Unless you can easily upgrade the RAM, Storage, and replace the OS when it loses support, it's still ewaste.
Yes, installing Linux is possible, but it isn't easy. I put GalliumOS on my old high school Chromebook.
this post was submitted on 02 Oct 2023
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It is worth noting that they updated their support to be 10 years moving forward, so I disagree with the eWaste sentiment. I agree that Linux as a permanent alternative isn't super easy, and I say that typing from a Chromebook running Debian 12.
You can upgrade the RAM and storage on some of them. Installing either Linux or windows is also possible.
Possible != easy. Putting Linux on any old Windows PC is dead easy, takes not even half an hour. Linux on a Chromebook? Easily hour+ long headache on your first time.
Easily hour+ long headache on your first time.
Whenever I read this kind of thing (and people seem to say it pretty often), it seems really weird to me. Same goes for complaining about distro installers. An hour of possible headache/irritation and then you use the machine for years. Obviously it would be better if stuff was easy, but an hour just seems insignificant in the scheme of things. I really just don't understand seeing it as an actual roadblock.
(Of course, there are other situations where it could matter like if you had to install/maintain 20 machines, but that's not what we're talking about here.)
Oh yeah, its absolutely not a huge deal if you already have a chromebook and just want to keep using it. But if I'm buying a new laptop and I know that putting another OS on it will be unnecessarily difficult, I'm just going to pick a different laptop.
Good point when you frame it that way, but also worth acknowledging that relative to the alternatives, it is an uphill battle that most won't be bothered with. My experience involved reading this site + joining their discord + digging into Github for troubleshooting, which is not a viable option for 80% of users
ChromeOS is Linux.
Well yes but actually no
I read this in Maurice Moss’ voice
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
Apple laptops you can't upgrade any of those things and they sell like hotcakes. It's really not something most people do.
Chromebooks have their niche, beyond education they're good as second laptops where you're really only doing mostly browser stuff. Mine is getting on a bit now, a 2017 pixelbook.. but it doesn't go EOL until next year and I'll probably keep it beyond that because it just works.. only thing I'd like really would be a bigger screen.
128GB eMMC storage
Man, I feel like there's no excuse for not having at least a 256/512gb SSD these days. They've gotten pretty cheap, and you got laptops like HP Pavilion having a 1tb SSD in their laptops for $450. Chromebooks are known for being super cheap, but this doesn't look like great value.
Google wants you to not store locally though, only in their servers at a cost once you pass the "free storage" amount.
Jesus Christ the comments here are super toxic. Literally any piece of news is gonna be complaining.
They're being toxic to Google. Do you really care about that?
Negative comments on tech devices that aren't up to par are warrented. I, for one, and glad that news of this new product is getting honest treatment.
impressive! the ultimate botnet machine!
Are Chromebooks more susceptible to that than a Windows machine?
Far less, since they're quite locked down (hence their popularity in education).
I suspect it was just a reference to google spying on people.
Okay that was my thought. I didn't know if something became public in the chromeOS security world that I missed
i was talking about the botnet that is google itself, with chromebooks being a literal physical part of it.
Are you referring to privacy concerns or something else. Because when I think of the word botnet I think of DDoS attacks. Do you think Google's doing something like that?
google is a machine learning, data harvesting botnet most ppl opt in consensual.
I mean that's what we want right? To be able to opt in consensually. What do you think pays for Gmail, Google maps, YouTube, etc all the "free" services that most of us use every day?
if you love being the product, go ahead. i haven't used any gapp in years and don't feel like i'm missing something.
Some company somewhere has a file with your web history, likes and dislikes, etc saved in it. A credit card company or Facebook definitely have one. Facebook specializes in creating profiles of people who either don't have or deleted their Facebook accounts. Apparently Facebook sells that data too advertisers as "harder to reach." Don't use Google, or Android, or anything other thing you don't want but don't think you're actually anonymous.
you're confusing things, i talk about not handing over my internet profile and it's associated data to a conglomerate to make money off it, you talk about anonymity. two different pair of shoes.
So in my mind they are connected. These companies, especially credit card companies and Facebook, are taking your data (due to a lack of anonymity), associating it with your identity, and making money off it. Even if you aren't seeing targeted ads your data is being sold. The argument can definitely be made that you want to limit it but if you exist on the web there's a profile tracking you somewhere.
... and by that, a chromebook is a great extension within this business model since it leaves you know choice but to use the botnet :)
Will depending on how technical you want to get there is a vibrant community that is willing to show you guys to strip Google from the control and put Linux on it. I think every Internet connected device does the same thing. Apple included.
why would i buy a machine i have to "hack" in the first place to use it as i need it to when i can have a similar or better machine for less money without any restrictions?
I think every Internet connected device does this kind of tracking too.
no.
No I actually do think that. You can take my word on what I think.
doesn't matter what you think when it's not relevant. not every internet connected device is sending personal data of it's user to google or any other adspace reseller.
Well the here's a short piece describing privacy concerns. I've read articles about such problems associated with Internet connected TVs, set top boxes, speakers, doorbells, lightbulbs, etc. I don't have the time or inclination to find sources on all of them. But I think any device that's connected to the Internet it hasn't been revealed to be leaking data then it's just really good at hiding how it leaks your data.
no one has to use any of this. if there's a home appliance that comes with "smart" in it's name, i'm not even looking at it. you broaden the topic too much, we were talking about computers in general and google in detail, now we're at lighbulbs, you're moving goal posts.
I said "I think every Internet connected device..." and you replied "no."