He talked a lot about how he uses the Chromebox, but not really at all about WHY he uses one which for me is the interesting part.
Like, why? Really? Couldn't you just use Ubuntu, Mint, Elementary, Windows, macOS or {another_os_name}? If you're running Crostini why not use the damn OS you actually want to use? I just don't get it, really. But to each their own. Also, to be fair Chrome os very simple and snappy on better machines, probably very safe too, however a privacy nightmare.
I did use various Linux distros from the mid 1990s until switching to chromeOS, but I got exasperated with maintenance. Device driver support was suboptimal and system updates would often break something and throw me into the console, forcing me to waste days troubleshooting and fixing whatever broke and restore X.
I had enough with Linux maintenance, realized I was living in Chrome anyway, didn't mind Google, and decided to give chromeOS a try. Seven years and four chromeOS devices later, I never had a single system update issue, and maintenance simply disappeared.
Along with Linux I also used Windows and MacOS, but liked Linux much more.
I’d usually say drivers, since Google guarantees that Chrome OS runs right on hardware they certify, but this is a desktop. Linux runs fine on desktops, it’s laptops where it has trouble.
In the intro he says he switched to chromeOS in 2015. This whole article is "look! Operating System!" Except for once it's not some arch variant or plan9.
I always wonder why there is still such a distinction between „security“ and „privacy“ threats.
Of course i data loss, extortion / ransom etc… still i feel it‘s playing into the hands of the big guys to keep believing it would be two separated topics. In the real world of today, it is not really.
So saying it is „…safe (too), however a privacy nightmare“ just doesn‘t sit right with me. Especially when talking about google.
Your experience of 90s Linux is antiquated. If you find a pc that supports it (plenty of them), I promise Ubuntu isn’t the maintenance hole you dealt with long ago.
Strange use case, they mostly run web apps yet also need Crustini. Probably could have saved money and avoided being one bit flip away from Google perma-ban.
Still they seem really deep in ChromeOS world so to each their own.
Like, why? Really? Couldn't you just use Ubuntu, Mint, Elementary, Windows, macOS or {another_os_name}? If you're running Crostini why not use the damn OS you actually want to use? I just don't get it, really. But to each their own. Also, to be fair Chrome os very simple and snappy on better machines, probably very safe too, however a privacy nightmare.