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