[CentOS] google chrome "big brother"

Les Mikesell lesmikesell at gmail.com
Sun Dec 19 16:50:27 UTC 2010


On 12/19/10 9:50 AM, Mathieu Baudier wrote:
>>> am i right, or i'm missing something?
>>
>> You are right. Google Chrome OS is Open Source. But with "Google
>> Chrome OS" you can do exactly nothing, because there are no
>> applications (even basic UNIX tools are not available). The
>
> My understanding is that Chrome OS is based on Chromium OS, which is
> more FLOSS oriented:
> http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os
>
> Some months ago I gave a try to this re-build of Chromium OS:
> http://chromeos.hexxeh.net/
>
> and it was working (it wasn't updated since last February though).
>
> The wiki says that you can install Ubuntu packages, but I did not try:
> http://chromeos.hexxeh.net/wiki/doku.php?id=addingpackages
>
> So it seems possible to extend it (the question is then whether it
> would be useful).

I thought the point of it was that it is _just_ a browser with nothing stored 
locally except things applications might cache like preference settings.  If you 
use cloud based apps (google docs, etc.) I could see this being useful for 
remote access with no configuration - like a spare device you might offer a 
guest or share when traveling, but I don't see why anyone would use it on their 
main computers instead of a full OS plus a browser.

It might be good in an education setting to maintain more control over what is 
permitted, though.  If all apps are remote, a central firewall can block 
anything easily.

-- 
    Les Mikesell
     lesmikesell at gmail.com



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