Get 100$ credit for your own Linux and gaming server: www.linode.com/linuxexperiment

@mrsharps

Жыл бұрын

You were once sponsored by only office and shared what an OO server is. I’d love to see a video on how to set one up and how you use it. Uh, on Linode of course.

@Logan5Greye

Жыл бұрын

Can you do an episode on French? Wolfgang did an episode in English and Russian. Just sayin

@tonguelover6666

Жыл бұрын

Stop promoting linode... 🙃 There are already bounce of people doing that and they're quite silly to be honest

@HintzeDarrin

Жыл бұрын

How do you download games like Minecraft and The Sims it says I have to turn on

@iustinheisu4483

Жыл бұрын

From my personal experience with my huge collection of cheap old laptops, chrome os flex (although far from perfect) is the only viable alternative to windows. Every time I tried ubuntu or lubuntu, it was a pain and a waste of time, and sooner or later I had to give up on that, for some reason or another. In general, and strangely enough, windows 8.1 is the best os of all, in my opinion. Yeah, I'm a strange guy.

Btw, for the install proesss, you should've clicked on "Looking to install on a personal device? Start here", since the info is only required for businesses.

@lawrencespicher1769

5 ай бұрын

Ikr

How TF does Google take Linux and make it not compatible with Linux? If this is not a crime, I don't know what it is.

@AlaskaHandyman1973

Жыл бұрын

The security model used requires Linux to run in a Virtual Machine, this requires the CPU to support virtualization technology (AMD-V or Intel VT) and having that virtualization technology enabled in the BIOS. It is completely possible to change the Linux container to whatever flavor of Linux you would like to use.

@crazypersonalph

Жыл бұрын

@@AlaskaHandyman1973 He is talking about ChromeOS itself, it is based on Gentoo, and it can't run Linux apps properly natively

@MyReviews_karkan

Жыл бұрын

@@crazypersonalph Yup. It's Gentoo, but can't run anything from Gentoo itself. This makes my head hurt.

@inderix

Жыл бұрын

@@MyReviews_karkan You can barely call it Gentoo because ChromeOS is extremely disfigured and modified for what it does, a lot of stuff is also removed from the base system, so it's literally only the essentials for running it's OS components, and a few tools for developers.

@erichgeiger970

Жыл бұрын

They didn't. They bought Cloudready Neverware.

is bizarre the lack of attention to properly support web apps, when everything is a web app

@tboatrig

Жыл бұрын

Those window vs browser settings are the settings saved in his Google profile. Those settings can be changed for any webapp with that behavior. Just go to the hamburger menu in the browser/app go to create shortcut and toggle the box.

@MatheusFerreira-mu6lu

Жыл бұрын

​@@tboatrig True, i own a ChromeOS device and everything works fine to me.

@tboatrig

Жыл бұрын

@@MatheusFerreira-mu6lu I have an older Elitebook running Flex. Been rock solid going on six months now.

Totally agree with title. My daughter uses a chrome book at school. I installed Chrome Flex on an old laptop to give her a familiar environment to do her school work. 1) Getting the ISO was indeed terrible, I use Firefox so I was forced to install Chrome just to get the OS. 2) Installing was terrible too; no partition options, no app options, no progress bar, nada 3) Getting into the OS was fine, but the school account my daughter uses is protected, so half the default apps she can't access without a way to uninstall them. So basically she can only use Chrome ... but she could have done that on every OS. 4) I get this OS is not Android based, so no Android app support, I knew that before I installed, but that leaves a very marginal set of apps. Why would you want to limit yourself this way. 5) All other things you said in the video :)

@Deezter16

Жыл бұрын

I gave her ZorinOS instead and she loves it :)

@_framedlife

Жыл бұрын

Wetting up with a school account, that's to be expected.

@kreuner11

Жыл бұрын

Hm, I know that brunch (another ChromeOS install thing) gave you Android support

@bakodoesyt

Жыл бұрын

@@Deezter16 Sweet! I use Pop!_OS and gardua qtile! I tried zorinOS and it was... odd. I get the appeal is for windows users but I've been using linux for about 3 months now, so I really dont understand the appeal.

@Deezter16

Жыл бұрын

@@bakodoesyt I myself use KDE Nobara, a Fedora fork. I do appreciate the Windows way of doing thing (therefor KDE), but for the little one it still needs to be more simplified, so Zorin for me is the next best thing. Tried POP, but I really dislike Gnome I'm afraid

basically, it's linux for people afraid of linux

@AaronTechnic

Жыл бұрын

And that is called Linux Mint

@tantonodavid3443

Жыл бұрын

@@AaronTechnic nah, even steamos is much more popular nowadays thanks to Steam Deck

@tboatrig

Жыл бұрын

Yes. And for the people who need to give those people machines.

@tireseas

Жыл бұрын

@@tboatrig Bingo. Nailed it right on the head. It's for those of us that need to support users who'd very much prefer their computer be an appliance to check their email and do some light browsing but don't want to or can't buy new hardware at the moment.

@error9900

Жыл бұрын

or people who don't want to spend a lot of time on sys admin tasks.

When I heard about the limits of Flex I knew what this was for: taking a laptop destined for the recycle bin and turning it into a Chome Browser machine for a parent/other family member. This is assuming that they absolutely don’t need to use any other apps, which is true for a lot of people, especially say retired people who just want to access web mail and Facebook. You obviously could install a Linux distro, but I trust ChomeOS a lot better to update silently in the background and not break. edit: there also another thing about the Linux desktop that is a real problem: lack of hardware video decode in the web browser. I’m guessing this isn’t an issue in Flex as Google controls everything including the drivers. I might install on an old laptop and find out.

@MaryamMaqdisi

Жыл бұрын

That’s fair but I’d rather put Mint, it’s not controlled by Google, it had a solid reputation and it won’t be killed off overnight, I don’t think we can really trust Google to keep this alive and well

@adwaitagnome

Жыл бұрын

even in that situation, something like openSUSE MicroOS (w/GNOME) would be much better. It's far easier and more intuitive to use, has much better out of the box application support, way better hardware support and it's transactional updates are automatic, seamless, and basically never breaks anything just like ChromeOS Flex.

@steve43ful

Жыл бұрын

@@MaryamMaqdisi I don’t trust that a parent wouldn’t somehow shutdown or lose power during a Mint update and brick the whole install. Then there’s the lack of hardware video acceleration on Linux web browsers which I’m guessing (by am unsure) is enabled in ChromeOS due to it being Google’s closed system, meaning you parent isn’t going to nuke the battery by watching KZread videos all day. Admittedly you would have to check in on the status of the Flex project occasionally to make sure it’s not getting killed off, but I trust that’s something I would hear about well before having to move to something new.

@steve43ful

Жыл бұрын

@@adwaitagnome those updates sound good, but my parent wouldn’t need to use apps and the user interface is good enough just to run Chrome. I trust I would hear about Flex getting canned well before it’s eol so that’s not really a huge issue. Also last time I checked getting hardware video acceleration working in a web browser on Linux is a nightmare that breaks frequently.

@mc10guru

Жыл бұрын

Thanks, my thoughts exactly (as well as my 87 YO mother). She mostly just wants to watch cute videos and keep in contact with her family. Chrome OS fits that bill well. db

I use it for my parents, my mother has a Chromebook, my father has a slow old PC with Chrome OS flex. My parents only need - know the browser, anything else is a nuisance to them. The way Chrome OS is a self-managed operating system, with automatic updates that applied instantly after rebooting or shutting down, is great. In the past, I was using Linux Mint with disabled updates, is not ideal. No Linux distro has "set it and forget it" mentality, everyone is like "the power to do stuff and owning your PC", but with great power comes great responsibility! :) And nobody has time for that :).

@mikusion

Жыл бұрын

true, if someone just need to be online, for whatever reason, shopping/news/yt, this is zero maintenance option, no viruses, no crappy updates... at least so far. Then why not?

@samir2107

Жыл бұрын

@@mikusion I'm thinking to install it. In a nutshell, i just want something which is simple, fast and can work and update and do all his stuff bla bla bla in the background without any intervention from my side, Y or N ?

@mikusion

Жыл бұрын

@@samir2107 if typing pass everytime you start it isn't a problem, then answer is Y. Old wyse 5070 runs fast, zero noise, full hd@144Hz.

@webreachers1653

Жыл бұрын

@@mikusion linux mint has automatic updates. And it's quite stable. So just enable it and forgot it for 5 years

@matthewjones9638

Жыл бұрын

This exactly brother 🤙

I agree with you 90 per cent. There is only one application where Chrome OS beats Linux application - the visually impaired. I have commented before, there is a significant clientele who are visually impaired and only a large funded company like Apple, Google and Microsoft can give us the accessibility options we need to have a good experience with home computers. I would love to give up these three for a Linux distribution that had 90 per cent of the ease of use , but so far there is nothing available in the Linux community.

"Mom, can I have Linux?" "No, we have Linux at home." Linux at home:

@Trashinated

Жыл бұрын

Um, actually, Linux is free so you can use it at home. 🤓

@KiamKweli

Жыл бұрын

Exactly, this is the Linux that only a mother who works for Google would love.

@p15209

9 ай бұрын

@@Trashinated Most parents, especially indians, are terrified of it, because of the terminal, that apparently children use to hack. Indian parents want to control their child, and restrict their freedom and ability as much as possible, but linux allows more freedom.

@the_mariocrafter

3 ай бұрын

@@KiamKweliyep

I've been using Linux as my primary OS for several years. After a lot of distro-hopping I've landed on Debian and Fedora, both with Xfce; and the "family" computer has Ubuntu Mate (at least until I get up the energy to convert it back to Mint). However, a few months ago on a whim I installed Chrome OS Flex on a Thinkpad T420s to see what it was like. I'm not an enthusiastic supporter for it, but my experience was better than expected and much better than your video would suggest. I've used that laptop almost every evening while relaxing--checking news, email, and some social media, but mostly playing simple card and puzzle games. Perhaps the novelty will wear off, but more likely Google will eventually stop supporting my old hardware, just as it does with Chromebooks. Now I'm a 75 year old grandpa and my evening computing needs are modest, but my experience with Chrome OS Flex is that it is at least better than Windows 10 and is easy to use and update.

@tboatrig

Жыл бұрын

Nice! Thanks for sharing.

I am actually a rare person who uses ChromeOS Flex by choice on a device (lenovo x260, could run anything) and actively enjoys it having come from 5 odd years of using Linux on the desktop, I would describe myself as a ChromeOS power user. I wish to address a few concerns from my perspective: 1) Web apps not opening as their own window. This is a weird apples and oranges thing that Google keep flip flopping on with some strange defaults. KZread for example opens as a window and your GWorkspace productivity apps run in a browser I assume because people like tabs, esp on a small screen like most Chromebooks. When installing PWAs from the web they actually default to opening in their own window, what I did is remove all the shortcuts and install as a PWA again (you can also go menu -> more tools -> create shortcut -> tick open as window -> create for the same effect) which is what you would be doing on said linux desktop - chrome is exactly the same. 2) The Gray Bar Thing I think again this is personal preference, I like it because it shows me really quickly whether I am in the exact spot to resize windows. I do agree however that working on all non present windows could be a distraction. I think this is mostly a screensize thing, really handy on a laptop, less handy on a big high res monitor, never bothered me but valid criticism. 3) Android App Support I'm trying to not sound like a fanboy here, using android apps on a Chromebook is a way to get the sales in rather than anything you would really want to use. The only android app I am interested in is the new Lumafusion android app for video editing and then my sister uses Roblox, the problem is android apps aren't really designed for big screens with mouse input making them a weird experience (leading to people like Microsoft blocking Office Mobile and requiring the use of the PWA). There is very few things you can't do in a PWA these days. 4) User Accounts Again, its a weird different paradigm thing. Lets say you have a school/work and home google account, what you will do is add them as separate user profiles instead of using inside chrome profiles. What you then do is click on quick settings, your profile picture and then you can log in with both accounts, switching using CTRL + ALT + or the quick settings, and then right click on the top bar to move applications between user sessions. Depending on your workspace admins setup, it can be a PITA if they require your work account to be logged in as the first user (as in you have to log into work first, and then go via quick settings log into personal), it can also appear like a massive faff before you adjust (I know, computers should adjust for people not vice versa) *however* it makes sense when you consider the integration of Google Drive etc into the operating system and its file manager etc, also means you can have different apps and layouts for different OSes, my home taskbar has Discord, YT Music, KZread while my College one has Classroom, SIMS etc. 5) Getting the ISO Indeed, can be a PITA. The best way to do it on linux is the chromiumdash.appspot.com website, navigate to serving builds, click ChromeOS and then ChromeOS Flex download latest stable and dd the bin, otherwise you must use a Windows/Mac/ChromeOS device with the ChromeOS Recovery Utility, typical trying to make things simpler and failing, also the installer is a very unhelpful thing (no partition management, I assume simple as possible for target market). I really agree with the criticism here for flex. I assume its a ramification from the fact the .bin file includes things like the bootloader and firmware for a real Chromebook, if it is corrupted .bin file or flash then your Chromebook can get a little fucked, their tool runs all the verification checks - otherwise you go on chromiumdash.appsport.com. 7) Linux performance penalty There is supposedly a flag that supposedly works every so often allowing GPU acceleration, but as it is a flag it breaks often especially on unsupported devices. Other than that it is a LXC, it's not emulating hardware and therefore should have native performance with added security, your local system is *always* ready and working and then you have LXCs you can break and destroy (and with a flag have multiple). 6) Who is it targeted at? Companies/institutions who have deployed Chrome OS and have old laptops they want to manage via Google Admin Console, they pay the subs for management. So many companies now use 100% cloud services (PowerBI, M365 etc) because they are cheap, ChromeOS kills it on the management overhead and security so new purchases are often now Chrome OS. This is obviously more prevalent in the education sector where Chrome OS has been killing it on deployments for ages, I know at college we have a trolly of Chrome OS Flex devices that were purchased as exam laptops. Because of how Google Admin Console manages chromebooks, deployments of Android Apps aren't really a big thing at the moment because it's quite under developed, and there is little need for them in these sectors. I would love to see them allow for LXC images to be deployed (esp how they are fleshing out the container ecosystem with Steam) for things like CompSci classes or old random tools (albeit these often can run in the cloud on a central server these days). I'm going to kill any support I had for my comment now with this one line and I wish you to bare in mind I am incredibly capable of managing linux systems and ran Linux for 5 years before my move to flex: Linux updates (both system and packages) can often have errors. And so do windows ones. I have **never** had a breaking ChromeOS update, and to be honest nobody I have set up a real Chromebook or Flexbook have even really noticed updates occuring due to the A/B partitioning structure and downloads happening in the background. If an update errors, it often means the user just ignores it and then their device gets stuck on some old insecure version. That ChromeOS update also ensures all the software on the device (Chrome) is up to date, and then Google Play manages android app updates in a better way than I have seen Gnome Apps and Appstream manage applications on Linux (partially due to distro updates often being somewhat dubious and therefore packages becoming outdated in repos, Snaps and Flatpaks prevent this somewhat). It's a really good choice for someone who needs a computer for general computing tasks and isn't really bothered in the maintenance or upkeep of their machine, I mean it's quite powerful with the LXC which I use for my CS Coursework so not necessarily basic tasks but more so just people who don't care what their computer runs provided it turns on and they can do their office work.

@LeeRaymondCM

Жыл бұрын

Totally with you! I have Linux workstation at work. Having the need to always sudo apt update / upgrade every time you log in is a pain. Comment about Windowed/Tabbed page. This is a setting that's been there forever: in Chrome for Windows, Chromebook itself and Chrome for other OSes. It maybe true that the default has changed but I've been so familiar with it that it's just muscle memory to change it to what I want. Absence of Android App: it's a pity but I understand why. ChromeOS Flex is an evolution of Neverware Cloudready which was created for schools and enterprises. Most of these shops focus on productivity apps. I wish one day when there's enough home users ask for it, Google may add it. Linux support: not sure how many Linux apps are needed for an average home user (outside of what's there in ChromeOS Flex by itself)...but for me, I have installed LibreOffice, GIMP and RAW Therapy. All work perfectly fine and have similar experiences to running on a native Linux workstation. Didn't know how it becomes a BAD OS?

@odie5268

Жыл бұрын

Agree. I've been using Linux since the mid 90s, started on slackware and FreeBSD (ok that's not linux, whatever). I'd say I'm an expert, I've used just about every major/minor distro at some point. Since I have full partition backups on my LG Gram 17 (dual boot win 11 + Fedora) I said WTF and installed Chrome OS Flex on it just to see if I could live with it. I have a high spec gaming desktop and a MBP16 I use strictly for work so It's kind of the seldom used personal device, figured why not. I've had it on there for a few weeks now and I actually like it. I've used Chromebooks before as a lightweight burner to travel with so it I was used to it but I mean it's simple to use I couldn't imagine anyone having trouble figuring out how to set up different profiles or just use it generally. Pretty clean and problem free experience especially if you're just using chrome 99% of the time (lets be real most people do). The linux dev env seems fine, I haven't done anything advanced with it like try to use docker and vscode for linux yet. The only that I've found that is a pain so far is using discord in Chrome seems to have a memory leak (I can see the memory usage on the discord sandbox tab continually climb until it eventually does an "Aw! Snap". If I refresh it now and then it's fine. I installed the Linux discord app but I haven't had a chance to test it yet. I'll do it during my weekly discord chat this coming up week to see how that works out. Oh, and the other issue is that there's no Linux driver for the goodix fingerprint reader in the 2019 Gram, but that was an issue in Fedora as well so can't fault them there. Goodix never supplied a driver for it. I can definitely see where this would have its place. Millions of people with older parents that would continually ask for help with something gone wrong on their PC should be crying tears of joy. :) EDIT: I had a chance to try the linux app for discord. Worked flawlessly. Used a little more CPU resources than the browser tab, but I was able to voice chat with my group for a couple hours with zero issues. Chome tab would have crashed at least 2-3 times in that span.

@amogoose2971

Жыл бұрын

@@LeeRaymondCM you dont need to sudo apt update everytime you do something, in fact i had no problems updating late

@daniishere1009

9 ай бұрын

**ran Linux for 5 years before my move to flex:** Dude, you are still running Linux since Chrome OS Flex is one of the Linux distribution.

@louisallaway-hb2ho

9 ай бұрын

​@@daniishere1009 What are you next going to correct me and say what I am calling Linux is actually GNU/Linux… Don’t be pedantic, you knew what I meant. ChromeOS is very different to what people would describe a ‘Linux Distro’,, same as why you would not call Android a Linux distro.

I put this on an old laptop for my mum when her Chromebook went EOL. Just so she wouldn't get lost in something else. Basically the only use case that I can come up with.

@teklife

Жыл бұрын

because realistically, ur mom probably only ever uses, or needs to use, a browser, probably for facebook or maybe pinterest

@tboatrig

Жыл бұрын

This and for Chromebooks past their end of life. To squeeze a few more years out of them.

@KiamKweli

Жыл бұрын

That's exactly who this is for. You're a good son.

@amogoose2971

Жыл бұрын

and that use case can be replicated on linux too

@Somanybot

Жыл бұрын

​@@amogoose2971no because they will get lost from a different desktop

Sheets, Docs, etc.: Create a shortcut for each app to make it a PWA. Have them open as windows, not as tabs. You should, then, be able to make individual documents open as separate (doc, sheet, etc.) windows instead of a tab going forward by selecting the option in search bar, once opened in a tab.

Waydroid does have the Google Play Store - if you use a GAPPS image. But yeah, getting it working isn't super straight forward. It needs special kernel modules and tweaked boot options, and I didn't really have a great time trying to get ARM applications to work, even with libhoudini installed.

@TheLinuxEXP

Жыл бұрын

It doesn’t need much to be a one click integration!

@circuit10

Жыл бұрын

@@TheLinuxEXP Maybe it's because of legal/licensing issues?

@wsippel

Жыл бұрын

​@@TheLinuxEXP Yeah, but there's a real chicken and egg problem. Hardly anybody uses it because it won't work on most distro kernels to begin with, so it gets very little exposure which limits development resources (only a single active dev and basically no funding), but until it gets more buzz, I don't see distros enabling binder and PSI by default just for Waydroid.

@genericgamer1319

Жыл бұрын

@@wsippel it should just work on modern kernels 5.18 & up have the modules scenery so does the linux-zen kernel also there is redroid a docker image that runs more apps it seems & has newer versions of android don´t know if it comes with libhoudini though

@tboatrig

Жыл бұрын

Can Waydroid work as a linux install on Chrome OS Flex?

I don't normally post comments on videos, mostly because I tend to keep my thoughts and to myself, but I figured I'd jump in and provide my opinion as well. Now, while everyone is entitled to their own opinions about what constitutes a good operating system and what doesn't; and yours is absolutely, 100% valid. Everyone also has the opportunity to disagree with them. That being said, you do make quite a few valid points. For example, the whole drive/sheets app issue. While these two web apps *should* have been set correctly upon install, and targeted to open in a new window. It appears that they were not. Therefore ruining the experience for an average user. This is easily rectified by removing said app, and "re-isntalling" it via the "install app" icon in the right of the title bar (for apps that present themselves as such), and ensuring that "Open in new window" is checked when "installing". (I put installing in quotes, as Chrome OS (Flex) really doesn't "install" applications per-se. It really just creates a "shortcut" to open the web app in its own window, or tab. The target audience, in my opinion, is more likely to be aimed at those that want a simple computing experience for browsing the web. This could mean that it's meant for younger kids, or elderly who don't really know how to use Windows/Linux/Mac. Basic use cases could include checking Facebook/Twitter/other social networks, watching KZread videos, banking, etc. These users don't want to have to go / can't go the hassle of setting up a linux distro, installing updates (either via CLI or Software Center), installing their preferred browser (either via GUI install or CLI). And if the hardware is too old to run the most current version of Mac OS or isn't able to run the latest version of Windows 10/11, then they are putting themselves at a security risk by leaving those old versions installed. Granted Chrome OS Flex is not the end-all-be-all operating system, nor is it the best. But is it a BAD operating system? I don't think it is.

@AndrewShaffer91

Жыл бұрын

Well put! I agree with the issues shown in the video, but there are definitely points where ChromeOS has a use - and by extension, so does ChromeOS Flex. I've never run into the issue shown with Drive/etc sharing a window like this, so it surprised me - but your explanation clarifies exactly what was going on and makes sense since I've used ChromeOS on occasion. I've deployed Flex (its predecessor Cloudready, actually, that became Flex) on a number of older laptops and desktops for family or friends of family that needed a basic, inexpensive computer for their day to day needs, but couldn't upgrade to Windows 10/etc. ChromeOS is incredibly basic by OS standards, it's true - but the number of support calls I've gotten from family/friends that didn't need more than it offers has gone from weekly to maybe quarterly (and for some of them, I've not heard any issues at all in over a year). Yes, it's basic. But that's why it was perfect; it updates itself in the background, has a familiar-enough UI that's easy to learn for basic tasks, and it's snappy because it doesn't have anything else in the background going on. I believe Flex is also targeted at schools that now deploy Chromebooks to their students, and want to re-use their old fleets of unsupported Windows laptops. Instead of throwing all that hardware away, they can at most slap an SSD in to replace a mechanical drive, put Flex on, and manage them centrally alongside the rest of their fleet. That definitely has a value. It's not the OS for any purpose or person - but for someone with a minimal desktop computing need at home, with minimal upkeep, it's a great tool. I personally have a Chromebook I keep around and use because it's lightweight, fast, and convenient to use when just looking up something quickly or watching a quick video. It's fast - boots in seconds, shuts down in seconds. My Linux laptop is my go-to for real work, at desk or on the road, but it tends to live in my desk or bag and I use it for more intense/longer activities or multitasking.

Most things you described are definitely weird and not optimal, but it also doesn't feel like totally unusable disaster. The *only* major downside I can see is lack of Android app support. NOTE: I'm not Chrome OS user.

@carlobi

Жыл бұрын

I was thinking the same thing. His issues actually makes him look like an as seen on tv actor.

15:30 Not sure if this can be disclosed, but w/e, Amazon uses mostly ChromeOS for customer service. So it does work for some companies

The gray bars on touch screens are actually quite nice when using the thing on touch screens. They visualise the area that you need to click/tab when moving. I think that's quite nice, Windows does that too on touch screens, and I think other Linux desktops should do that, too.

I work in EDU IT. Chromebooks are incredibly popular in K-8 educational environments and Cloudready and now ChromeOS Flex provide a way for cash-strapped (all) public schools to stretch value from aging PC hardware while also keeping it familiar for users. The killer feature is that it lets you integrate non-chromebook hardware into the Google Admin management environment. It's not designed for linux users or windows users. Chromebooks are designed for people who don't even know what that means. Regarding the UI issues, I have 2500 students under the age of 14 who somehow all pick it up. In the interest familiarity with what my users have I've been running ChromeOS installed on a Dell Windows laptop as my primary desktop at work for years now and it's perfectly servicable. Occasionaly I need to access AD or some other windows app and I just RDP into the server using an app installed in the built-in linux VM. It works great. I've run GIMP through that as well. It's a solid product for Chromebook managed environments and is often a free throw-in when you purchase your organization's licensing.

@tboatrig

Жыл бұрын

Awesome. Also makes it easier for admins at businesses to wipe and donate old hardware to schools for this purpose.

I am surprised that the lack of apps is considered that important, specially Android ones. I cannot imagine what Android apps I would want to use on a laptop. Regarding desktop apps, at least in my company, I think that project managers, sales, finance, supply chain, logistics, executives, or even systems engineers all mostly use web apps.

@tboatrig

Жыл бұрын

I suppose android support on flex would make more sense if they were only supporting laptops with touch screens.

@lucassantossj

Жыл бұрын

I'm using it on a tablet PC and it's the best experience yet as when keyboard is connected it uses the traditional desktop layout, but when using as tablet it works like my phone, including gestures.

I tried ChromiumOS a long time ago, and later played around with CloudReady. It was at the time the lightest OS and could even make old single core Athlon 64 computers feel usable. While it is limited and I don't like the user experience compared to Mint and the Cinnamon DE, it is also a fact that popular distros and desktop environments are quite resource intensive. I see it as a niche OS for a very specific purpose, like repurposing an old PC for basic web browsing and document editing. while still running an up to date and secure OS rather than something like Windows 7.

@justsomeguy5103

Жыл бұрын

Modern Linux with XFCE runs perfectly fine on my old netbook. The issue is that modern web pages are way too heavy for the old Intel Atom chip, no matter how light the system is.

@friedrichhayek4862

11 ай бұрын

How deamend a chrome instance can be less resource intensive that a lightweight linux instance.

I love your videos nick! Its been so nice seeing the trajectory of your channel since the last 3 years! Your minimalism video was so relatable that I still remember it!

6:17 I'm going to have to disagree, Nick. If you're getting a ChromeOS device to run Android apps, you might as well just get an Android device.

@TheLinuxEXP

Жыл бұрын

True!

@imSterling

Жыл бұрын

@@TheLinuxEXP You were spot on with regards to how chromeOS's resolution though! I wish that it would use the screen's native resolution, or handle it like how Windows does it.

The install process when I tried a few months ago works only with chrome. using edge and brave to create the bootable usb was stuck indefinitely at zero. Has that changed now?

How similar or different are these findings from chrome os running on an official chrome book device? Curious if the os has these same issues there.

I like the OS. I needed it for my daughters school work. The downside is limited functionality (no android or apps) on non supported (generic) laptops.

@ngaran2108

Жыл бұрын

the downside (limited functionality) it is actually thing that made this OS perfect for pc I setup in a public shop meant to be just a browsing the net PC...now I don't worry users missing up the system installing weird stuff...

As someone working IT for a school, Chrome OS Flex makes sense in Education. Some people cannot afford a new Chromebook, but can source an old laptop. Schools already limit the operating system and features using group policies anyway. It also makes sense for admin purposes in industries (e.g. hospitality) or companies that have been victim to serious ransomware attacks, and remain high risk. Hospitality and Leisure companies in Scandinavian countries are rumoured to have transitioned their hardware over to Chrome OS, with assistance from Google, after the nasty ransomware attacks earlier this year. The locked down and limited nature of the operating system makes sense for this. For just about anybody else, you are better off with Linux, Windows or macOS.

What I've liked about ChromeOS is the left/right three-finger swipe to switch tabs in Chrome. I wish we had something like that on Linux. Other than that, it's literally a maximized Chrome window with no actual apps. It can technically use Android apps, but a lot of them don't integrate well into ChromeOS.

You don’t need to give google the information. There’s a link above where you can skip the sign up page 😊

I ran Chrome OS Flex as an experiment to "learn" it and stopped after a few days because there isn't much to learn, but I consider that a positive. It just works and its user experience has none of the weird quirks we all put up with daily in Linux (none of the "nightmare" issues mentioned in the vid compare). Viewers of this channel probably won't run it, but it's the perfect OS for my neighbours who simply surf the web.

It is a good option in an applicable setting. A free enterprise MDM manageable device in a business setting that can act as a kiosk. Certain situations it works. Less can be more.

5:36 You can enable the Linux development environment IF your CPU supports virtualization. I've tried installing Flex on my Lenovo G50-30 running a Celeron N2820 and the Linux Dev-Env is unavailable for me. So on that processor, you're stuck with only Chrome Web Apps, which makes this OS even less useful.

I installed Chrome OS Flex on an old PC in our laboratory for the sake of web-browsing and using Google services. Why not linux? Well, Chrome's hardware acceleration on linux requires either workarounds or just plain broken. P.S. Also, I bet there will be a bunch of linux aficionados who will spam "just use Firefox", but I swear switching OSes might be an easier task in 2022 than switching browser. Heck, I hated iPhones and switched back to Android because of iOS's browser engine limitation.

@odie5268

Жыл бұрын

The amount of problems I've had with Linux totally collapsing on itself using multi-monitor setups with different DPIs and resolutions, it is the only thing I find frustrating about it. Some DE's and wayland work ok (Deepin DE is actually pretty good at it). But with just about all of them there's a lot of issues. It's fine if you run native resolution and scaling on all displays, but if you have a mix of HiDPI and scaling needs it's SO PAINFUL. I mean you can get it working ok if you like blurry interpolated scaling on some UI elements or the entire display. It's a massive problem that hasn't been solved yet. ChromeOS just works in this regard.

Can you please explain how to install Windows or Linux on a Chromebox ACER that doesn't use a screw for locking and preventing any install other than Chrome OS? Or indicate the right direction to search for a solution? Kind regards.

I agree with same points and still love chromeos, isn't better than a full Linux distro, but has same really good functions, hope that continues to improve.

1:46: It's not required to fill up the form. It's just for showing certified devices. Just click on "Start here" an you are good to go.

What would have been interesting, if you would have recommended good alternative distros that steer in the same direction.

@thelakeman2538

Жыл бұрын

Ubuntu web if you want something like chrome os but a real linux distro. Aside from that Linux Mint comes with a pre-installed web apps installer/integrator thing.

@thieftheodore

Жыл бұрын

Brunch, it's basically unofficial way to install full featured chromeOS (android apps, and more) in any laptop. The installation might be little more confusing but not at arch installation level difficulty

@teklife

Жыл бұрын

i second Ubuntu Web, looks and works good

@RonaldoTalison

Жыл бұрын

Brunch is not as compatible. I've tried numerous versions and my touchpad didn't work correctly. With chrome os flex it simply did.

@tboatrig

Жыл бұрын

@@thelakeman2538 I'd like to see him do a review on that on the same machine.

something tells me that chrome os is destined for the google graveyard.

@TheLinuxEXP

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised

@thelakeman2538

Жыл бұрын

Chrome os itself never, as far as google's concerned that's part of their core business. Flex maybe but given how important chrome os is to them, I think they'll keep it around like official x86_64 support for android.

13:10 this part is probably because of an old chrome OS version, but they did not remove the back button after they made the calendar separate

The chrome tab and actual web app issue can be fixed, three dots > more tools > create shortcut, then click the use as window checkbox

What about fydeos?

Guess what, it has extra settings somewhat in the about:settings page. But also it has OS and browser flags in about:flags. At least they split the OS from the browser so they can update it separately now.

Hi ! Thank you for the video . In guest mode , without login in google account , is it posible to install apps like F-droid ore Aurorora store ?

@thawkade

Ай бұрын

You can't install Android apps at all, even with a Google account

I have an old Lenovo x250/8 GB/FHD/old I5. It's to slow for Linux but it runs OS Flex quite well, swift, simple and rock solid. And the virtual Debian is convenient. But I too miss the ability to prepare installation from Linux and the ability to install it along with another OS on the same disk.

I'm upset that I am sadly unable to use the display itself. For example can Google enable it as a display like a chrome tag. Meaning if I connected a device like a Samsung or Lenovo iPad or phone, I could now use the display of the old pc instead of throwing out the pc, for example a 2000s-2014 macbook

How is touchscreen support? Better then Gnome/KDE?

Where do you get those awesome wallpaper?

I literally went from Chrome Os Flex to Pop!_Os YESTERDAY!!!!!! All of it because I saw your video about pop os.... I'm in love with this channel even though it's my first time experiencing Linux

I completely agree. Without the ability to run android applications, this does not make sense. But if they added support for Android apps, there would be no point in buying Chromebooks.

@tboatrig

Жыл бұрын

What Android app do you need on your computer that doesn't have a web app, or a Linux app?

@odie5268

Жыл бұрын

@@tboatrig I wonder this same thing. The only non-web app I've wanted to try so far is the discord linux app, and that's only because discord web app has a memory leak that causes it to crash at some point. Not sure if it's the voice chat function or just their web app or some bug in Blink or V8.

Using second monitor is atrocious as well and it took me quite a while to find out how to switch sound output.

Nick, do you have any news about Fuchsia? Why doesn't Google provide any information, release any videos?

4:50 yeah, but you can add a plugin to macOS to add window snapping.

3 years ago this would've made sense, as most graphical package managers for linux were either lacking a lot of features, or caused problems (looking at you octopi), now Discover and Gnome Software can do full system updates, including drivers and firmware updates, so there's really no reason to not use a general purpose distro like fedora workstation as your main OS, since you never need to open a terminal to install your applications

3:22 - maybe try using a hdmi capture card to record or something idk

I was thinking about putting flex on an old 2in1 for the tablet mode. Is there a Linux distro with a good tablet mode?

@tboatrig

Жыл бұрын

Android.

@MoChuang343

Жыл бұрын

@@tboatrig I did not know you could install Android on x86. Could you dual boot Android and Windows on an Intel laptop?

@tboatrig

Жыл бұрын

Look up Bliss OS

It reminds me of how so many iphone and ipad apps are just web browsers that only go to a single website. For example, duolingo app is a web browser that only connects to duolingo website. Facebook app is a web browser that only connects to facebook website. The only apps I prefer are the ones which give actual functionality and offline purposes. Otherwise, it's better to just use a web browser because there is less tracking unlike a designated app. Tracking is part of the reason that companies don't like users using a web browser over their app.

Bite your tongue. I am using chromeos flex on a lenovo tiny m900 with a 1tb nvme, wifi 6 / bt 5.2 on a well supported intel ax200 and this thing is just a ridiculously fast, bullet proof primary computer for me. If I need an app, I just install the linux container, but 99.999999% of what I do is online. Email, SoundCloud, drive, editing, and all of my design and AI work I do with this, If I want to play the some hot game, GeForce now works wonderfully. I've made so many linux keys/cds that the stack would kill me if it ever fell on me and I've never found one of them that has any kind of polish. So I will stick with this. Might not suite your needs, but I've been computing since the amiga days and this little dual screened monster is f'n awesome. (and yes, I have a ryzen 5800x/radeon 6600m sitting in my livingroom, running ChimeraOS.

I tried it, it will NOT install on a second drive. It basically trashed a windows / Linux machine for me. Oddly enough, I was able to get it installed on a MicroSD card (I removed all the other drives from the laptop) But the actual experience resulted a drive reformat. When I ran it, it worked. But I did not test it for any length of time.

Well right click on the app that open in browser and select open in window

8:00 The problem is that Google sheets and Drive are shortcut that you have created on another PC (it's Sync) so they act like this instead of regular web apps. 12:10 Same problem. 14 :00 Same.

Having web apps open in browser instead of in new window by default bothers me to no end.

Worst thing is that I have to do an exposition of ChromeOS, and I am suffering to install it on a virtual machine

Does ChromeOS support voice to text, such as in Android?

Me: Can we get install a Linux distro on my computer? Mom: Your computer already runs a Linux distro. The Linux distro:

A great comprehensive review. I'm sure Google could make Flex into a worthwhile OS if it wanted to make the effort. But, if history is any guide, it will soon be , "...... no longer supported".

@lucassantossj

Жыл бұрын

They can. Proof of this is FydeOS, with is basically the Chrome OS with Linux and Android support.

Agreed with the title... but people said this about Chromebooks to.

That blur is nice

Hopefully Tuxedo makes laptop combining the latest AMD CPU and dGPU (RDNA3) when the mobile variants are available.

@TheLinuxEXP

Жыл бұрын

That would be great!

(Installer)It also doesn't work on Edge which is chromium-based It does support gestures by default (in the chrome apps, if you install stuff in the linux shell those don't support gestures) - this is something that linux is missing and is painful in my experience as I recently tried it with elementary and couldn't even get the touchegg package to install and then it showed it was installed and when I set the options, there are only like 3 finger options and I couldn't get them to work in the browser in any case which is super frustrating. So I'm back to windows on my laptop for a few dumb reasons: 1. Gestures work out of the box and I don't have to fumble around with them (looking at you, desktop linux) 2. I can still get a shell if I want 3. It actually is crashing less often on my laptop than chromeOSflex was 4. It has a minimize button (I'm looking at you elementary OS) I guess I don't care as much about the apps since they are all webapps, I can always get to them from the browser, but since I've switched to edge, it is annoying that I couldn't unpin Chrome

If you use brunch framework you can use android apps on chrome os flex. This transforms it into something useful.

does Flex use Wayland or Xorg, under the hood?

Not prioritising apps in the launcher must be turbo frustrating

@definitlynotbenlente7671

10 ай бұрын

At leastit gives more than just apps

what's the underlying linux 'distro', still a lean variant of gentoo, like the real chrome OS?

I'm watching this on an HP Stream 11 with an Intel N3060. ChromeOS flex made using this thing bearable for KZread and browsing (just though). I tried to put it on an old HP Pavilion DV6, it ran very snappy but the Broadcom 4322 WiFi adapter was a no go so I put Lubuntu on it instead

The part about apps opening in a browser tab is completely wrong and misinformed. To open an app in a standalone window you can simply right click on the icon and choose to open it in a window instead of a tab. This doesn't happen for all apps, for instance youtube is built as a Progressive Web App and has support for being installed while also providing offline support (by showing the ui instead of the network error page), other websites do not have this capability but Chrome still allows you to bookmark and open them in a standalone window or browser tab if you want.

For companies that subscribe to Google enterprise tools, there is the feature that allows you to control every part of the OS remotely, per user account. But I agree that there are several improvements needed in general.

@justsomeguy5103

Жыл бұрын

Google-based companies/organizations/schools that need those tools are unlikely to repurpose Windows machines though. They simply buy real Chromebooks in the first place.

Damn! I am currently a Chromebook and Google Apps user. However my Chromebook is no longer getting security updates, so I had planned to move to the OS that has now become Flex. Whilst many of your arguments against using Flex aren't particularly important to me (I'm retired, so not using any work software, nor requiring great security re email and document content), I do understand your exhortation not to install an OS that limits you in many ways, and provides no obvious advantages. Now I'm going to have to watch your other KZread content and compare Flex with Linux distros before making a decision. It is lucky I'm retired and have the time!

all my guy had to do was set web apps to open in a window rather than the browser. this was aggravating to listen to

I wonder whether it’s purely aimed at schools who base installing it on the fact that it’s Google and they use Google office products anyway. I don’t see any other reason for installing otherwise..

Remind us when it shows up in the graveyard...

Hi! Can you mak a video analysing about fuchsiaOS?

Not all, but a few of these issues are things carried over from old versions of Chrome OS they haven't bothered to change when making other changes. For example, the back arrow in the calendar is there because you used to access it from the system menu, and they didn't remove it when they gave it a dedicated button. Also, the reason installing Linux programs is so weird could be because 1: Google pretends it's only something developers would use, and/or 2: Chrome OS uses a very outdated Linux kernel.

I have an Asus R12. Google abandoned it for updates and I don't like chrome, too tied to the cloud. I installed Gallium and it's lovely - but Gallium is not being maintained. Sad Paul. I'll try Mint to see if I shoehorn it onto it.

I can't see how these points wouldn't apply to chromeos in general (except maybe the android app support) Makes you think how chromeos has an equal marketshare to the general linux desktop Makes you think how big an impact affordable preinstalled preconfigured hardware can have

Windows and mac both have bluestacks, which emulates android really well. It even comes with the google play store pre-installed. you maybe could get it to run on linux using wine/proton, but I havent tested it yet.

@tboatrig

Жыл бұрын

I remember getting Andoid IceCream Sandwich running in BlueStacks on an XP machine so I could play angry birds on it.

"Linux sucks because it's made by amateur hobbyists, we need a professional quality distro." The professional quality distro:

I stopped using it real quick once I realized I had no use for it other than it's voice to text feature would be nice if other operating systems had voice to text integrated like Chrome OS Flex

An OS built from a company who's main user interface is a search bar that doesn't let you type when you click within the search box, I mean bubble, but near its edges and you are surprised that the title bar's edges were not well defined? The settings left categories not following the indicated content on the right is a similar result of what you get when web developers build user interfaces. Debatable but I have seen the large page instead of lots of smaller ones for some website content though its usually something you have to ask for instead of what you can get by default; guess Google choose to default that option as a design choice. Thanks for the review.

I use chrome OS flex because it doesn't tax the Celeron CPU on my non supported CPU. I only use it for word processing, watching videos online and browsing. Even lightweight linux maxed out my CPU

My laptop was not on Google list or in Linux supported devices. I installed Chrome OS Flex on it. Before that I tried various flavors of Mint. I feel those slow than I installed Chrome OS Flex. Nothing was sluggish than it. Now I am using Linux Lite on it.

I really like the ChromeOS UI, way better than Windows and Mac. It's not the choice for Linux power users. I don't think that's it's intended audience, but I got my mom a Chromebook, and we no longer spend hours trying to undo all the mistakes she made with Windows, and I don't worry about her clicking malicious links on the web. I do hope Google fleshes out Flex to be more like ChromeOS on chromebooks.

@warthunder1969

Жыл бұрын

I would love to see somebody Fork Chrome OS (even Flex for that matter) and bake in Firefox or Brave with that Chrome OS UI - maybe sprinkle in some flatpaks at the system level

@tboatrig

Жыл бұрын

@@warthunder1969 Call it Foxxy OS! Or, Mane OS.

7:50 "Icy grip of death". Classic! I'm going to steal that.

Chrome OS flex: Have you ever wanted all the privacy of google chrome with all the stability of Linux from scratch (made by a cat)? No? Well fuck.

Would be nice to see a FydeOS review as well :)

@tboatrig

Жыл бұрын

Yes it would be.

I tried it some months ago and I actually liked it. The only downside, that drove me away from it, was low support for video stored in a local disc. I just wasn't able to properly run some of my old movies. Arrr. 🏴‍☠

@tboatrig

Жыл бұрын

Did you try a VLC Linux app?

@kondrik3777

Жыл бұрын

@@tboatrig well, I wanted to, but at that time it didn't support linux terminal for me. It might have changed since then, but I've already switched to Pop!_OS 😆

@tboatrig

Жыл бұрын

@@kondrik3777 it does now. I just installed it.

@kondrik3777

Жыл бұрын

@@tboatrig OK, thank you. I might give it another try.

Use case: somebody wants to get on the internet, but doesn't know how to use a computer and they don't want to spend any money. If you happen to have an old laptop lying around, this might work for them.

@thelakeman2538

Жыл бұрын

I mean only requires as much computer knowledge as installing any ubuntu based distro, installing a new os and opening the bios/uefi is itself an advanced skill as far as most people are concerned, not much difference between flashing using the google tool or using balena etcher to do it for a linux iso. The only difference I suppose is that the average gui linux installer will have more options than the chrome os installer which could make it appear more complicated.

@BryantMitchell

Жыл бұрын

@@thelakeman2538 are you talking the installer or the user?

Hey your shirt has a light and dark theme! 😊

Could you try Brunch too?

Another reason is to get these cool wallpapers out of it. But i can't really think of any use case for it. If i want something for web apps only, i can simply install Linux mint and use an already installed app that converts any website to a web app with ease. And i also get small things like sticky notes and a notepad similar app... Yeah it's just an example but pretty usable. Any Linux distro would probably do the same.