this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2023
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Linux
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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I don't even understand why people use Chrome OS other than schools forcing it on you
My mother is technologically impaired. Her last (Windows Vista) laptop was a nightmare from the day she got it. She absolutely loves her Chromebook. All she uses it for is online shopping/banking/emails, so it is perfect for her.
absolutely agree but don't forget that google tracks everything
True, but unless Google starts militarising or something the only thing they can do with my mothers data is target some ads at her. Which she will completely ignore since she will only buy things from the same 2 or 3 sites she has visited for the past 10-15 years.
I know it's unlikely for your mother, but a very real risk is a government forcing Google to hand over your data.
Same reason here. I convinced both of my parents to get Chromebooks over the last few years, and the number of "service calls" I get from them have dropped drastically.
My dad uses it a lot. He has access to Google Drive, his blog, and email, and that's all he really needs. It "Just Works" and gets out of his way. He used to be a huge Microsoft fanboy and adamant that he needed Office, but now he just uses his Chromebook and is happy.
Sure, he could be using some Linux flavor, but what would he gain? He doesn't need anything outside of the browser, so ChromeOS is perfect for him.
A whole lot more privacy. Although that's unfortunately not worth it for a lot of normies.
IDK, if he's going to use Chrome and Google Services regardless, does Linux really offer much more privacy?
You can get a ton more privacy regardless of OS if you try, but if you just use the popular services, you can use the most locked down OS and you'll still have privacy issues.
So I'm not going to try to push Linux on people, I'm going to encourage privacy-oriented solutions. It's much easier to get someone to change one service they use than to change operating systems, and the services are the more important part when it comes to privacy.
price is a big part in all of it i suppose
Kind of. My dad is kinda cheap, but he was willing to pay a premium for Office. He mostly switched because he hates subscription services (and that's where Office is going), and he realized Google Docs provided the features he needed.
My dad would still be on Windows + Office today if Microsoft wasn't pushing for a subscription-based service. So he was won over by the experience first and foremost, but the lower price certainly didn't hurt.
@andrr_464 @Kaped my grandma literally just needs to do some online banking, aka all she needs is a reliable browser. chromeOS is that. it launches chrome without any bloat. it runs on a dead cheap laptop £150 done.
no Hassel no complications works out the box no long term slow down from something like windows it just works.
obviously much of this applies for Linux to and once chromeOS reaches end of life on her laptop I will be putting Linux on there but till then it works
my first thought was LINUX, i just struggle to trust google with anything
@andrr_464 yep but for my grandparents the out of th3 box expierence matters. like I said once end of life is reached I'll put mint on it or something
fr
I use ChromeOS because I use Google Workspace. It gives me a cheap portable machine for work, and for meetings I rather carry that than a £2000 overspec'd heavy 15" laptop. It's the cheapest of the cheap, and it can run Linux in a VM with Firefox. It has fantastic battery life. I also run Linux on the laptop, and on a Desktop PC, as well as servers.
In my mind, ChromeOS works. It's literally a browser with a screen, a keyboard, and some deep-rooted privacy concerns.
As for Windows, that I don't understand the need in 2023. I switched to Debian, and immediately saw better thermals, less fan noise, faster boot, longer battery life, and all sort of other improvements. Given Linux/Windows/MacOS/DOS/iOS/Android are all effectively launchers for apps and provide broadly the same services I don't really care which, but I will choose the ones that make me most productive.
I keep a Chromebook for stuff around the house. 90+ percent of normal usage these days is the web anyhow. The Linux vm with ssh and remmina installed gets me server maintenance and Remote Desktop to my server without paying more than $200 for the laptop. You can’t beat the value of these things if you don’t need to compile/edit videos or something
you can also install arch linux on chrome os but it isn't recommended on a low spec machine
Writers use it a lot, you only need Google Docs or another web app for writing and saves to the cloud that's it
I use it. I prefer the experience to Windows and I don't have the time to properly learn Linux. I know that's lazy and I know I am sacrificing a certain degree of privacy by being lazy, but I already use a Pixel phone so I don't think I've giving away anything new. One day I will probably sit down and set up Linux on my Chromebook and have more of a tinker, I've done it before and I'm relatively tech savvy.