Last week Google announced its CR-48 Chrome OS enabled notebook with a keynote presentation and all the hoopla. Then, yesterday, Gmail creator Paul Bucchiet sent a jaw dropper of a Tweet predicting that Google’s Chrome OS, by next year, could quite possibly be ditched and merged as a project into Android. Then, to make matters even more bizarre, on several levels, Founding father of GNU Richard Stallman steps up on his own soapbox against Chrome OS and Cloud Computing in general.
I remember this past May when Kendall Weaver and I set out to launch Peppermint One and the doubt, brimstone, fire and anger that was hurled at us both. I also remember Kendall and I hoisting a pint at the local pub over it all because we knew this was the defining moment for us and Peppermint. When the caterwauling became its loudest we knew for a fact that we were on the right track and that Peppermint was not created in vain. Will Chrome OS continue to be a reality and supported next year? Who knows? I think the important thing here is to at least acknowledge the time and dedication it takes to get ANY operating system functional and ready for release. And for that I tip my hat to the Chrome OS team and wish them well. And, a special tip of the hat to the Chromium Project for their amazingly fast and stable browser, because without their efforts Peppermint Ice would not be possible…
Richard Stallman. Wow. What are you doing? Do you mind doing us all a favor by stepping back and looking at yourself in 1983? How many doubted you and the GNU project? Were you laughed at and ridiculed for your efforts that you knew deep down inside where genius and were worthy to share with the world? Cloud Computing is the future, Richard. You won’t stop it and you certainly aren’t going to scare anyone away from it. The security issues and privacy issues that you cite are, in some ways, correct. However, in many ways you are wrong. Because we utilize the Cloud does not necessarily mean that the relationship is “All or Nothing” and that you must give up ALL of your data, images, files and the house cat to some corporation. Only a fool would act as you are projecting Chrome OS users to be.
Are there issues down the road for cloud computing that must be addressed? Absolutely. Are most computer users concerned about the security and privacy of their own data? Absolutely. Then perhaps Richard Stallman would like to use his genius for the betterment of cloud computing and assist FOSS / Open Source projects like ours to rise above and ensure that we can get it done correctly? Call us Richard. We’d love to hear your insights, hear your concerns and expose to us the dark ugly alleyways that you see ahead for us leading the way. Leading the way like you did in the mid-eighties. We invite you, Richard Stallman, to join forces to ensure that Linux is the Best Option for the Cloud at ALL levels. Become part of the solution, please.
In closing, I want to point out again that Peppermint Linux OS is a Hybrid OS: Local and Cloud together, you CAN have both if you want it. When the single point of failure, the Internet connection, goes down you can still run your local applications and be productive. The insistence that your computing environment must be either a full blown chunky desktop OR a browser based “Cloudy” OS makes no logical sense at this moment in time. Perhaps this is the source for all the confusion and bewilderment when it comes to these early years of cloud computing and the OS’s that attempt to deliver it properly? This is why Peppermint is the obvious choice for me and many others. Today we want to thank you for being with us, believing in us, and pushing us forward.
I have an Acer Chromebook — but have never run ChromeOS. I am running GalliumOS on it and am pretty happy. But, Peppermint 7 is awsome. I just put it on my Dell Latitude 2100 (only 16BG SSD) and just tried Peppermint 7 on the CB. Seems to work perfectly except that on the CB, the “function keys” are marked for dedicated functions such as display and audio up/down which Gallium knows about.
My opinion is that Google can do what they want with ChromeOS but for those who want their CB to do something real, a PPA to deal with the keyboard difference for Peppermint and we are on the right track.
Hey Phil, if you ever get to the bottom of the function keys maybe you can let us know the solution at the forum and we’ll consider it for future inclusion.