

Richard Stallman Says You Should Worry About Chrome OS - dkd903
http://digitizor.com/2010/12/14/should-people-be-worried-about-chrome-os-yes-says-richard-stallmann/

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johngalt
It's plain as day that people don't want to maintain their own computing
environment. Do you think average Joe wants to worry about antivirus
definitions? Patches? Drivers? Backups? Let alone building their own
servers/services that handle their data.

Chrome OS may fail, but the principle of computing as a managed service will
happen regardless of any objections. The only questions are what form it will
take, and how soon it will arrive.

Here are my predictions: 1\. Widespread adoption of a system very similar to
ChromeOS 2\. Huge vulnerability/breach of said system 3\. Legislative
overreaction creates laws intended to protect consumers, but unintentionally
shuts the door on any smaller fish looking to get into the Cloud OS pond.

~~~
gcb
if that means i can't customize it. than you are wrong.

for a sneaky peak into the future, just see how many people root their android
phones just so they can have the damn status bar black!

and the main reason i resist going back to windows or mac, is the loss of
control i will have over my mouse buttons. i like to move windows click
anywhere with some modifier key pressed and my buttons [xmod]mapped "1 9 2 4 5
6 7 1 3" very much, thank you.

~~~
dualboot
I have to imagine that it's less than 10% of Android owners that root their
phones.

Certainly there is power in niche markets in this modern world where the
barriers for distribution have been mostly obliterated by the internet..

That wonderful reality also blurs the importance of the majority though.

Most people just want things to work without having to deal with it.

~~~
gcb
for most phones, root is as simple as copying something to the SD card, and
booting with some buttons pressed.

pretty 'cheap' in effort to have a [insert slang kids uses these days] skin.

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JunkDNA
I profoundly disagree with many of Stallman's opinions. However I have
tremendous respect for his timing and ability to capitalize on the buzz
surrounding something new, and use it as an opportunity to re-state his
position.

~~~
gcb
that's his job. it's not like he have to stop coding to write those. so i
think it's very easy for him to be always on top of things

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trotsky
I think he makes a good point about cloud stored data, but failing to
acknowledge having a developer mode baked in to the OS and a trusted boot
process that doesn't prevent modification was a real mistake. Google obviously
went to great pains to buck the polar trends in OS security = either being in
denial about the current security landscape, or removing all user control
entirely for business purposes in the name of security.

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wccrawford
FSF founder claims that something that doesn't abide by FSF rules isn't good?
No way!

Not that he doesn't have a point here, but I think people already realize that
data in the cloud isn't fully secure. People are (individually!) choosing to
trade security for convenience.

But then again, given how many personal computers end up in botnets, maybe
it's actually -more- secure in Google's hands than their own.

~~~
mahmud
_But then again, given how many personal computers end up in botnets, maybe
it's actually -more- secure in Google's hands than their own._

Fallacy.

The vulnerable, zombie boxes are in the hands of Microsoft. Users have been
helpless in securing their own machines under MS' suzerainty, just as they
would be under Google's.

The day you give users real control, whether they can handle it or not, is the
day you will come to a full agreement with RMS.

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marssaxman
I won't use Chrome OS. Why should I let some unaccountable megacorporation own
my data? The Google we know today is benign, but corporations change, and can
be forced to change. Trusting Google with my data today would mean trusting
all of the possible future Googles with my data, too, and that's not a bet I'm
willing to take.

~~~
vetinari
You know, that you can use Chrome OS with your own webapps, not just with
Google's, right?

It is just most people not only do not consider to be running their own
appservers worth the trouble, but (if this thing catches up), they won't
consider maintaining desktop/laptop computers, as we know them today, worth
the effort either.

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Adaptive
If your only tool is a Stallman, every problem looks like an OS.

That said, data in the cloud is absolutely less secure from fed perusal. Of
course, the lack of commonplace point to point encryption (see the Phil
Zimmerman witch hunt in the early 90s) was in many ways a more critical nail
in the messaging security coffin.

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cmoylan
The best case scenario for cloud computing would be some sort of device that
you could run on your home network that would provide services like email, web
hosting, and file sharing. It would have to be painless to setup. Maybe it
could backup heavily encrypted copies of your stuff onto off-site servers just
in case. You could VPN/SSH into your cloud wherever you had an internet
connection.

Unfortunately, I think such a device would STILL be too much work for the
average computer user when all it takes is a couple seconds to make a dropbox
account.

~~~
zackfern
Sounds a lot like me for a perfect use for a Mac Mini Server or Pogoplug.

~~~
cmoylan
I use a spare computer and a couple virtual machines. The only thing that
makes me nervous is the possibility of natural disaster or hardware failure.

The Pogoplug looks like it's geared towards file sharing, but it's very
promising.

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ax0n
He brings up some good points for those who agree with his stance. While they
sometimes have a bit of wisdom to impart, I have a tendency to not listen to
the jaded and disenfranchised old guard once they begin whining.

~~~
mahmud
It was only yesterday when the cloud kicked wikileaks out. Then 200 private
boxes sprung up, and came to its aid.

When people own their data, and their computing resources, they tend to do
whatever they want with it.

Could you imagine waking up one morning to find your computing privileges
revoked because you have an overdue parking ticket or some such?

~~~
brisance
Good points. Not to mention that a large, visible target like Google would
attract even more people with malicious intent since the payoffs would be much
higher.

And no, Google is not invulnerable, as evidenced by last year's intrusions
that originated from China.

