ChromeOS Zero Released

charliesome writes "Hexxeh, a student from the United Kingdom, has been the source for ChromeOS builds since the release of the Google operating system. He's just released ChromeOS Zero, a small build designed for speed and aesthetics. He recently did an interview with The Chrome Source."

Comments

Interesting

[colinrichardday]

interesting

Re:Interesting

[jo42]

"Precious! Shiny... Chrome!!"

Re:Interesting

[shird]

Funny

May the competition begin.

[catmandue]

Wake up MS. There another new kid on the block as rich as you.

Re:May the competition begin.

[fredrik70]

according to this link, they still have some way to go..

Re:May the competition begin.

[psnyder]

Wake up MS. There another new kid on the block as rich as you.

Google is not nearly as rich as MS.

Microsoft

• Revenue US$ 58.437 billion (2009)
• Operating income US$ 20.363 billion (2009)
• Net income US$ 14.569 billion (2009)
• Total assets US$ 77.888 billion (2009)
• Total equity US$ 39.558 billion (2009)
• Employees 93,000 in over 100 countries (2009)

Google

• Revenue $ 21.796 billion (2008)
• Operating income $ 6.632 billion (2008)
• Net income $ 4.227 billion (2008)
• Total assets $ 31.768 billion (2008)
• Total equity $ 28.239 billion (2008)
• Employees 19,665 – September 30, 2009

Re:May the competition begin.

[Hurricane78]

Well, correct me if I’m wrong, but ChromeOS is not a real actual full desktop OS. (Ok, some say Windows also isn’t. ;)
More a bare-bones kernel running a web browser as its graphical shell.
It’s more like a nice frontend for limited devices like smartbooks. You can browse, mail, communicate, and use your movies/music/etc. (All in the browser. No connection, and you’re done. Google closing it down, and you’re done.)

But that’s about it.

P.S.: If you disagree, and actually care about changing my mind, I recommend telling me below, instead of moderating. ;)

Re:May the competition begin.

[Guspaz]

Well, the thing is, on those kinds of devices, often what you describe is the only thing people want to do with them anyhow. To account for a few of the odd cases such as wanting to play video from a USB stick, Chrome OS has support for that added.

The argument is, if that's all you're going to do with a netbook or smartbook, why waste resources on the rest of the OS (window manager, all those services, etc) when you don't need them? Why not just strip it down right to what you'll actually use.

It's not for everyone, but a lot of people don't need anything more.

In terms of "Google closing it down, and you're done.", would you want to keep using a certain version of Windows if Microsoft suddenly stopped releasing security patches for it? The mechanism of death would be different, the result would be the same.

OK. I need a Karma whore.

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't get who this guy is. He was the source for ChromeOS builds?!? Google dropped it?! How does this guy handle Google's builds?

I don't get it.

ChromeOS Zero - what's so special about it?

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[Anonymous Coward]

So he's basically doing the job of a Linux distributor. He builds the ChromeOS packages from source, then you can download his binaries and install them. This is probably easier and quicker than building them yourself.

That's all there is to it.. if ChromeOS Zero was Slackware, this guy would be Patrick Volkerding.

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[MichaelSmith]

TFA says it is ChromiumOS. Chromium is the is the open source version of Chrome.

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[mrsteveman1]

Well shit, that analogy cleared it right up.........no wait......which one is the car?

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[LostCluster]

He compiled the code that Google only officially releases as source code to the public at this time, and this his third release, after fixing several problems he discovered. He's one of the few people working on this OS that Google doesn't employ.

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[hedwards]

Chrome is on the bumper of the car. Sheesh, haven't you ever seen an older model car?

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[rchh]

Chromium OS is the development version of Chrome OS which, when released during 2nd half of 2010, is also going to be completely open source.

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[H3XX3H]

I don't get who this guy is. He was the source for ChromeOS builds?!? Google dropped it?! How does this guy handle Google's builds?

I don't get it.

ChromeOS Zero - what's so special about it?

These builds take the ChromiumOS source provided by Google, and just improve upon it and deviate slightly from the direction Google is going in. Google is tailoring to a very limited set of devices, but really, there are a lot of people on a very wide range of hardware who would like to use ChromiumOS, and so I'm trying to make it more accessible/usable. I'm also providing updates automatically with the launch of the updater beta, to remove the need for frequent reimages to stay up to date.

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[Anonymous Coward]

"I build and tweak Google's crippled Linux distro and make a thing of it because I want a job at Google," would have been sufficient.

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[Anonymous Coward]

"H3XX3H" gives me horrible '90s h4x0rp13c3 th34tr3 flashbacks. He's satisfied the "duosyllabic word with mathematical overtone and a letter which could be repeated ad inf." requirement, but needs to stick to the English alphabet in this post-Web/1.0 world.

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[Anonymous Coward]

Real ChromeOS taste + nothing

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

Chrome is on the bumper of the car. Sheesh, haven't you ever seen an older model car?

Its the wheels of my car. Probably a better analogy too.

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[mysidia]

Hypothetically... suppose you want a nice job at Google. Does that seem like an unreasonable strategy?

Is it something the OSS community should criticize you for? Why?

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[x2A]

Community?? Slashdot?!! It's more like a demolishion derby of open source (and heavily forked) memes *lol* ...

...and I for one...

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[x2A]

aww and you just don't feel it anymore 'n that makes you all grumpy! Instead, you've just got slashdot without the excitement... ouch. I think I might actually cry!

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[Anonymous Coward]

ChromeOS Zero - what's so special about it?

"We didn't think anyone would notice" ... Larry Page

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[electrosoccertux]

Chromium OS is the development version of Chrome OS which, when released during 2nd half of 2010, is also going to be completely open source.

That's great and all but I'm afraid I'm going to have to say having entered the real world and been working a real job, I was deluding myself into thinking OSS was the way to go.

There needs to be a deadline, set features, and programmers getting paid full to time to write code that they don't want to write, for important things to get done in the OS. I hope Google will provide this?
Example would be that mouse-over-button bug that was in bugzilla for 6 years before somebody got the nerve to go unpack the problem and rework the bits of the code that needed to be reworked so that a window with a button in it that was drawn under where the mouse currently was would actually automatically hilight the button and let you click it. Before this guy got the balls go and fix it, it sat there. And bugged the hell out of me for 3 years while I deluded myself into thinking the OSS development model was superior.
--Which it is. In a perfect world, where people don't only want to write new, exciting code, and are willing to write legible documentation, as well as code.
Until then, Linux's Firefox/Fasterfox still runs dog slow on my quad core 3.5Ghz processor, and so does Gnome, because whatever is down there in the Linux kernel is so darn bloated that even Windows Vista is faster...snappier.

You can mod me troll if you like, I'm just reporting what I've seen. I used to love Linux, and it will always have a special place in my heart, [and I'm not coder] but it's just not fast, no matter what hardware I throw at it.

Here's to hoping having a massive netbook installbase will motivate the OSS crowd to not just tell us to default to XFCE and Fluxbox when we want a faster GUI.

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, but it's better than those h4xpl0174710n films. You might choke on that string of digits.

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[rvw]

Chrome is on the bumper of the car. Sheesh, haven't you ever seen an older model car?

Nowadays it's not called "chrome" anymore. We prefer "bling".

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[Anonymous Coward]

> if ChromeOS Zero was Slackware

and ChromeOS Zero is to ChromeOS as Slackware is to ... ? Don't say Linux, because it ain't.

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[Daengbo]

Let's be clear: you mean that GNOME isn't fast. Or maybe that $DISTRO isn't fast. There are certainly plenty of fast Linux distros and DEs.

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[Fred_A]

Example would be that mouse-over-button bug that was in bugzilla for 6 years before somebody got the nerve to go unpack the problem and rework the bits of the code that needed to be reworked so that a window with a button in it that was drawn under where the mouse currently was would actually automatically hilight the button and let you click it. Before this guy got the balls go and fix it, it sat there. And bugged the hell out of me for 3 years while I deluded myself into thinking the OSS development model was superior.

Superior to the commercial model where similarly irritating bugs routinely get ignored for years because overworked teams are busy working on $NextLayerOfCruftyFeatures as demanded by marketing instead of fixing their damn product ?
In that case you're right, it's not always superior. It mostly depends on the team managing the project (in both worlds, be it OSS or commercial).

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[operator_error]

Bling? Oh, I have heard about that! This is a search engine on the inter-net, right?

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[ampathee]

There needs to be a deadline, set features, and programmers getting paid full to time to write code that they don't want to write, for important things to get done in the OS. I hope Google will provide this?

Google will provide this.

My understanding is that Chrome OS will be the "official" build of google's Chromium OS open-source project.

Just like Chrome the browser is the "official" build of google's Chromium open-source project.

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[g253]

I see no reason why you can't have your "traditional" development model (deadlines, programmers paid to do stuff they don't like, all those niceties) and still release the code as OSS. How about Ubuntu? Don't they have all of the above?

The fact that anyone can access and modify the code doesn't mean it must only be provided by volunteers.

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[Anonymous Coward]

You talk about open source as if it doesn't completely dominate the internet services market. Or did you just find out about open source last month?

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[Anonymous Coward]

My ability to read that without even slowing indicates I need to remove myself from the gene pool. I'm going to go jump off the roof. Goodbye cruel world...and Cruller World.

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[sourcerror]

Remember that Canonical isn't making profit. From :

"In a Guardian interview in May 2008, Mark Shuttleworth said that the Canonical business model was service provision and explained that Canonical was not yet close to profitability. Canonical also claimed it will wait for the business to turn into a profitable one within another 3 to 5 years. He regarded Canonical as positioning itself as demand for services related to Free Software rose.[18] This strategy has been compared to Red Hat's business strategies in the 1990s.[19]."

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[electrosoccertux]

It's KDE too, though. Something just...isn't right...with the whole thing.

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[electrosoccertux]

There really aren't any of those irritating bugs in Windows though; nor does using the desktop feel like molasses.

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[electrosoccertux]

Most of their time seems to be spent building new releases...little goes into _actual_ development.

When is the last time the OSS community did anything original relating to the GUI? Desktop Compositing? We didn't touch that till Microsoft thought of it. Now everybody wants OpenOffice to have a "Ribbon" too, just like MS Office.
There's very little forward thinking; too much replication.

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[Fred_A]

There really aren't any of those irritating bugs in Windows though; nor does using the desktop feel like molasses.

Never happened to me. *And* I still from time to time run Linux on an actual Pentium II laptop (with X11 too).
Maybe you should upgrade your 286 ?

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[Anonymous Coward]

You talk about open source as if it doesn't completely dominate the internet services market.

And all this time I thought that it was Cisco dominating that market.

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[GameboyRMH]

I barely slow down when reading these things. Is that good or bad?

haxploitation - good descriptor for all the shitty "hacker" movies out there, now should "Swordfish" or "Hackers" be the "Blackula" of the genre? (I vote Swordfish).

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[H3XX3H]

Hexxeh was taken when I registered, sadly. I'm not a fan of the numbers-for-letters bullshit either very much, it was just easy to remember and the most similar thing I could get that still read the same.

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[Daengbo]

Try a fast DE like LXDE. You'll be shocked. It's instant.

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[inKubus]

Wait, software is made of...people?

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[Anonymous Coward]

Chrome is on the bumper of the car. Sheesh, haven't you ever seen an older model car?

Nowadays it's not called "chrome" anymore. We prefer "bling".

BlingOS?

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[electrosoccertux]

There really aren't any of those irritating bugs in Windows though; nor does using the desktop feel like molasses.

Never happened to me. *And* I still from time to time run Linux on an actual Pentium II laptop (with X11 too).
Maybe you should upgrade your 286 ?

Yes, I plan to update my quad core 286 right away.

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[voidphoenix]

This one has been around since Windows 95. Still no fix...

Re:OK. I need a Karma whore.

[Anonymous Coward]

Until then, Linux's Firefox/Fasterfox still runs dog slow on my quad core 3.5Ghz processor, and so does Gnome, because whatever is down there in the Linux kernel is so darn bloated that even Windows Vista is faster...snappier.

*snip*

Here's to hoping having a massive netbook installbase will motivate the OSS crowd to not just tell us to default to XFCE and Fluxbox when we want a faster GUI.

So, according to you a different choice of desktop environment makes the GUI snappy with the same kernel. And yet in the beginning you blame the kernel and its supposed bloat for being the root cause. That's inconsistent, which is bad if you're trying to make a point.

A point I sympathize with, mind you. The snappier the desktop, the better. And if it's also functional, well, even better. So I support your cause for getting a complete, functional and snappy desktop environment running on the Linux kernel.

But as I said, put the blame where it belongs and be consistent when you complain. Otherwise, nobody who could help you will bother.

SlowNewsDay?

[LostCluster]

Not quite sure this deserves the attention that a Slashdot story gets it. This isn't a milestone release by Google, but by a kid who downloaded the open code then did a little tinkering to get it working on his stuff, then his friend's stuff. Cool, yes.. but this OS is still a newborn.

Re:SlowNewsDay?

[lena_10326]

Maybe the story here is this is an exercise of freedom made possible by community access to open source, documentation, and the right of redistribution.

Re:SlowNewsDay?

[Pharmboy]

Reminds me of that Finnish college kid who was too cheap to buy a copy of minix and tried to make his own operating system back in 1991. Whatever happened to him?

Re:SlowNewsDay?

[LostCluster]

Yeah... but this kid downloaded something from Google, not creating his own OS from zero.

Re:SlowNewsDay?

[charliesome]

No, he didn't create his own OS from Zero, but his release is far more usable than Google's release

Re:SlowNewsDay?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah... but this kid downloaded something from Google, not creating his own OS from zero.

Good luck creating an OS from zero. Not even that Finnish kid could do that. He cheated. He used one too.

Re:SlowNewsDay?

[Pharmboy]

eah... but this kid downloaded something from Google, not creating his own OS from zero.

And of course Linus has never accepted code from other programmers...

The kid is adding other kernel code to make it actually work on more systems that Google is releasing for.

hmmm...

[novar21]

Are they vying for more beta testers?

Re:hmmm...

[dcawrey]

Follow hexxeh on twitter, he lurks there looking for testers...

What is this?

[POds]

I'm confused.

How are his builds different from what google release? Is google's release simply for mobile devices whilst the releases that Hexxah publishes are build for desk/laptops ?

Re:What is this?

[Jorl17]

They...are called 'Zero'.
Don't you get anything?
END Irony

Re:What is this?

[micheas]

They are different in that google only releases the source.

If you have ever installed linux from scratch or some similar OS, you can install chrome. As far as I understand, google has no plans to release chrome OS binaries, They expect anyone installing Chrome OS to be able to compile code from source.

Re:What is this?

[hedwards]

And considering the amount of griping people do about installing Linux or even Windows, there going to get, very, very little market share if they don't provide a reasonable install option.

Re:What is this?

[micheas]

The plan is installed by the manufacturer.

The only other place that seems to be installing chrome OS is as an upgrade to existing thin clients.

Re:What is this?

[itsdapead]

there going to get, very, very little market share if they don't provide a reasonable install option.

I don't think Google gives a fig about ChromeOS gaining market share as an aftermarket OS. That market is a pretty barren cow anyway.

Google is going to work with manufacturers to produce ChromeOS-based netbooks, nettops, tablets etc. which will come with the OS pre-installed and optimized for the hardware.

ChromeOS only makes sense if its stripped-down and tailored for specific thin-client hardware - otherwise, you might as well just install the Chrome browser on your current OS. A "one size fits all" installer for PCs would defeat the object.

has been GIVEN the source

[Anonymous Coward]

awesome editors editing skillz

You mean like...

[IANAAC]

Maybe the story here is this is an exercise of freedom made possible by community access to open source, documentation, and the right of redistribution.

You mean like, say, Linux?

I suppose new Linux distributions get featured here too from time to time.

Re:You mean like...

[lena_10326]

You mean like, say, Linux?

A question for your question. Must every conversation be about Linux?

Re:You mean like...

[IANAAC]

Not at all. It was just an example of open source being repackaged and not that unique.

Re:You mean like...

[PopeRatzo]

You mean like, say, Linux?

Yes, except there's a chance this might actually be the Year of Chrome OS on the Desktop.

Not a big chance, but better than zero.

Re:You mean like...

[PopeRatzo]

It was just an example of open source being repackaged

"Just"? I thought that was the whole idea.

Re:You mean like...

[Anonymous Coward]

On Slashdot, yes.

Re:You mean like...

[Runaway1956]

Well - don't tell anyone, or it may turn some people off. The dirty little secret is, Chromium is Linux. Go ahead, download it. Mount the image. Look around the file system. Any *nix nerd will feel quite at home. It's just Linux without the furniture. Add your own furniture, and you can have a full blown, fully functional Linux distro.

The year of the Chrome desktop really IS the year of the Linux desktop. Or, net top - or whatever.

ChromeOS Zero - what's so special about it?

[Anonymous Coward]

ChromeOS Zero - is the first OS API with no functions.*

*Not a low-calorie OS.

Re:ChromeOS Zero - what's so special about it?

[PopeRatzo]

the first OS API with no functions

Considering what some other bloated major operating systems have become, that might not be such a bad thing.

Re:ChromeOS Zero - what's so special about it?

[LostCluster]

No functions, but they use value-returning-subroutine syrup in its place.

Re:ChromeOS Zero - what's so special about it?

[squidinkcalligraphy]

Yeah, well, firefox (actually, phoenix or firebird or somethings) was mozilla with all the crap stripped out of it. Now it's evolved back to square one. ChromeOS is just the same principle on the OS level. Wait 5 years and it'll be bloated like the rest of them

Re:ChromeOS Zero - what's so special about it?

[mysidia]

This is just some software engineer's rebellion against a professor that made him use a pure functional language in early childhood, without allowing access to intoxicating side-effects.

In Exchange, he decided to release a major software program with nothing but GOTO statements and JMPs to call executables, no functions at all.

Take that, Mr. Scheme!

Re:ChromeOS Zero - what's so special about it?

[Daengbo]

Yes, except I'm still trying to come to grips with an OS that includes nothing but a browser but still weighs in at almost a GB. Why so much? Heck, I can get Slitaz (an OpenBox-based Linux distro), which includes Firefox, in a 25MB .iso.

Re:ChromeOS Zero - what's so special about it?

[L4t3r4lu5]

I thought Chrome OS was meant to be a browser with a bootloader. Exactly how does one bloat that?

Re:ChromeOS Zero - what's so special about it?

[hvm2hvm]

If it gets to be used by enough people, in time some will want feature X,Y or Z and they will have to patch up new functionality to the OS. For example, wanting 3D acceleration is enough to bloat it up real good.

Re:ChromeOS Zero - what's so special about it?

[Anonymous Coward]

Exactly how does one bloat that?

I can think of on million ways to bloat it. Where shall we start?

Re:ChromeOS Zero - what's so special about it?

[Mikkeles]

Ah!, an unstructured threaded combinator language.

Re:ChromeOS Zero - what's so special about it?

[L4t3r4lu5]

Why would 3D graphics be included? Chrome OS isn't for gaming or CAD. I's a browser with a bootloader.

Re:ChromeOS Zero - what's so special about it?

[L4t3r4lu5]

Somewhere that doesn't start comparing features of Chrome OS (thin client, gateway only) to features of Windows (fat client) operating system.

Re:ChromeOS Zero - what's so special about it?

[hvm2hvm]

Seriously? What kind of question is that? It's like asking 'why would you need 3D graphics on a phone? You're just using it to talk to people'. Practicality doesn't count that much these days.

Re:ChromeOS Zero - what's so special about it?

[Hurricane78]

You mean like when it becomes clear that extreme right is not a good idea, extreme left suddenly becomes not such a bad thing?

It’s still just as wrong. Only in the other direction.

Re:ChromeOS Zero - what's so special about it?

[shutdown -p now]

Why would 3D graphics be included? Chrome OS isn't for gaming or CAD. I's a browser with a bootloader.

Why isn't it for gaming? You can pretty much assume that people will want to play games on that, and they won't care about whether "it's just a browser" or not. Of course, there are 3D Flash games out there alread.

Oh, and 3D graphics is already there, in fact. Ever heard of WebGL? Most recent Chrome builds already have it.

Re:ChromeOS Zero - what's so special about it?

[Tubal-Cain]

How does one bloat a text editor?

As a 49 year old feminist grandmother

[Anonymous Coward]

I question if anyone actually wants this besides the director of the museum of contemporary art. ChromeOS just seems generally useless compared to something like Fedora. Of course some idiot will always say how great it is with cloud logic that nobody but himself can make head or tail of.

ChromeOS ?

[Funnnny]

This is ChromiumOS, and the open source he has is Chromium OS too. There's a differrent between Chromium and Chrome, like the browser. Corect me.

Re:ChromeOS ?

[novar21]

OK, correct is spelled with two r's.

Re:ChromeOS ?

[bertoelcon]

Chromium is the open source versions where Chrome are the "Google Experience" ones. http://dev.chromium.org/ has them listed as Chromium and Chromium OS.

Maybe he'll make Chrome OS useful!

[Anonymous Coward]

As it stands, Chrome OS is pretty useless for most people. From what we've seen so far, Chromium OS is so locked-down and artificially limited that it's just not worth using. You're better off just using Chrome on Ubuntu. At least then you're not stuck using just shitty web apps.

Independent distributions like this are the only way we'll see Chrome OS be made useful, when the distribution creators remove the artificial limitations that Google has introduced.

Re:Maybe he'll make Chrome OS useful!

[Nethead]

Yeah, that shitty old Gmail has sure made my life hell. Same with that crappy Google Voice number that I use. And don't get me started on pile of steaming feces Google maps is. I just wish there was a good web search that I could use to find replacements.

Re:Maybe he'll make Chrome OS useful!

[Anonymous Coward]

I think the real limitation right now is that HTML5 and WebGL haven't been ratified yet. Hopefully Google is waiting for those; with them, I don't think it is out of the question that a larger variety of useful web apps will be written. I personally hope that they will make web versions of SketchUp and either they or someone else will make a subscription gaming service that runs entirely on web technologies.

The only possible problem I can see is the whole saving everything to the cloud thing. Flash drives don't cost that much; would much rather keep my data local. Hopefully it won't be a requirement.

Re:Maybe he'll make Chrome OS useful!

[FlyingBishop]

You remove the artificial limitations that Google has introduced, and you just have Linux. The point is just to have a thin web client, with no excessive overhead. It's something I've often pined for when waiting for a full-fledged Mac or Windows Desktop to log me in in an Internet lab. I anticipate that Chrome devices will be instant-on, and completely blow any sort of standard "unlimited" desktop out of the water for browsing purposes.

Re:Maybe he'll make Chrome OS useful!

[shaka]

I have used:

mail
Emacs
pine
mutt
Netscape
Evolution
KMail
Thunderbird
Squirrelmail
IMP
Zimbra
Mail.app
Outlook
Outlook Express
Exchange's poor excuse for web mail ...and probably a few more MUAs to read my e-mail through the ages.

Gmail is the best interface for e-mail, for me, so far. Actually, the only one that comes close is probably mutt with procmail, but it's hard to compare since spam wasn't really a problem back then.

Re:Maybe he'll make Chrome OS useful!

[geekmux]

GMail is fantastic. And by "GMail", I basically mean how it can be used as an SMTP server and IMAP server by a real mail client. The only people I know who use its shitty web-based interface are people who don't have the brains to set up Thunderbird, Evolution, Apple Mail or even Outlook to access their account.

Or the millions of us who simply want to access their email in the same way across multiple systems without having to pointlessly rely on another client-based program to set up, read, and send email. It's bad enough dealing with ISPs that ONLY allow you to send through their SMTP gateways, let alone dealing with firewalls that filter IMAP/SMTP connections in both directions and content filters that block web-based email services altogether. All for the sake of running your own email client? Thanks but no thanks.

It doesn't take "brains" to realize that sometimes simplicity is key, and the web interface is good enough, and in some cases(search speeds) is superior to damn near any client. And a mail client is a mail client is a mail client. None of them are the next coming of email.

Re:Maybe he'll make Chrome OS useful!

[Anonymous Coward]

Why wouldn't you want hop on any computer, login, and have access to everything you need? If your hard drive crashes, ya lose everything. If you're backups fail, ya lose everything. It is much more likely that your cheap ass newegg hardware fails than an entire cloud with numerous amounts of redundancy to simply lose your data. I think people need to start putting more trust in to the cloud because it is a fucking hell of a lot better than what 90% of computer users have. Which is nothing as far as backups are concerned. Yea it's not perfect for everybody, but I honestly think people need to give it a try. Gamers worried too? Shit, you'd be surprised at all the awesome games that have been ported to Flash. Look at Quake for example. I know it's old, but think about the potential. That is the point of all this. It's not about what it can currently do (which is still a pretty large amount of shit), it's rather what it will become (which will be even more incredible). "Shitty Web Apps" fuel most of the fucking small businesses in this entire country. Did you ever think about that? Look at PSA and CRM software like ConnectWise. Multi-million dollar software companies that use ASP.NET apps. All they need is a toolkit and a web browser. If it can help small businesses (which is does), then it will help everyone else too.

Re:Maybe he'll make Chrome OS useful!

[vikstar]

woosh

Re:Maybe he'll make Chrome OS useful!

[Pojut]

While I don't agree with everything you said, that was too good of a rant to be posted AC. Well done.

Re:Maybe he'll make Chrome OS useful!

[BlackHawk-666]

Is anyone working on a Flash version of World of Warcraft?

Re:Maybe he'll make Chrome OS useful!

[alienunknown]

I just wish there was a good web search that I could use to find replacements.

Let me see if I can think of an alternative search engine..............

Bingo! I've got it!!!

Have you heard of AltaVista? I hear its a groovy search engine that works in a far-out happening way. All the cool kids are using it.

Re:Maybe he'll make Chrome OS useful!

[drinkypoo]

Well okay, but aside from free voicemail and call forwarding, a free tiling map engine with some of the best map data there is, and the best web search engine, what has Google ever done for us?

Re:Maybe he'll make Chrome OS useful!

[Anonymous Coward]

I suspect that you just suffer from mild retardation. That's likely why you find GMail's web interface acceptable.

Re:Maybe he'll make Chrome OS useful!

[thejynxed]

Wake me up when Adobe can get 64-bit Flash out of Alpha for Linux/BSD and ported to other platforms.

Then I'll take another nap while waiting for their programmers to fix their program so it doesn't constantly crash Firefox, Chrome, IE, Opera or any other browser I run it in on a 64-bit OS.

I can't take a nap waiting on this cloud garbage though. It's already painfully obvious that if you leave it anywhere in the cloud, someone who isn't you is already pilfering it from some province in China or a former Soviet-Block state.

So, yeah, shitty webapps can suck a fat one.

Re:Maybe he'll make Chrome OS useful!

[siloko]

No Claws? No The Bat!? Where have you been?

Re:Maybe he'll make Chrome OS useful!

[buswolley]

Hows it working these days anyway..might be willing to leave google

Re:Maybe he'll make Chrome OS useful!

[basotl]

There is a plugin version of Quake 3 called Quake Live. Though the plugin only works with Firefox, IE and Safari Currently.

Re:Maybe he'll make Chrome OS useful!

[GrubLord]

Some dudes run it on VNC from their iPhones...

http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/04/25/world-of-warcraft-on-the-iphone-heralds-end-of-civilization-as-we-know-it/

Is that close enough?

Re:Maybe he'll make Chrome OS useful!

[defireman]

How about if you lose your connection to the cloud, you lose everything. This all boils down to control. If you own your Hard Drive, you own your data.

As the many examples in history shows, exchanging a little control for convenience will eventually leave you at the mercy of the software's owners.

Re:Maybe he'll make Chrome OS useful!

[node 3]

Those "artificial" limitations are the whole *point* of ChromeOS. If you remove them, what do you have except yet another Linux distro?

The point here is that if you want a slimmed down, web-centric/web-only OS, there's no better choice than ChromeOS. If you want a Google Linux, just pick a distro and install Chrome.

It sounds like this won't appeal to you, fair enough. But it's a mistake to think that it needs fixing, and further, that that fixing is to simply make it into a clone of your OS of choice.

Personally, I think ChromeOS would make for a great netbook OS. The origin of the term "netbook" goes a long way in explaining why.

ChromeOS is a web dumb terminal. To bypass the built-in restrictions (they aren't "artificial", they are a integral to the design) would be just as misguided as turning an old-fashioned dumb terminal into a standalone workstation. There are already better solutions for that.

Re:Maybe he'll make Chrome OS useful!

[BlackHawk-666]

I'm a tad surprised at how usable it would be for running the AH, light grinding, etc. It's not quite the same as running on the iPhone, since it's just streaming a video of the game to the iPhone and taking keypress and sense data in return - but still, it's fairly cool.

Re:Maybe he'll make Chrome OS useful!

[Pastis]

Exactly

Some of the main reasons I use gmail in the browser. May not be applicable to you.

* one less application to run and my resources are limited on the machine
* I have integrated chat. One less application to run as well (I seldom use other protocols)
* I can switch apps very easily with alt+1 as gmail is always in my first tab
* search is faster than in the thunderbird version
* I have the same browser experience no matter where I am. I.e. if I am using someone else's computer, I have the same interface. If I was using a mail client, I would have to switch to the browser once in a while anyway.
* the browser starts faster than thunderbird, and new mail arrives faster.

I still fire thunderbird once in a while to backup the messages and access email by IMAP when web service is down, not that often for me.

Re:Maybe he'll make Chrome OS useful!

[tikram]

Woooosh! That was the sound of the joke flying above your head at the speed of sound!

Re:Maybe he'll make Chrome OS useful!

[mattsday]

I run my own private SMTP (postfix) and IMAP (courier) server to handle my mail across my various domains. I then use getmail to pull my ISP stuff down too and amavis + spamassassin to reduce my spam.

However, this all gets pulled down in to my gmail account where pretty much every email I've ever had is archived in a fast, easy to search archive with more than ten years of email backfilled, tagged and searchable. Gmail also picks up about 100 extra spam mails a week that my own filtering misses.

The web interface is great for me, as I find most dedicated clients to be clunky, especially when handling gigabytes of mail (and this is mostly pure mail, not attachments). Even Mutt when opening a Maildir/ of this size takes some time for me (if you know how to speed this up, get in touch!). I can also access my mail from pretty much anywhere and the interface works great on my iPhone and corporate Nokia.

So... show me a client that can pull that volume of mail, store it in a non-fragile format and search it instantly without me having to spend a very long time sorting it in to folders and I might agree I don't have the brains... However, I suspect there isn't a good solution out there for all that, so I'm sticking with Gmail for the time being.

Re:Maybe he'll make Chrome OS useful!

[Anonymous Coward]

The mail client built in to Opera is very, very similar to GMail (tags rather actual folders etc), although when I first got a GMail account Opera didn't play so nicely with it (because of the weird way Google had made IMAP work).

Re:Maybe he'll make Chrome OS useful!

[Fished]

I use the Gmail web client, and back in the day I ran over 1,000 SMTP servers responsible for delivering over 1 billion messages a day. I came up with the sendmail config, then migrated us to postfix, etc. etc.--wasn't just maintaining something that someone else created. I'm perfectly capable, if I so choose, of connecting via POP/IMAP and SMTP to a mail server and reading my mail THAT way (although I'd rather not, and SSL would be a bit challenging--I think I'd need some scratch paper at the very least! :> )

So, I think I rather "have the brains to set up" your aundry list of clients. Here's a clue: maybe I don't *want* my mail stored on whatever random computer I happen to be using at the moment? Maybe I *like* having it stored on Google's servers? Maybe I *like* being able to access it from anywhere with no setup, no hassles, and a consistent interface?

Webmail rocks for what I do, and when you grow up you'll realize that people might do things differently from how you do them for reasons other than they're just not as smart as you.

ok...

[ysth]

r

Re:ok...

[PsychoElf]

Is that +1 R for "Corect" or -1 R for "differrent" (which should be difference)?

Re:ok...

[Anonymous Coward]

Obviously it should be 0r

Re:ok...

[defireman]

You see, the extra r in different exactly cancels out the missing r in correct, so the sentence is technically correct. Moving on...

Re:ok...

[seandiggity]

Also:

differ[ence ]

:P

Re:ok...

[Adambomb]

Heh, It's ok to make mistakes so long as it's an even number of sign mistakes!

Arrr!

[joh]

This guy should distribute this as a VirtualBox machine or so. Do I really want to *boot* into something that is just a browser without an OS and without apps? Gimme something to use and to play with on the side and I may have fun with it. Pulling my teeth would be more fun than booting into Chrome on a real machine, sorry.

Re:Arrr!

[Nethead]

Ya know, Joh, if I laid down a pair of pliers and a Chrome CD, I have a feeling which one you would really pick.

Re:Arrr!

[darrylo]

Uhh, a quick google search shows these links:

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/12/04/how-to-convert-hexxehs-chrome-os-build-image-to-a-virtualbox-v/

http://www.unixmen.com/news-today/706-chromium-os-zero-released-

Re:Arrr!

[zach_the_lizard]

After having used ChromeOS on a flashdrive for about 30 minutes, I would take the pliers and squeeze the hell out of the disk. After my desire for destruction had been filled, I would go back inside and take the rest of my meds, so that I may rid myself of whatever other rage I have left.

Re:Arrr!

[mykro76]

At this stage (nconsidering it's a one-man show) you still need to roll your own: http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/12/04/how-to-convert-hexxehs-chrome-os-build-image-to-a-virtualbox-v/

Re:Arrr!

[c_forq]

Can't you use just boot the image in Virtualbox?

Re:Arrr!

[H3XX3H]

At this stage (nconsidering it's a one-man show) you still need to roll your own: http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/12/04/how-to-convert-hexxehs-chrome-os-build-image-to-a-virtualbox-v/

Conversion is broken in Zero, you'll need to download Cherry for that, I'm working on it, but like you said, one man show and I have college too. :/ http://chromeos.hexxeh.net/ChromeOS-Cherry.torrent for the cherry build. Thanks for the slashdotting, guys. :D

Re:Arrr!

[Anonymous Coward]

And enjoy the ad revenues, you deserve them!

Re:Arrr!

[H3XX3H]

And enjoy the ad revenues, you deserve them!

I'm putting money from the ads back into paying for the server/bandwidth, more users means more bandwidth for the updates, and bandwidth isn't free. I do this because I enjoy making/doing something people find useful, not to make a profit. And maybe to see if I can get noticed by some companies, that too. ;)

Re:Arrr!

[node 3]

This guy should distribute this as a VirtualBox machine or so.

Why? Isn't Chrome available for your OS? ChromiumOS in a vm seems like a lot of work to just run Chrome/Chromium.

Do I really want to *boot* into something that is just a browser without an OS and without apps?

Apparently not. Fortunately, no one is demanding you do so.

Gimme something to use and to play with on the side and I may have fun with it.

Just run Chrome. If you find playing around with alternative OSs (including something as limited as ChromiumOS), I'm sure you won't have trouble installing it in virtualbox yourself.

Pulling my teeth would be more fun than booting into Chrome on a real machine, sorry.

No need to be sorry. Chromium isn't meant for "real machines" (whatever that really means anyway). It's directed at netbooks. I'm unaware of anyone suggesting it's suitable for your "real machine".

Re:Arrr!

[mysidia]

Then create your own virtual machine, and boot it into ChromeOS Zero using the binary (instead of the host), you lazy slashdot reader...

Re:Arrr!

[Anonymous Coward]

your school won't give you any bandwidth? ......

Re:Arrr!

[MartinSchou]

And maybe to see if I can get noticed by some companies

Well, you are clearly orchestrating the distribution of copyrighted items to millions of internet users, AND the ads on your website are going to bring in a bit of money, so you should be expecting a call by the MPAA/RIAA or similar in a day or so ... ;)

Re:Arrr!

[Runaway1956]

This guy should distribute this as a VirtualBox machine or so.

Why? Isn't Chrome available for your OS? ChromiumOS in a vm seems like a lot of work to just run Chrome/Chromium.

=

You are right, of course. By the time I have downloaded an ISO, and told VirtualBox to create a new machine which will boot from that ISO, I am exhausted. I've spent AT LEAST 10 minutes inside of GUI's setting up the download, then creating the VM. At this point, I'm ready to take the rest of the week off.

Tell us, Node3 - how much experience do you have with VM's?

Re:Arrr!

[kinnell]

What's with the dark grey font on a black background on the website? If you're trying to give it an aura of mystery, you've suceeded, because It's practically unreadable.

Re:Arrr!

[Anonymous Coward]

I bet you are brown. There are too many browns in the UK these days.

Packaging an opensource project w/ ad revenues is a very brown thing to do.

Re:Arrr!

[H3XX3H]

your school won't give you any bandwidth? ......

Heh, their server creaks under the load of the students alone. :P

Re:Arrr!

[H3XX3H]

And maybe to see if I can get noticed by some companies

Well, you are clearly orchestrating the distribution of copyrighted items to millions of internet users, AND the ads on your website are going to bring in a bit of money, so you should be expecting a call by the MPAA/RIAA or similar in a day or so ... ;)

The Chromium OS code is open-source, what I'm doing is perfectly fine.

Re:Arrr!

[MartinSchou]

Hence the ;) at the end.

Remember - just because you're doing something 100% legal, doesn't mean the copyright idiots won't go after you.

Re:Arrr!

[H3XX3H]

My sarcasm detector was a tad rusty yesterday, and yeah, they could I suppose, but I doubt it.

Re:Arrr!

[Anonymous Coward]

Do you have a Twitter account, so we can keep up2date with your releases? I'm interested in running Zero in VirtualBox, so I want to keep up with the news.

I hope it gets better...

[absurdist]

...because as it is now it's slower than Windows 7 on my eee701.

Re:I hope it gets better...

[Eil]

Does you netbook by chance have a Turbo button?

Open Sores...

[geekmux]

TFA says it is ChromiumOS. Chromium is the is the open source version of Chrome.

Wow. That actually explains a lot. Duke Nukem Forever code is written in Unobtanium. It all makes sense now...

Re:Open Sores...

[Anonymous Coward]

Duke Nukem Forever code is written in Unobtanium.

So we should blame the Na'vi (and that Jake Sully traitor) for Duke Nukem Forever's never-appearance?

Re:Open Sores...

[Yamata no Orochi]

Unobtanium was a much less stupid, useful metaphor before Avatar was released.

Re:Open Sores...

[GameboyRMH]

It's just as useful and has the same meaning now, the only difference is you'll be bombarded with Avatar-related jokes every time you use the metaphor.

(BTW, the magical tunneling machine in The Core was also made of unobtanium, so Avatar wasn't the first to make use of it - and The Core is a total shit movie that makes excellent comedy fodder for geeks.)

Re:Open Sores...

[daw1234]

The rubbery parts of Oakley sunglasses are also made from UNOBTAINIUM® (http://www.oakley.com/pd/6213)

chromeOS can't set proxy - without internet!

[chentiangemalc]

I was testing an earlier ChromeOS build in VMWare and although it worked OK when at home, on a network with proxy went to click the option to configure proxy, it opens up another tab in the browser - "Page cannot be displayed" - the proxy page couldn't be displayed unless I already had an internet connection working, and without setting the proxy I couldn't get an internet connection.

Re:chromeOS can't set proxy - without internet!

[H3XX3H]

I was testing an earlier ChromeOS build in VMWare and although it worked OK when at home, on a network with proxy went to click the option to configure proxy, it opens up another tab in the browser - "Page cannot be displayed" - the proxy page couldn't be displayed unless I already had an internet connection working, and without setting the proxy I couldn't get an internet connection.

You need to do it via terminal right now sorry since there's no UI in place, edit /usr/bin/chromeos-chrome-login and chromeos-chrome-loop to add the --proxy-server flag to the bottom.

Re:chromeOS can't set proxy - without internet!

[mysidia]

True to its Linux heritage, you need to manually edit a file to effect a basic settings change :)

I wonder why Google is placing config files in /usr/bin instead of /etc or /opt. Placing an editable configuration item in /usr/bin is a bit whacky....

Re:chromeOS can't set proxy - without internet!

[clarkn0va]

True to its Linux heritage, you need to manually edit a file to effect a basic settings change :)

Which gets a bit old sometimes, and then you go back and spend a bit of time in a proprietary OS (take your pick), and realize that in many cases there is no file to edit. Until things get better (and things are gradually getting better), I prefer the open way.

I wonder why Google is placing config files in /usr/bin instead of /etc or /opt. Placing an editable configuration item in /usr/bin is a bit whacky....

Whacky indeed.

And the point of this is ... ???

[MadMaverick9]

If my ADSL connection is down for thirty minutes, I can't do anything with the piece of hardware and software sitting on my desk. Since all the apps are on ... the Internet.

So ... WHY would anybody use this???

Anybody remember GMail's outtages ... ???

Looks like vendor lock-in to me ... all depends on Google. If Google ever goes bye-bye, all your data goes bye-bye too.

Can anybody explain to me , please ... Why???

Re:And the point of this is ... ???

[dcawrey]

Google is making moves to allow offline use of its apps.. you can now set Gmail to sync for offline use.

Re:And the point of this is ... ???

[Anonymous Coward]

This software runs on $300 machines. These machines are meant as supplements for people who can afford them, and starter models for those who can't. If you can't afford them as a luxury, then I would assume there is probably a 95% chance your livelihood is not critically dependent on your laptop. If you do use it as a luxury, I think you can live for a short time without being on the smaller of your two computers.

Re:And the point of this is ... ???

[BlackHawk-666]

Really, what is worth doing on a PC now that -doesn't- require a network connection. If I lose my ISP connection for a day I tend to stare at my machine in futility. Let's see how I use it on a daily basis: Check Slashdot Check BBC News Check my mail (gmail) Play Age of Conan Hop on vent and chat Download something to watch or cruise Youtube Check out movie previews at Apple.com Update my software / drivers (more weekly than daily) All of those are network enabled, most are provided by a browser. I wouldn't want to play AoC using a Flash game in browser because I think the 20 GB download is a little too much every time I want to play (though it could cache :p) Your 'box' is really just storage, processing, video and sound. The network is the rest. Without the net most people's boxes are useless - or good as caches / storage at best. There is one activity my box is good for without the network - writing short stories, which I very occasionally do. Even then, when it comes time to share the story I'm going to need that net back up.

Re:And the point of this is ... ???

[Anonymous Coward]

Looks like vendor lock-in to me ... all depends on Google. If Google ever goes bye-bye, all your data goes bye-bye too.

You've never heard of the Data Liberation Front have you? It's a group run by Google that specializes in ways to backup or migrate your data from Google products. If you want to keep backups of your Google web app data in case they disappear, you may go right ahead. With few exceptions, you have that power.

Re:And the point of this is ... ???

[Anonymous Coward]

Sorry that you're not into computing. Maybe you should go to Digg where your ilk belongs.

Re:And the point of this is ... ???

[nine-times]

Because Google has been working on Google Gears and HTML offline functionality? If that stuff is working, you should be able to run Gmail, Google Docs, and other applications without a connection.

Re:And the point of this is ... ???

[GrubLord]

Some of us actually do work on our machines... without ripping it off from the Internet.

... you still play Age of Conan?!

Re:And the point of this is ... ???

[Blakey Rat]

If you don't like it, just don't buy it...

That's not an ellipsis, I just wanted to follow the parent's example with punctuation...

Re:And the point of this is ... ???

[PCM2]

I remember GMail outages. But if your ADSL is down, what is your local email client going to do for you that GMail wouldn't?

Re:And the point of this is ... ???

[Anonymous Coward]

Playing games

Re:And the point of this is ... ???

[DrDitto]

I find my computer worthless when disconnected from the internet. Any code I write is done on remote systems. I grew out of gaming long ago. Perhaps I would edit/organize photos, but thats about it.

Re:And the point of this is ... ???

[BlackHawk-666]

I pity the fool who comes home from work and then strives to do even more on his home machine. Not sure what your comment about ripping off from the net is meant to mean, since all but 1 of those activities are totally legally provided. I'll stop playing Age of Conan when something better comes along.

Re:And the point of this is ... ???

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, obviously. So Google can maximize the amount of ads they pump into your face at all times, no matter what application you're using. They want an environment where you can't get away from their targeted advertising. They don't want you to be looking at something that might not have its ads in it if you choose to use their platform. As for why a person would use it, well, because it's Google, it's familiar, it works the way they're used to using something. Why did people choose Windows 95 over OS/2? Why Windows over Mac in those days? VHS over Beta? It's because it's something people are comfortable with. Honestly, Google figured out how to do ads in such a way that they could make loads of revenue AND make ads that were less visually annoying than most other advertising agencies were making (let's be honest, the core of Google is an ad-agency that uses a "free" platform to deliver ads). That's why some people would be willing to lock themselves in, I'd presume.

Re:And the point of this is ... ???

[g253]

Rubbish. If you connection is down you can't download your new mails or get the latest friend invites from facebook, same as with any other os / app.

But most (all?) google apps are now usable offline, same as any desktop app. So what you're saying is basically "when I have no internet I can't access internet, and it's google's fault"

Re:And the point of this is ... ???

[brouski]

Let you retrieve the email you downloaded yesterday?

Re:And the point of this is ... ???

[pwfffff]

Just like gmail? With gears? Question mark?

Re:And the point of this is ... ???

[H3XX3H]

Google offer ways to get your data into and out of most of their services, in many cases they make it as easy as possible to migrate away if you wish to do so.

Re:Offtopic

[indi0144]

underrated

Too big to fail?

[Anonymous Coward]

Is google going to be the next "Too Big to Fail" of the private enterprises? I see the US government having to bail out google in the future because of insolvency (or whatever legal mumbo-jumbo you use there). Will that just get data reinstated for US citizens? Google don't store data on servers in my country (not that they should have to), what will happen to us?

Re:Too big to fail?

[bantab]

Microsoft salivates when it thinks of the kind of market penetration Google has in web services. If Google were to ever go bankrupt, it's data would be the only asset which it's creditors could sell for recompense, and would most likely be treated like gold.

Security Holes

[Anonymous Coward]

No offense, H3XX3H, I really enjoy what you do, but since the build itself is closed source, has anyone used a network traffic analyzer on it while it was running to make sure that all outgoing connections were legit? I would be one of the first to be 'up a paddle,' since I have eagerly used H3XX3R's builds, so I'm not completely paranoid. I was just curious if anyone has checked this out? Again, no offense H3XX3H, but I assume most of the people who have used your build don't know you personally to confirm your build's legitimacy, nor do we have the source to compile ourselves.

Re:Security Holes

[mysidia]

Since you're running the builds, you should probably be checking your firewall's connections table via 'show conn' or whatever, to see...

You do have a firewall on your network, don't you?

Re:Security Holes

[bantab]

Reconsidering it, there is no way to sufficiently satisfy security assurances of this build without it being open source or having some sort of investment in the legitimacy of the product. As to the firewall, information could easily be sent through legitimate emails, or any number of other methods. Again, I don't doubt H3XX3H personally, it's just a general philosophy.

Re:Security Holes

[Anonymous Coward]

It's kinda funny...build systems and processes are hardly trivial, yet they're often very obscure even among open source projects, excluded from source trees as if they were unimportant or not part of the project. I don't understand it.

Re:Security Holes

[bantab]

In addition to the build process, there are things like an update system which have been added on by H3XX3H. Actually, I just realized that he would have to release the source for his update system and any other if he wants this to be legal, wouldn't he?

Re:Security Holes

[H3XX3H]

Which I fully intend to do, the only bit I shall not be releasing are the encryption keys used to deliver updates via HTTPS. I'll be adding a public SVN repo soon with all the code I've written for people to criticize and improve upon.

Friend, I am about to destroy your arguments.

[Anonymous Coward]

Where to begin, where to begin... You are so full of shit and misconception that it's difficult to start tearing you and your pathetic arguments apart.

Using X tunneled over SSH, I already have access to my main desktop system. I can access it from work, I can access it from my smartphone, I can access it from my netbook. I don't use other public computers, because I can't trust their security. Only a fucking moron would dare use a public computer for anything that requires a login.

The "Cloud" that you worship is full of shit. I've been working with computers and networks since the early 1970s, and we saw all this "Cloud" crap back when mainframes were king. I know you're probably just a teenager, and don't have any experience with large systems and networks, but there was a reason we moved away from mainframes towards PCs. Mainly, it was because centralization of any sort is a very dangerous thing. And yes, your precious "Cloud" is centralized. Even small failures of centralized infrastructure end up being very costly.

The moment you lose Internet connectivity, and it will happen, you're absolutely fucked. You can't access your files, for instance. If you're using web "apps" then you can't even access the applications! You're beyond fucked at that point. Now your fantastic netbook running Chrome OS is nothing more than an expensive way of displaying a "Cannot connect to server" error message.

Given the amount of data that various "Cloud" providers are dealing with, it's very doubtful that they have appropriate backup solutions in place. The cost to do it properly would be astronomical, even if you factor in their economies of scale. I trust myself to back up my own data much more than I could ever trust some admins at Amazon or Google or some lesser host.

So it's 2010, and we can play games from 1996 in our web browser using Flash? That's not an accomplishment, you stupid dumbfuck. But yeah, the potential is really amazing. Just think, in 2025 we'll be able to play games from today! SO MUCH POTENTIAL!

I do a lot of consulting for large and small clients, and very few use web apps for anything serious. You never see POS systems implemented as web apps, for instance, because they're too unreliable. (Oh, and since I know you've got absolutely no industry experience, "POS" stands for point-of-sale. We're talking about the software you see running on cash registers.)

If you ever manage to get a job, you should try to see how large companies use web apps. You'll find out that most don't, or if they do, it's for some near-meaningless task. One insurance company I works with does use an ASP.NET app. Do you know what it does? It maintains the roster of their goddamn company baseball league. A small finance company I know of uses a JavaServer Faces-based web app to schedule who is going to get coffee for the office. They wouldn't trust anything serious to a web application. All of their serious applications are desktop applications.

I'll give you credit for having the balls to try and defend some of the shittiest technology (yes, even worse than Microsoft Windows) to ever come along. I sure hope your post was just an exercise in devil's advocatery. But if you do take yourself seriously, I sincerely hope that you never get into the computing field. You and your stupid ideas will be torn apart in the real world, and unlike the pain I've just delivered to you here, it will hurt you and your pathetic "career" a whole lot more.

Re:Friend, I am about to destroy your arguments.

[Anonymous Coward]

You somehow confused the fact that you're old with the idea that you know anything. Good thing you're old, though. You'll die before you have to adapt to changes you aren't willing to believe are coming.

Re:Friend, I am about to destroy your arguments.

[MortenMW]

You should get a lawn and tell people to get off it...

Re:Friend, I am about to destroy your arguments.

[turbotroll]

Very well written. I fail to understand why is your post modded as "funny" at this moment, though.

Re:Friend, I am about to destroy your arguments.

[Howitzer86]

Anonymity is power.

Re:Friend, I am about to destroy your arguments.

[Anonymous Coward]

Look, if you're trying to say the industry isn't full of webapps (of all quality levels from ok to horrifyingly bad), you haven't gotten out much.

Re:Friend, I am about to destroy your arguments.

[Ant P.]

Oh, and since I know you've got absolutely no industry experience, "POS" stands for point-of-sale. We're talking about the software you see running on cash registers.

I have got experience in that field, and the type of software you're talking about invariably is a piece of shit.

Be grateful you've never used it long enough to understand why.

Re:Friend, I am about to destroy your arguments.

[GameboyRMH]

You'll die before you have to adapt to changes you aren't willing to believe are coming.

Yeah, keep saying that, it's all fun and games until some old fart gets elected...

Re:Friend, I am about to destroy your arguments.

[zen_sky]

OK, let me get this straight. You are saying that ONE computer in one house, accessed through ONE internet provider, (maybe two) is better than billions of dollars of hardened data centers from Google, Microsoft, Rackspace, etc? I suggest you wake up and smell the ubiquitous data access dood, before someone decides to jack your vintage Sun workstation from your basement. I will not mention the cell networks, since you depend on those very same networks, just like everybody else, unless you're home and a flood, fire or brownout has not nuked your hardware, along with all your data. (Yeah, I know, offsite backups, how many days till you're back up, if you can find the key to the safety deposit box, redundancy is a bitch in a non-virtual environment)

Re:Friend, I am about to destroy your arguments.

[Big_Mamma]

You raise a few good points, but really, hosted apps aren't all evil, and not everyone is that distrusting. Google Apps for Business has a long list of clients who depends on it, and there are enough businesses 'living on Sharepoint' on their intranet.

HTTP is just another protocol, it's not better or worse than a proprietary one, just different. And with all of them, if you lose connectivity to the server for whatever reason, you're doomed.

Re:Friend, I am about to destroy your arguments.

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm not exactly the biggest proponent of the cloud.. But the brunt of your argument says that we shouldn't support cloud technology because it is unstable, or because your/the cloud's connection to the net can go down. While this is true, does this outweigh the benefits for the cost of mobile based computing? I'd rather pay 300 for a netbook that does everything I need for work (determine connectivity, set static ips, console into routers, ping/tracert/etc/etc) than 3000 for features I really don't need on a work laptop. Maybe the clouds a better tech for casual computing instead of business computing, where reliability is slightly less important. You must understand that we are moving to a time where broadband/intranet connection speed can nearly rival our processing capability (not in the days of 300bps/8mhz anymore, now its 3mbit, 8ghz, ~10000x, vs ~1000x difference) and this must be accounted for in the way we access data. Ask Ellison who was working on the network desktop idea since the 80s. It's not like companies don't suffer downtime when their servers crash currently in business. Ask anyone who has worked at a variety of offices/businesses if they've ever had downtime due to software/hardware crashes in this kind of environment. And I do retail POS work as well, some of these machines are old as crap (>10 years), completely full of dust most of the time, sometimes running software as old as W98 or older (who'd have thought that could be stable one day! =), but they've helped produce millions of dollars of revenue. Look at Macys, some of their furniture/housewares/matresses depts still use old IBM greenscreen terminals connected to a mainframe for most of their inventory/ordering. Although they are now replacing them with networked desktop chopped down POS boxes, they have served well.

You say that your POS software that doesn't run 'over the net' works fine when you lose your WAN connection.. Well maybe you can verify credit cards if your dial backup doesnt fail, but how stable is your networked store? A complete net outage still kills you. You can take CC/debit but not verify funds, etc. You are back to the stone ages anyway without the net, the cashiers would have to call for authorization for every card. Your argument of relying on the net is null and void because just about everything that makes a lot of money relies on the net in some way whether its browser, packet layer, etc. Unless you're doing CAD, graphics, programming, or something. Many applications today are built to be non-location specific, i.e run from anywhere with a net connection, multiple optimization and compatibility with any hardware. Where back in the 70s many programs would run on one type of hardware only.. A lot of software are even using P2P to push updates. I know, that's not cloud technology, just the way the business computing model has evolved. Why duplicate a whole server hardware setup when the infrastructure is already in place to virtualize?

I guess you have never seen POS software running on citrix on a thin client? Agreed its 3% of all POS systems but the fact is it works for them! A major net outage screws them, but with multiple redundant conections they don't really have problems outside of failed hardware etc..

Not that I want some huge corporation to be in control of my data, or even necessarily see it if its important to me. If I was doing anything such as software engineering, or dealing with large amounts of personal data, the cloud would not be involved in my work in any way. But like I said, on a casual scale, the technology could be VERY useful one day. Why make fun of a dreamer? You have outlined a couple good points but your inability to see where this technology could be useful shows your bitterness. Sounds like you are paranoid about security. Ever had one of your secure, non-cloud servers hacked by some skriptkid with 0day?

crickets chirping....

[Anonymous Coward]

......

Wow.

[Anonymous Coward]

You really need to get laid.

BRING BACK WANG TERMINALS!!!

[oztiks]

And install them with ChromeOS!

Re:BRING BACK WANG TERMINALS!!!

[LinuxGeek]

Why? Who needs a Chrome Wang?

Re:BRING BACK WANG TERMINALS!!!

[oztiks]

Because Linux^H^H^H^H^H ChromeOS has fairly low "Hardware" requirements, It should work on just about any type of Wang.

Re:BRING BACK WANG TERMINALS!!!

[Chrisq]

Why? Who needs a Chrome Wang?

You would probably need to polish it every day

Is a Google account still a requirement

[Anonymous Coward]

Is a Google account still a requirement? I think it is pretty fucked up you can't even use the OS in any way unless you sign in to your Google account. No thanks Moblin serves me fine, hey and I can still sign in to Google if I want.

Next thing I know I will be deny access to some building because I don't have a facebook account.

Re:Is a Google account still a requirement

[bantab]

No

Re:Is a Google account still a requirement

[cl0s]

It was only required because of the build that the providers put on it. To use the OS it is def not required and there is plenty of builds even for the G1 that let you skip this step now, sync to Funombol, Exchange or nothing at all if you want now.

I love Slashdot so much

[The End Of Days]

These are my very favorite kind of articles, because the comments are always gold. It's so much fun to read the prognostications of people who spend energy to stay as far away from the mainstream as possible declaring that because a given product doesn't meet their every esoteric use, it has no legitimate purpose.

Anyone who labors under the delusion that nerds are smart just needs to spend some time on this site.

Re:I love Slashdot so much

[Ren Hoak]

While I agree with your point, I'm not sure it applies here. I can't help but wonder.... are you saying that using ChromiumOS is within driving distance of being mainstream?

Re:Offtopic

[Anonymous Coward]

This one is my favorite. Nothing like seeing a +5 comment that has no descriptor.

Insightful

[rvw]

Insightful!

Re:Insightful

[SoVeryTired]

Insightful Insightful Insightful

Re:Insightful

[MrCrassic]

Informative.

Ha ha ha ha ha

[Anonymous Coward]

you are so funny!

Focus on the A levels

[Kupfernigk]

You're doing a great job, and I'm impressed, but here is a bit of advice from someone in the UK who has in the past been responsible for training. Don't let what you're doing get in the way of getting the widest range of A levels at the highest grades you can reach, and consider NOT doing comp sci at University but doing something more like physics or business studies. The people Google allows to write kernel level code may be PhD-educated computer scientists, but you're already going down the route of thinking commercially, even if only to fund your project. You have started doing this too early to make me think you would be happy doing comp sci for 7 years before getting a job. Now think carefully: who do you want to be, Linus Torvalds or Mark Shuttleworth? You probably aren't going to be Torvalds; one is enough. In physics, the glorious days of Feynman and Dirac and Schroedinger, when it was all exciting and new, gave way to anonymous large teams. The same is happening to IT. But the industry has room for plenty of Shuttleworths, and that role gives you far more opportunity to do the things you want.

Your teachers almost certainly don't know nearly enough to be able to advise you. Ask around. But one thing to remember is this: even nowadays, a degree from a reputable university is necessary to open the door at any reputable company. The days when you could go straight from school to a computer company are gone because in those days there were no relevant degree courses (I know, I was there.) But I have never regretted NOT going straight to ICL but going to Cambridge instead.

Re:Focus on the A levels

[H3XX3H]

Thanks. :D I was thinking of doing Computer Science at the University of York if I got accepted, wanted to do Computer Science for as long as I can remember, my sister went there and so I've seen much of the course material and I love it (except the Maths modules, anyway). My passion isn't in commercial ventures at all, that's just the only way I can fund the server, since donations alone don't cover it. Thanks for the advice, anyways!

There, fixed that for you:

[MancunianMaskMan]

but this OS is still a newborn.

.. but this new OS is a stillborn

couldn't resist

0% Sugar Content

[oztiks]

Chrome Zero, your first sugar free OS.

Re:0% Sugar Content

[Air-conditioned cowh]

Chrome Zero, your first sugar free OS.

Good grief! I hope not :-O

please don't

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm very disappointed with myself. I've just eaten shit to prove myself that I don't like it.
For those of you that have the curiosity to try, please don't. ChromeOS is like the goatse of operating systems. What the hell are they thinking. I generally don't dislike Google as a company, but I guess they will have a lot of enemies treating Linux like this.
I'm not bashing Hexxeh for what he did. He just did a public service. I guess my rage against myself wold be greater if I had to compile ChromeOS just to try it. I will probability slit my wrists after.

The aqueduct?

[jonaskoelker]

Well okay, but aside from free voicemail and call forwarding, a free tiling map engine with some of the best map data there is, and the best web search engine, what has Google ever done for us?

The aqueduct?

Re:The aqueduct?

[sourcerror]

And it works like morse code: short, short, short, long, long, long, short, short, short

Re:The aqueduct?

[GameboyRMH]

Shouldn't that be:

short, short, short
short, short, short, short
short, short
long

?

Insightful

[jonaskoelker]

Insightful

Chromium OS Zero screenshots & .vmdk Download

[donadony]

There are screenshots of chromium OS zero and .vmdk image to download in this link : http://www.unixmen.com/news-today/728-download-chromium-os-vmdk-virtual-machine-image