[PLUG] Chromebook experiences?

[Ben Koenig]

On Fri, Apr 10, 2020 at 9:58 PM Chuck Hast <wchast at gmail.com> wrote:

> My wife has one, she just got it the other day. It allows you to
> install Linux and/or Linux apps depending on what is needed.
> I played with it a bit but did not do too much as I did not want
> to load a bunch of stuff on there she will never use.
>
> I did install Linux on it ( B-])  for grins, it is command line but
> I could have then installed linux apps and I guess run them.
> What installed was of the Debian family it used apt to install
> apps... So I felt reasonably at home.
>

What apps did you try out? The "developer mode" is a linux container that
is downloaded and launched within chromeos. My understanding is that this
little container is isolated from the rest of the OS, and access to
hardware is limited. You can't even access the GPU properly with it. The
only real developer use-case is for sysadmins writing scripts in
bash/python for text processing and config file editing...

I don't know how many different implementations there are for
the different chromebooks, but from my research it looked like their
developer mode is completely bogus.


> On Fri, Apr 10, 2020 at 10:29 PM Ben Koenig <techkoenig at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I recently wiped chromeos off of a Pixel Slate. For the brief time I
> spent
> > with it chromeos seemed to be exactly what I expected.
> >
> > You log in to the OS using your Google account, however it does not
> appear
> > to implement "accounts" in the way you would expect a computer to since
> > things like wifi settings have a tendency to persist even after you "log
> > out".  Key things I noticed were:
> > - A guest account is available if internet access is not available.
> > - Local storage is provided for photos, but the default
> > settings will typically sync with the cloud so it's mostly a staging
> space
> > - App experience is complete garbage
> >
> >
> > Chrome app development has stalled in a big way. When looking through the
> > web store you will probably be shown more fake apps than legit ones.
> i.e. I
> > searched for "newegg" and the first hit was some bogus app from a
> nameless
> > developer that appeared to be skimming passwords. No moderation
> whatsoever
> > on the chrome web store.
> >
> > The built in apps aren't even actual apps. There is no built-in app for
> > gmail or drive, instead what it does is provide a link that launches the
> > browser to gmail. As I recall only the photo/camera app ran as an actual
> > native application.
> > Simply put, add google chrome to your desktop's autostart and configure
> it
> > to open in fullscreen by default without any other applications.... you
> > will be running chromeOS.
> >
> > Android app emulation is implemented, but doesn't work very well.
> >
> > As a fun side story, while I was doing tech support for Costco's photo
> lab
> > some of their staff would trash talk chromebooks while we waited
> > for windows-based computers to reboot. Apparently their electronics
> > department saw a sizeable number of returns due to the fact that it can't
> > really do much without an active connection to the internet. It's just a
> > neutered linux distro.
> > -Ben
> >
> > On Thu, Apr 9, 2020 at 8:54 PM Russell Senior <russell at personaltelco.net
> >
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > I own a couple chromebooks, and have recommended them to others, but I
> > > don't actually use ChromeOS on the ones I have access to. We installed
> > > GalliumOS for a more normal Linux experience. So, I am actually fairly
> > > unfamiliar with ChromeOS. I am curious what the experience is like
> with a
> > > ChromeOS Chromebook if you don't have access to the Internet?
> > >
> > > Does anyone know, or can someone try for me?  Is it possible to do
> > > anything? That is, is there any functionality that's native to the
> device
> > > and doesn't live in the cloud somewhere?
> > >
> > > Thanks!
> > >
> > > --
> > > Russell Senior
> > > russell at personaltelco.net
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > PLUG mailing list
> > > PLUG at pdxlinux.org
> > > http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
> > >
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> >
>
>
> --
>
> Chuck Hast  -- KP4DJT --
> I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
> Ph 4:13 KJV
> Todo lo puedo en Cristo que me fortalece.
> Fil 4:13 RVR1960
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