For better or for worse, that's what Google is aiming at with ChromeOS. Especially now that the overarching "OS" is really just a Linux shell for multiple VMs.
People often claim that ChromeOS is versatile enough to replace a normal computer because it has these various compatibility layers. They often fail to mention that they work terribly. You wind up with the poor performance and annoying isolation that VMs give, but with an extra helping of instability and incompatibility. Running anything Google hasn't approved is gated behind "developer mode", and even for a developer the pseudo-Debian container "developer mode" unlocks is confusing. I regularly encounter problems (like needing to run Wireshark) that I believe are simply unsolvable.
I don't understand anything about ChromeOS. At one point it was a bad but clear idea: a machine with just a web browser, capable only of running web apps. Then at some point they decided to just make the world's most complicated and confusing Linux distro, with the vestigial browser-centric design kept around just to make things as inconsistent as possible.
> Running anything Google hasn't approved is gated behind "developer mode", and even for a developer the pseudo-Debian container "developer mode" unlocks is confusing.
This is mixed up. "Developer mode" is a firmware mode that allows you to run unsigned images. You use that if you want to hack your ChromeOS image itself. The Linux development environment feature (crostini) runs in a VM on any chromebook, it doesn't require developer mode or any firmware features. Technologically it's basically the same thing as WSL, though integrated much better with the OS UI.
Versatile is the opposite of what ChromeOS has become. I would argue that there was a time (beginning of pandemic) where it looked like Google might strike the perfect balance between web-reliant (PWAs and safer extensions) and legacy-OS supported (Android, Linux, and even some slight Windows compatibility).
Now, it just seems like a bad version of the legacy operating systems. Android, but in a VM, Linux, but in a VM, and Windows delivered via the cloud!
All of this is worse than just running any of those systems alone.
FWIW: native audacity (literally the debian package) runs in ChromeOS as a wayland/somellier client from crostini. Basically everything not tied to particular driver or hardware environments runs great.
The whole OS is really the best "app fusion" desktop environment out there. I've got Android apps for Threads and Tesla running alongside all the web apps you'd expect to find. I've got my personal email via linux Thunderbird. I read my PDFs in Evince (because, let's be honest, both the Chrome and Adobe readers are junk) and it integrates with the native ChromeOS Files app like a normal app. In fact all the Gnome .desktop files in the Crostini personality appear as apps in the OS menu that can be associated with files types or pinned to the shelf, so there's a surprising amount of scriptability to the process. Likewise it makes a great X terminal for shells and emacs windows from development machines.
In fact I've moved (to be fair: for professional reasons, and I resisted for quite a while) to a mid-tier junky old Chromebook for basically all my client activity at this point (windows games being the sole exception). Really it's pretty great. The proverbial year of Linux on the desktop arrived and won while we were all looking elsewhere.
Unfortunately, Fugu is totally seperate from ChromeOS, since many of Fugus capabilities don't work on the platform. Still, on Windows and Mac, Fugu is definitely more impressive than anything ChromeOS is doing.
asfgiaosnio|2 years ago
I don't understand anything about ChromeOS. At one point it was a bad but clear idea: a machine with just a web browser, capable only of running web apps. Then at some point they decided to just make the world's most complicated and confusing Linux distro, with the vestigial browser-centric design kept around just to make things as inconsistent as possible.
londons_explore|2 years ago
Does drag and drop work? Can I choose a random image/file somewhere in one tab/application and drop it into another.
Just testing that now...
* Drag HN logo to Whatsapp Web: Pass
* Drag from Google Photos to Photopea: Pass
* Drag a zip file from Google Drive to Dropbox: Fail.
* Drag an attachment from an email from gmail into an online hex editor: Fail
Conclusion: The web platform isn't yet ready.
ajross|2 years ago
This is mixed up. "Developer mode" is a firmware mode that allows you to run unsigned images. You use that if you want to hack your ChromeOS image itself. The Linux development environment feature (crostini) runs in a VM on any chromebook, it doesn't require developer mode or any firmware features. Technologically it's basically the same thing as WSL, though integrated much better with the OS UI.
esperkin39|2 years ago
Now, it just seems like a bad version of the legacy operating systems. Android, but in a VM, Linux, but in a VM, and Windows delivered via the cloud!
All of this is worse than just running any of those systems alone.
ajross|2 years ago
The whole OS is really the best "app fusion" desktop environment out there. I've got Android apps for Threads and Tesla running alongside all the web apps you'd expect to find. I've got my personal email via linux Thunderbird. I read my PDFs in Evince (because, let's be honest, both the Chrome and Adobe readers are junk) and it integrates with the native ChromeOS Files app like a normal app. In fact all the Gnome .desktop files in the Crostini personality appear as apps in the OS menu that can be associated with files types or pinned to the shelf, so there's a surprising amount of scriptability to the process. Likewise it makes a great X terminal for shells and emacs windows from development machines.
In fact I've moved (to be fair: for professional reasons, and I resisted for quite a while) to a mid-tier junky old Chromebook for basically all my client activity at this point (windows games being the sole exception). Really it's pretty great. The proverbial year of Linux on the desktop arrived and won while we were all looking elsewhere.
Fudgel|2 years ago
esperkin39|2 years ago