[fred]

After reading a slew of hilariously incorrect reviews about the Google Chromebook by Linux users I had to stop and ask. Are Linux users too set in their ways to even give Chromebook a chance?

 

[cloudyone]

Perhaps they are jealous that another OS other than a Linux one may prove to be a serious competitor to MS.

 

[lull]

I only know one Linux user personally. Now, I hate to judge all of them by him, but he is the most suborn person I know. He is my brother and he fights change tooth and nail. He also preaches Linux like it is a religion.

 

[6sigma]

At the risk of a gross generalization I'll offer this: Linux/Unix/Windows/OSX tend to serve people who know they must do a certain amount of administration/management on their computer before doing their actual work. ChromeOS as available on the Cr-48 (and I'm reasonably sure the new Chromebooks) gets rid of all that admin work and allows you to get to the real work. As a kid we owned a lawn mower that needed 45 minutes of TLC before it would start. Only then could the lawn get mowed. "Traditional" operating systems on personal systems seem similar to me now that I've worked with a Cr-48 for five or six months.

 

[pelloski]

I have never even given Linux as an OS a chance. It could be true what you say, that perhaps Linux guys foresee some sort of threat from Chrome.

 

[Pete]

Linux users definitely expect to be able to do more "under the hood." Way more so than the average Windows or OSX user who probably has no idea that there are more than one option for the browser. most probably couldn't locate the systems folders in which their apps store photos and music.

I've installed Ubuntu on a handfull of machines and, while I think it's super easy, it requires a little know-how and patience to get wireless working and the right drivers and packages installed to get everything working.

I see the chromebook as the ultimate portable, but not yet something I'd ditch a desktop machine for... If for no other reason than i want local storage and server capabilities for a printer etc. and so forth.

 

[Bonnie]

I only know one Linux user personally. Now, I hate to judge all of them by him, but he is the most suborn person I know. He is my brother and he fights change tooth and nail. He also preaches Linux like it is a religion.

The last line is so true in my experience. I have no real knowledge of operating systems, having mostly only known Windows. But I find it kind of endearing that Linux inspires so much passion.

 

[raminix]

As a Linux user myself (actually, a Linux admin), I know quite a few folks that are like that. The mere thought of change sends them into sweats. I'm an odd bird I suppose, because one of the things that I love doing is making disparate operating systems talk to each other. If you look in a toolbox, you don't find 15 flathead screwdrivers and nothing else - instead, there's an array of tools for different tasks. I view the different choices available for operating systems in the same way.

I signed up for the Cr-48 pilot in order to test our existing systems to see if a browser based solution might be a viable option. For the majority of our users, it's a resounding yes! Unfortunately for myself, many of the tools that I use on a daily basis just aren't a possibility on ChromeOS... yet. Technology moves fast, and as more products move from local executables to the SaaS model, more tools will become cloud based making a platform like ChromeOS a very attractive option.

I'm not giving up on the Chromebook yet. I just think that for what I need, it may be a generation or two too early for me to be able to kick my laptop to the curb.

 

[zora]

Nicely put

The last line is so true in my experience. I have no real knowledge of operating systems, having mostly only known Windows. But I find it kind of endearing that Linux inspires so much passion.

I have to say you and the poster right above me impressed me. I love the way you said it. I mean you could have said people who use Linux are nuts, and they kind of are (in a good way) but you said inspires passion! Wow, so true.

 

[Mcboor]

Haha, I'm a Linux user but I wouldn't consider myself diehard crazy about. I just like Linux because it's a) free and b) relatively easy to use (depending on the version).

Anyway, I haven't read any of those anti-Chromebook reviews, but I think it's to be expected that people are a bit resistant to change. Once it actually comes out and people can test it out for themselves, I'll bet they'll change their minds.

 

[Ben]

Although a chromebook forum is not a fair sampling area, when you add me to the list of linux users willing to try the chromebook it looks like most of us are not too afraid of change. No, I do not like this or that about chrome OS...for one I fear that they have found another way around the GNU GPL - Tivo made GPLv3 necessary and perhaps Chromebook will force version 4. This side of my fears show that I am the 'passionate' or 'religious' linux user - free and open source software is a principle, you don't see patents on math equations. Chromebooks do not violate that, but I _fear_ that the 'verified boot' will not stop you from putting your own software on (modifications to gpl from 2 to 3) but will rip it out as soon as you start the machine up (something I don't believe is stopped by the gpl). Even so, the concept attracts me. I had already made my linux install suprisingly similar to what the chromebook offers: every page comes up full screen, and I can't really save to my local hard drive. I will miss having programs and settings I put on -my- computer, but not anything as minor as the desktop background. I do engineer my computing experience, and chrome is the mass produced version of what I like. Safety - and services of all kinds - comes to those in numbers.

 

[tcsaba]

And what about ubuntu?

 

[mrmtampa]

Chrome OS is a Linux based OS!

 

[Mcboor]

I had already made my linux install suprisingly similar to what the chromebook offers: every page comes up full screen, and I can't really save to my local hard drive. I will miss having programs and settings I put on -my- computer, but not anything as minor as the desktop background. I do engineer my computing experience, and chrome is the mass produced version of what I like. Safety - and services of all kinds - comes to those in numbers.

Yeah, there are a couple of Linux versions that kind of do what the Chromebook is proposing to do. I'm using one right now, actually-- Jolicloud OS, which stores basically everything on the web and is built around cloud services/apps/etc.

ANYWAY, I was thinking more about this and actually I'd be more worried about Microsoft/Macbook users than Linux users. If you're using Linux then you're pretty used to trying new things anyway; but if you're a Windows/Mac OSX type person then aren't you a bit more set in your ways?

 

[vsteel4]

I've been an Arch linux user for several years. I'm excited for Chromebooks. I'll continue to use Linux on my desktop, but the combination of portability and usability that Chromebooks offer can't be beat.