. Works surprisingly well. The default ChromeOS terminal is far too restricted for me, and Dev Mode has quite a few hurdles. The Browser is just like regular Chrome, only with better integration with the hardware, meaning power usage is better. You can play or open all files I've tried, though I haven't tried mkv. The battery life is phenomenal - it's changed how I view what it means to be portable as much as the iPad did. Unpleasant surprises? I have to restart my ASUS Chromebook every few days because the wifi starts to fail. Something about my usage pattern fills up the 2GB RAM and the first symptom is spotty wifi. And the CPU isn't strong enough to smoothly Chromecast a tab with acceptable quality video. This Pixel should overcome both of those.
atmosx 12y ago
ChromeOS is very fast, browser-based OS. No the default terminal sucks big time. You need to ssh through a box and since the keyboard I have is not full-sized vim key-bindings are a bit of a problem. None of the utilities you mention exists. Software is scarce. Unpleasant surprises? Hm no. Chromebook is a toy laptop. You could use it for work IF evreything you use lives online (e.g. gmail, gcal, slack, etc.). If you need more you need to install 'crouton' and get linux up and running. That will give you everything you asked. I am not sure why Google locked down this device in such a way. A good terminal and the ability to install open source software, as done in MacOSX via macrpots/homebrew/etc, would greatly improve the overall experience and turn chromebook in a developer laptop overnight.

by blfr 12y ago

krasin 12y ago

re: terminal. I very like the Secure Shell app: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/secure-shell/pnhechapfaindjhompbnflcldabbghjo?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/secure-shell/pnhec...

jakebasile 12y ago

I've used Chrome OS off and on since it released. There is a terminal that you can get to, but it isn't great. The best solution I used was to use the Secure Shell [1] app to SSH to a Linux box. This actually works quite well. The other solution is to just install a flavor of Linux on it. Ubuntu worked well, and you can even install it to a chroot and run both at once. The browser itself is pretty much regular Chrome, but I have no idea about the media files. [1]: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/secure-shell/pnhechapfaindjhompbnflcldabbghjo?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/secure-shell/pnhec...

dublinben 12y ago

It's completely simple to get a real terminal/SSH running with Crouton.[0] ChromeOS supports every common media format you'll come across.[1] [0]https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton [1]http://www.chromium.org/audio-video http://www.chromium.org/audio-video

blfr 12y ago
You can install only the command line tools[1]. Does this work as a nice terminal window within ChromeOS? I can't find that kind of setup on Youtube. [1] https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton#i-dont-always-use-linux-but-when-i-do-i-use-cli https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton#i-dont-always-use-linux...

thewordis 12y ago

I use Secure Shell ChromeOS app to connect to a DigitalOcean machine for all my terminal stuff. Works surprisingly well. The default ChromeOS terminal is far too restricted for me, and Dev Mode has quite a few hurdles. The Browser is just like regular Chrome, only with better integration with the hardware, meaning power usage is better. You can play or open all files I've tried, though I haven't tried mkv. The battery life is phenomenal - it's changed how I view what it means to be portable as much as the iPad did. Unpleasant surprises? I have to restart my ASUS Chromebook every few days because the wifi starts to fail. Something about my usage pattern fills up the 2GB RAM and the first symptom is spotty wifi. And the CPU isn't strong enough to smoothly Chromecast a tab with acceptable quality video. This Pixel should overcome both of those.

atmosx 12y ago

ChromeOS is very fast, browser-based OS. No the default terminal sucks big time. You need to ssh through a box and since the keyboard I have is not full-sized vim key-bindings are a bit of a problem. None of the utilities you mention exists. Software is scarce. Unpleasant surprises? Hm no. Chromebook is a toy laptop. You could use it for work IF evreything you use lives online (e.g. gmail, gcal, slack, etc.). If you need more you need to install 'crouton' and get linux up and running. That will give you everything you asked. I am not sure why Google locked down this device in such a way. A good terminal and the ability to install open source software, as done in MacOSX via macrpots/homebrew/etc, would greatly improve the overall experience and turn chromebook in a developer laptop overnight.