r/chromeos • u/NegativelyNegating • 1d ago
Discussion ChromeOS is better for average user than every desktop Linux ever made.
ChromeOS is simple on the outside and doesn't get in your way. If you want to change a setting you have an app for that. Unlike desktop Linux, ChromeOS has a clear direction and an unified experience accross all devices. Google never forces you to open terminal to type in commands. If you really want to play with terminal you can enable Linux development environment. You can't break your Chromebook only because you installed the wrong app. And most importantly it just works (even if you are not using a Chromebook).
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u/Landscape4737 22h ago
Android and ChromeOS run the Linux Kernel. So, they are Linux.
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u/20dogs 18h ago
OP more accurately is referring to GNU/Linux
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u/meow_miao_nya 16h ago
alpine is not using gnu and glibc :p
I think what make android or chromeos not linux is ignoring freedesktop standards which "regular" linux programs expect
(while alpine also ignores some like logind there are replacement so it is "compatible" with apps that expect those things)
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u/GraveDigger2048 22h ago
Just as shovel is best tool to dig a trench.
unless someone shows you an Bobcat excavator
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u/Cultural_Surprise205 21h ago
I agree (and I think it's comically beside the point to argue what is and what isn't linux). I only wish two things: 1) the ability to prevent Big Brother Google from tracking everything the user does, and 2) the ability to disable entirely all the AI shit they're shovelling into it.
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u/BigGrizzwald 2025 Lenovo CB Plus 14 19h ago
You don't Disable the AI shit. The AI shit will disable you lol
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u/Daedae711 23h ago
That’s… a very surface-level take. ChromeOS can be convenient, sure, but it’s designed to lock you into Google’s ecosystem and control what you can do—especially in education or enterprise setups. ‘Better for the average user’ depends on how you define average. If you mean ‘click around, use Google services, and follow rules,’ maybe. But for flexibility, reliability, or actual ownership of your system? It falls short compared to Linux.
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u/Landscape4737 23h ago
Microsoft and Apple lock you in, Google do too.
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u/Daedae711 23h ago
Bingo, precisely why Android and ChromeOS aren't Linux.
Microsoft doesn't use Linux at all, they built their own kernel from the ground up.
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u/cgoldberg 22h ago
That's a bizarre way to define "Linux". Android and ChromeOS are both built on Linux... so claiming they "aren't Linux", but desktop Linux distos "are Linux" is just nonsensical.
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u/Daedae711 22h ago
Well that's like I said
Instead of calling any distros Linux, they're all Linux-Based because they aren't Linux themselves, they just got built on top of it.
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u/cgoldberg 21h ago
Sure... if you don't want to call any operating system "Linux" to be totally proper, that's fine... the rest of us will just call them "Linux". But to be consistent, once you install any software on your Windows system, you should now only refer to it as "Windows-Based".
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u/Daedae711 21h ago
Installing software is not building it on top of something.
It IS windows based software still though.
So yes
You USE Linux
But Arch Linux ≠ Linux, it's just built on top of it, therefore being based on it.
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u/cgoldberg 21h ago
It's all just userland programs running on top of a kernel. You're making a pedantic distinction, but if it makes you feel better to not call any operating system "Linux", that's great 👍
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u/Best_Collar_March 19h ago
While your concept is nice it fails in practice. Most normal people have no time to tinker when you get a blinking cursor on the left corner when Xorg update fails or someone in the house kicks the hard disk. Not everyone has time and money to put all these. Yes, I used run my ZFS server but life is too short for the majority. Keeping 3-2-1 is OK for people that have plenty of time. Despite many negative points you say - whenever I sign on to chromebook - I don't need to remember every damn password of wifi at my friends place that I already added to my phone. So many advantages.
Once one has kids and other commitments - paying few $ is easier.
Yes, distros based on linux is great but not for everyone
Worse is I know people that want to avoid lockin - and install linux but finally use Chrome (as it is anecdotally quicker). For that using ChromeOS is also fine.
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u/trashbytes 1d ago edited 1d ago
ChromeOS is Linux. There's many different types of Linux and ChromeOS is one of them.
What you're saying is this: "A Tesla is better than a car"
You like it and it's fine. So do I. Just don't make these blanket statements which don't make any sense.
elementaryOS is just as simple and easy to use and much more flexible and powerful, just to name one. Both things can be true.
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u/Tired8281 Pixelbook | Stable 19h ago
Note to both of you. Nobody cares whether or not anything counts as Linux or not. Have a great day!
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u/trashbytes 19h ago
Daedae does.
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u/Tired8281 Pixelbook | Stable 19h ago
Nobody but you two, clearly. /r/literalism is over there with /r/pedants
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u/trashbytes 18h ago
Seems like you care about others caring or not caring. In the end we all care about something, so that's fine.
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u/Daedae711 23h ago
ChromeOS is NOT LINUX.
It cannot be either, no matter how you put it, because it's the exact opposite of what Linux is supposed to be.
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u/Landscape4737 23h ago
ChromeOS run the Linux kernel. You don’t like that, I understand. About 5% is extra fluff that Google have added to the kernel. It is rock solid, and Google have contributed massively to the development of the Linux kernel for the benefit of all of its users. They don’t own it, we all do.
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u/Daedae711 23h ago edited 22h ago
It running the Linux kernel does not make it Linux.
If that were the case:
Android
Internet routers/wifi boxes
Machines in stores
The servers your apps like reddit and such use to function
Would all be using Linux
The ONLY non Linux thing truly in existence is BSD and Windows.
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u/trashbytes 22h ago
You're right. They are all running Linux.
Except for the last one. macOS does not use the Linux kernel.
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u/Daedae711 22h ago edited 22h ago
I corrected it
MacOS uses a hybrid kernel from Mach and BSD.
And a description of Linux:
Linux is a free and open-source, Unix-like operating system based on the Linux kernel
ChromeOS:
Open-Source: No.
Free: Monetary wise, yes, otherwise no.
Unix-Like: No
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u/Landscape4737 22h ago
If it runs the Linux kernel it is Linux. You may be confused with gnu-Linux
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u/Daedae711 22h ago
By that logic only the kernel itself is Linux.
Which doesn't make ANY OS Linux.
That's where the term GNU-Linux comes in.
Because by technical factual information, Linux is NOT an OS, it IS a kernel.
That being the case, no OS can be "Linux" but it can be "Linux-Based"
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u/trashbytes 23h ago
Doesn't matter what it's "supposed to be" in your mind or how you feel today.
ChromeOS is Linux. That is a fact.
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u/Daedae711 22h ago
No, Linux is not just a kernel.
Even in a technical sense, this is not factual information, and is a straight up lie.
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u/trashbytes 22h ago
Linux is a family.
You can be Uncle Linux, who's great at networking but sucks at drawing, Grandpa Linux, who can only do basic commands, Annoying sibling Linux, who thinks they're the coolest with all the flashy 3D animations and Step-Linux, who wants to be a hacker, as well as cool aunt Linux, who you can always rely on. But you're still Linux.
Don't get so hung up over it. It's not worth it.
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u/Daedae711 22h ago
That's a pretty good way to describe it, but even so, both in a technical and factual sense, ChromeOS is not, nor can it be, Linux.
You could however, call it "Linux-Based"
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22h ago
[deleted]
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u/Daedae711 22h ago
Wrong again By your own logic
If Linux is just a kernel (ignoring what it is as a software project) then NOTHING is "Linux" and is "Linux-Based"
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22h ago
[deleted]
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u/Daedae711 22h ago
I've been using Linux for around 5 years now
I've been building kernels by hand for the past 2 years
As well as.many other things on top of it.
If Linux is ONLY a Kernel, then it's NOT POSSIBLE for an OS to be Linux, because it is a OS and NOT a kernel.
That would make it Linux-Based.
In your own words:
The base on which the OS is built upon
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u/SaltyZooKeeper 18h ago
NOTHING is "Linux" and is "Linux-Based
Untrue the Linux Kernel is Linux. Operating Systems that use that Kernel are Linux based
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u/GeneralEnvironment12 23h ago
While there are lots of good points about chromeos like UI design etc
Google never forces you to open terminal to type in commands.
If you buy a well supported Linux machine you NEVER have to type commands. If Ubuntu built their own laptop then you don't have to type any commands.
Note that you are doing wrong comparison. Google built that laptop. So you don't need to do anything.
You can't break your Chromebook only because you installed the wrong app.
True.
Powerwash is something other distros can learn.
- disadvantages
on a random day Chromebook will update or so and power wash it without telling you the reason, all locally stored data is gone. This never happens with linux
look at the number of people in this sub - trying to recovery - with USB/writing failure. Recovery tool is shit. -THIS is still a bad point of Chromebook.
I myself had to flash OS manually once when something caused failure.
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u/Development_Echos 1d ago
Whats funny is that android is technically a Linux derivative at its core XD (chrome OS is kinda like the bridge between Linux and android)
But you also couldn't be more wrong, like I can tell you've never used Linux by your statement or atleast not a modern user friendly distro.
Either way your statement is also blatantly incorrect from a technical standpoint aswell, the average desktop user is not gonna buy a new PC every 5-6 years the average desktop user who is doing basic stuff on their computer doesn't want it to lag like hell after 5 years. My Chromebook is definitely older now but after about 5-6 years it started lagging, PC only comes down to having 3.5 GBs of internal storage in total because it only comes with a 16gb hard drive and the system is huge, and my mouse doesn't even move smoothly anymore T-T
chrome books are the best at literally nothing
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u/White-Dck-1990 23h ago
You got downvoted because people don't know shit.
Wtf is wrong with people in this sub....
I upvoted you bro 💪🏻
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u/leonbollerup 20h ago
Nja.. I have sold more laptops than most, and next to Windows 10, the most successful laptops I sell is with KDE plasma 6
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u/rebelde616 20h ago
This is a tough call. I use my computer mainly to stream games (GeForce Now), to write and to research my writing. Chrome OS is a perfect fit for me. But I always end up getting bored and switching to Linux. Currently, I'm using Linux. I'm switching back and forth between Fedora and Ubuntu. I just have a lot of fun learning new things, using the terminal, etc. I have a soft spot for Chrome OS in my heart, though.
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u/GroundbreakingView55 18h ago
I’m a big windows user and a secret fan of chrome os. I got a high-end CB with 16gb ram, installed some Linux apps, and some VM software and windows 11 with that. I have the best of both worlds now.
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u/Plan_9_fromouter_ 8h ago
Serious Chrome OS use has more geeky aspects to it than what most Windows users face. This is especially true if you want to do functions beyond a netbook. If not typical, at least it is still very common for Chromebook users to use both Linux and Android on their Chrome systems.
Since I teach online a lot using all kinds of Google services, Chromebooks are a natural fit, if only for the ease of being logged in securely and staying logged in. But in truth, I can get things like Google Classroom and Google Forms to work on my Linux computers just as easily.
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u/Upstairs-Ask-5482 16h ago
I prefer the freedom of Windows over a chromebook. I've played with a few Linux distros, mostly Debian, Fedora, and Arch based and I was more or less pleased with them all. I find the limitations of Chrome OS somewhat annoying, I for the life of me can't get this thing to dual boot, even though all the setting stated it was unlocked.
Anyways I like the Linux container for Chrome OS its a nice feature but it has some overhead. I dislike the battery drain however, I can get 90 mins on a full charge running a literal black and white flash game in the Linux container. I get hours outside of it, I don't really enjoy needing to unlock Dev mode to sideload apps and deal with the boot of nagging each time.
Chrome OS is really just an immutable fork of Debian in my opinion at least that's what the Linux container suggests. I know Chrome OS is based off Linux so I don't really feel its fair to say its better than when it falls into the same class as. As far as power users the limitations are real, they go out of their way to lock down the device even when most things are sandboxed by default. I like the containers, I dislike the slow boot time of them, and how they drain the battery quickly even under light workloads.
I genuinely believe they run the CPU at max speed even when not needed. No reason I only get 90 mins of battery life on a game I can run on my phone with 0 issues and get 5+ hours on easy.
For those wondering the Chromebook is an Acer 515+ it works, and if it wasn't a instant return sold as refurbished for $120 I probably wouldn't have bought it over a windows laptop. Chrome OS has some decent features, I like that the battery life is general great, but I would put it slightly above a mobile OS vs a full native desktop OS.
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u/YouRock96 20h ago
The big problem of the open source community is that they hardly participate in competition and are in their own information bubble.. Therefore, proprietary projects that simply solve the problem are ready to do it better, Wine and Proton are the simplest illustrative examples.
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u/tomscharbach 1d ago
A number of my friends (we are all in our 70's or 80's) migrated (from Windows 10) to Chromebooks at the suggestion of their grandchildren, who grew up with Chromebooks in school. All are delighted to have done so.
ChromeOS a near-perfect fit for a browser-based, relatively simple online use case, as many of us who are older tend to have. No fuss, no muss, no thrills, no chills.
For that reason, I often quietly recommend ChromeOS (Chromebook or Flex) in the "I want a distribution for my mom ..." threads in /linuxquestions and /linux4noobs. I'm always a bit surprised by how many comments echo that thought.
Chromebooks are not, however, the best fit for all use cases and all users.
I use a combination of Windows/WSL/Ubuntu on my "workhorse" desktop and Mint on my "personal" laptop because my use case extends well beyond the capabilities of a Chromebook and/or ChromeOS.
I do not share your blanket "ChromeOS is better for the average user than every desktop Linux ever made ..." enthusiasm. Linux distributions often have a depth that ChromeOS does not match.
My mentors pounded the principle that "use case determines requirements, requirements determine specifications, specifications determine selection" into my head when I was a young man just starting out in the late 1960's. After all the years, I still believe that operating system choice should be made on the basis of use case.
Just follow your use case in selecting an operating system, and you will end up in the right place.