Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Google Releases Source To Chromium OS

Posted by timothy on from the it-dons-the-thick-skin dept.

Kelson writes "Google has released the source to what will eventually become Chrome OS, and will begin developing it as an open source project like Chromium. The OS differs from the usual computing model by (1) making all apps web apps (2) sandboxing everything and (3) removing anything unnecessary, to focus on speed." Reader Barence adds "Google said consumers won't be able to download the operating system — it will only be available on hardware that meets Google's specifications. Hard disks are banned, for instance, while Google said it will also specify factors such as screen sizes and display resolutions. Google said it plans to officially launch Chrome OS by the end of next year."

6 of 664 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Okay.... by dark_requiem · · Score: 4, Informative

    So what, does my computer boot up to magic, or are they building a BIOS or LiveCD specific to Chrome?

    FTFA:

    All applications will be web apps, all data will be stored in the cloud and the operating system will be booted from Flash - no hard disks will be supported.

    Boots from flash, be it built-in or external (think SD card), presumably. I'm sure someone will come up with a live CD/PXE boot eventually, though. Plus, it's an open source OS, so someone will eventually hack in standard SATA drivers and the like, if Google refuses to provide them.

  2. Re:Going back to sleep now... by 222 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Thin clients are fantastic. I run Citrix across 5 sites and it's godsend. They rarely fail and everything being centralized makes my job a lot easier.

  3. Re:Um, Thanks But No by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    "Hard drives" = spinning drives, solid state drives are allowed.

  4. Re:Hmm.. by poetmatt · · Score: 4, Informative

    How quickly does gmail open for you, barring load times? How quickly are emails sent? Have you ever seen the word "loading"? what do you think that means? (hint: it's not referring to just processing).
    The answer is that loadtimes are not instant. How fast does someone else editing a google doc with you see updates? Not instant. There is an acceptable latency, but lots of things get around it which are also things that don't need good latency.

    It's also not about quantity of bandwidth. Latency is not bandwidth capacity. You can have 1TB/s but if your latency is >300ms, there are things it will not work for.

    Also, please quit the "Typical use" phrase that comes about all the time. There is no definition of typical use that you can specifically define for anyone other than yourself, as everyone has different definitions of that phrase. "typical use" is entirely subjective. You can try your best to generalize it but there's a limit to how realistic and accurate it will be.

    I think you're missing the kind of apps that will also have an issue. There are apps that are latency sensitive, and there are ones that are not. As an example, someone will notice packetloss/latency trying to load the slashdot homepage, but they don't notice the latency between when they hit submit on a comment and/or preview. The difference is whether what you are doing requires attention or not. In the case of "all apps to be online only", that will inadvertently catch a ton of applications.

  5. Re:Google good, Apple bad ... by wile_e8 · · Score: 3, Informative

    How do we reconcile this with slamming Apple for trying to maintain 100% control over the OS/hardware combo?

    Easily. These are just hardware requirements, no one is trying force you to run it on an approved version of the hardware. If you can build hardware that fits the requirements, you can run it.

  6. Re:restrictions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    from /src/LICENSE:

    // Copyright (c) 2006-2009 The Chromium OS Authors. All rights reserved.
    //
    // Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
    // modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
    // met:
    //
    // * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
    // notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
    // * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
    // copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer
    // in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the
    // distribution.
    // * Neither the name of Google Inc. nor the names of its
    // contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from
    // this software without specific prior written permission.
    //
    // THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
    // "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
    // LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
    // A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
    // OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
    // SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
    // LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
    // DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
    // THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
    // (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
    // OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.