Why I love my Chromebook: Reason 1, it's a Linux desktop
- Reference: 1666945810
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/10/28/column/
- Source link:
Simple, because Chrome OS is a Linux distro. Always has been; always will be.
Now this annoys the heck out of some Linux fans. Their vision of the Linux desktop future has everyone running [1]Ubuntu - no [2]Fedora ! - or [3]Arch Linux - please, [4]Linux Mint for the win! - or MX Linux - get real! Use [5]openSUSE Tumbleweed ! - and on and on. There are over a [6]thousand Linux distros , which is a big reason we'll never see their [7]dream of the Linux desktop wiping out Windows come true.
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But Chromebooks are a different story. Sure, [9]Chromebook sales have crashed , but part of the reason is that Chromebooks last pretty much forever. Unlike Windows machines, which have a lifespan of about three years, I still have Chromebooks running that are seven years old.
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True, their [12]Auto Update Expiration (AUE) dates are now history, so I can't get automatic updates anymore. But, so what? Even [13]Google admits you can keep using them after their average five-year expiration date.
Now, if this were Windows, it would be a different story. Anyone still running Windows 7 is just asking to be hacked unless they got an [14]Extended Security Update (ESU) contract . And, even that is finally ending in January 2023.
[15]Is it time to retire C and C++ for Rust in new programs?
[16]Securing open-source code isn't going to be cheap
[17]The next deep magic Linux program to change the world? Io_uring
[18]But why that VPN? How WireGuard made it into Linux
Chrome OS, though? Unlike Windows, with its monthly major security patches, serious security problems are few and far between. For example, the [19]last major Chrome OS security holes popped up and were fixed in 2019 .
Of course, the Chrome browser is another story. The browser, which is also Chrome OS's desktop interface, often has important security updates. But, Google is expected to separate Chrome OS and the Chrome browser, so even if you [20]can't get Chrome OS upgrades, you'll still get browser updates .
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Besides, Google and its partners are also now extending AUEs. For example, March 2022's [22]Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 has an AUE of June 2028.
Underneath it all, of course, is Linux. And, if you want, [23]you can also install a full scale Linux distro to go with it. The default choice is [24]Debian Bullseye . It's easy as pie. With a bit more work, you can install other distros.
I do this because while I can do most of my work with Google Docs, I like having access to Linux's shell commands, the [25]GIMP graphics editor, and the [26]LibreOffice office suite.
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So, why don't I just run Linux on a laptop? Well, I do that too. I have a [28]Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition with Ubuntu Linux, an older XPS 13 with Mint Linux on it, and Fedora Workstation on my [29]Lenovo ThinkPad X1 . But, when I'm on the road, I like having a lightweight, cheap laptop that I can replace if I break it.
And, alas, as a klutz, I break my laptops a lot. Recently, when I was at Open Source Summit North America in Austin, Texas, when an electrical surge blew out my [30]Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 , a top two-in-one Chromebook/tablet. Yarg!
Now, I'd be stuck if I were running an ordinary Windows, MacBook, or Linux laptop. I'd have to buy one, update it - which is never trivial if I were a Windows user- and then install and update my software. At a minimum, I'd lose a day's work, and I don't know about you, but I can't afford to use that much work time.
Instead, I ran out to the closest Best Buy and picked up the aforementioned HP Chromebook X360. My total downtime from when my old Chromebook went bang to returning to the exact same line I'd been working on earlier was just over an hour. Most of that time was spent riding to and from the store.
Another Chromebook plus is that replacing the system costs me less than $500. Sure, there are expensive Chromebooks. I've owned many, and I like them a lot. But, you don't have to spend serious coin on a Chromebook to get a great user experience.
There are many [31]great, cheap Chromebooks for under $500 . Today, even a bottom-line Chromebook has all the power you need for Chrome OS and Linux work. The technical specifications, such as the processor, memory, and storage, don't matter much for most users. You just want to look for one with a decent screen and keyboard.
It's a different story for Linux, Macs, and Windows. I wouldn't touch any of those with price tags under $800. You can run Linux on anything - and I mean anything - but buying a laptop with Linux preinstalled tends to be as pricey as Windows. Besides, I don't have time to hunt down an old laptop to install Linux on when I need to get back to work immediately. And, of course, even the cheapest Macs cost a grand.
So, for me, at least, my preferred road warrior Linux laptop is a Chromebook. Give it a thought, give it a try - Lord knows Chromebooks are cheap enough - and you just might find that you agree with me. ®
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[1] https://ubuntu.com/
[2] https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1jHyDbOkD-vUZVTq3k98ncPgLlOYbz53Htk91CHSDjgc/edit
[3] https://archlinux.org/
[4] https://linuxmint.com/
[5] https://get.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/
[6] https://distrowatch.com/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/14/year_of_linux_desktop/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Y1uoOEIGvpefLjKnRAS@vgAAANc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/14/chromebook_sales/
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y1uoOEIGvpefLjKnRAS@vgAAANc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Y1uoOEIGvpefLjKnRAS@vgAAANc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/6220366?hl=en
[13] https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/7052113?hl=en
[14] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/faq/extended-security-updates
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/28/is_it_time_to_retire_c/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/09/secure_open_source_software/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/16/column/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/08/wireguard_linux/
[19] https://www.cvedetails.com/vulnerability-list.php?vendor_id=1224&product_id=20320&version_id=&page=1&hasexp=0&opdos=0&opec=0&opov=0&opcsrf=0&opgpriv=0&opsqli=0&opxss=0&opdirt=0&opmemc=0&ophttprs=0&opbyp=0&opfileinc=0&opginf=0&cvssscoremin=0&cvssscoremax=0&year=0&month=0&cweid=0&order=1&trc=45&sha=b4fed875175c2d9b0370914ce0ba1d4fc2289f40
[20] https://chromeunboxed.com/googles-ceo-may-have-just-confirmed-the-split-of-chrome-and-chrome-os/
[21] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y1uoOEIGvpefLjKnRAS@vgAAANc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[22] https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/samsung-galaxy-chromebook-2-review-still-premium-but-with-a-better-price-and-battery-life/
[23] https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/9145439?hl=en
[24] https://www.debian.org/releases/bullseye/
[25] https://www.gimp.org/
[26] https://www.libreoffice.org/
[27] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Y1uoOEIGvpefLjKnRAS@vgAAANc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[28] https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/new-xps-13-developer-edition/spd/xps-13-linux
[29] https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/d/thinkpad-x1-carbon/
[30] https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/lenovo/lenovo-edu-chromebooks/duet-5-chromebook-gen-6-(13-inch-qcom)/len101i0023
[31] https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/best-chromebook/
[32] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
This is probably the best argument I've heard in favour of Chromebooks yet.
I mean, it's going to depend on your workload, but I suspect for most corporate management types, this is going to hold true.
The problem with chromebooks is that they have google listening in to everything you do. The fact there's a linux kernel underneath it doesn't suddenly make that ok.
Yes. I've had chromebooks in the past and after a few days discovering that the applications I wanted didn't exist, replaced the OS with Linux.
The reasons I no longer use any are first that they had insufficient ram and storage - that may have changed in the intervening years - and secondly that my preferred distribution was unavailable for the increasingly more common arm machines.
Security
No security updates after a few years, and Google watching you? Sounds super.
Re: Security
Agree with this.
A reasonable article but a few comparisons didn't add up.
Comparing Windows 7 for example - it had a decade of mainstream support. When extended (obviously caveated by expensive, paid for) support ends in 2023 that's 14 years of support that was available.
Perhaps comparing it to Windows 10 would've been slightly more accurate as both Chrome OS and Win 10 have telemetry. But again from 2015 release to 2025 end-date you get 10 years of support.
Per my comments to an earlier article this week on El Reg, sweating Windows hardware these days isn't that difficult. I have family running old machines of mine that are 10+ years old and all it took to get them performing better than new was an SSD and occasionally a bit of RAM.
You can also use the Web-app version of Office products (though it's far from the best experience in my personal experience) to get the same level of pick-up-where-you-left-off capability. I just double-checked this. Opened a document on the Word Web App. Killed the power to said machine and launched it on another and there was the text I'd just typed.
Like a lot of things, it's horses for courses. If a Chromebook can do everything a user needs and they don't care about it being from Google then absolutely use one but I suspect for many, like me, they just don't have the applications I need on a day-to-day basis. No way could I work in Office Online all day, for example.
Re: Security
The problem I have with Chrome OS (apart from it being Google) is the same problem I have with Android; perfectly good hardware becomes worthless because of deliberate software obsolescence. I have a 2013 LG phone that would be WEEE if it weren't for LineageOS. Even that isn't a total solution because various "important" packages such as mobile banking or MFA authenticators won't work on non-standard operating systems, so I am OK to log in to the bank on a Samsung tablet that hasn't had a patch in 5 years but not a nightly build of Lineage...
Windows machines lifespan
"Unlike Windows machines, which have a lifespan of about three years"
Really? Says me typing this on an 11 year old Thinkpad x201 bought second hand from Tier 1
He doesn't half talk a load of gonads at times
Windows machines have a lifespan of 3 years? Only because of all the people who buy a new machine whenever Windows starts running like crap instead of just reinstalling their OS.
I say this as a Windows hating Linux advocate. I'm not saying you're wrong overall, but I really hate to see this kind of perpetuation of premature obsolescence.
3 years is ridiculous. Just keep backups of anything important, then format and reinstall with the latest installation media when Windows' horrible update system inevitably breaks itself.
Sure that shouldn't happen, and sure you shouldn't have to reinstall your OS occasionally as a matter of routine, but you do. In the name of sanity quit buying a new PC every 3 years, that's absurd.
Indeed, as a callow youth (more years ago than I care to remember) I worked as a technician at a large high street beige-box slinger, and 90% of my workload was backing up users data (pr0n) and running the factory reset disk. The most difficult bit was convincing punters that their machine wasn't actually broken, it was just crufty software.
Its ironic that official Chromebooks stop getting OS updates after a specific period of time, yet you can take the same Chromebook and install the free Chrome OS Flex on it (also owned by Google) and start getting updates again.
While Chromebooks are Linux under the hood the Google spyware installed on top doesn't make them any better than running a Android phone which is also runs on top of Linux.
Plus who know whether Chromebooks and Android will continue to be based on Linux in the future, Google could switch them over to Fuscha kernel at some point, as all Google care about is collecting data and selling ads, they aren't bothered if you can run Linux app on their OS or not.
Here's why I hate Chromebooks
I'm sorry, but this article has the feel of a sponsored review.
Set my mother in law up on a chromebox
Fed up with the various viral and backup failures she had experienced I got my mother in law a chrome box. Cheap and her stuff is safe - I don't have to keep explaining why windows has changed since 95. It's simple and easy to use, I can even remote to her fairly painlessly without having to install extra software. In short it does everything she needs with out buying / subscribing to lots of extras. Added bonus is the local bodgers don't install all sorts of junk she doesn't understand or need telling her she must have it leaving her upset that her machine is so slow and does weird things. Chrome is a really good option for challenged users.
I'll be buying a Chromebook
I was going to buy a laptop with Windows 11 until my cousin kept having problems with it crashing. I googled "Windows 11 keeps crashing" and there are a LOT of people with that problem.