by Anonymous Coward writes:
on Wednesday February 15, 2017 @11:29AM (#53873299)
Chrome OS and Android are both untrusted, and inherently untrustable OS's. I would never allow one of them to run on any hardware I owned due to Google being a marketing and data harvesting company above all else. That is in their DNA and pervasive in their software which exists to collect as much of your data as possible.
Merging them into one OS is not going to make that any better.
No it won't, but it reduces costs for Google (good for them), and focuses development efforts on one system. (Good for us.) Maybe this means it will bring real multiuser support to our phones. (Something Android lacks).
Hopefully the new "OS" will continue to be open source like Android, so that we can update it ourselves when the enviable carriers refuse to update the damn thing.
Although, I'm wondering about those ChromeOS devices. Alot of school systems bought into those because they were cheap. Is Google
If I could quickly and easily switch users on my phone, I'd immediately set up three profiles to keep things separate:
Ray@work Ray@play RaysKid
No more accidentally triggering auto-complete of a personal URL while at work. I can let the kid play a game on the phone while I'm driving, knowing the toddler won't be clicking on important work or personal stuff.
android does have this feature, the first version allowed you to have a guest session, next came the ability to create different users. now you can also lock the screen to a single application (for example set it on netflix and you can't switch or get out of netflix). these features should have been included from the start...
Can you explain how this would be evil? Frustrating, yes, but especially if they also continued to update Chrome OS for free in parallel for a while, I find it hard to call that "evil."
Any chromebook that is updateable can have its OS replaced with Andromeda.
If the update isn't official, the user will have to enable developer mode to install it. And once the device is in developer mode, its firmware will complain to the effect "OS verification is off; please press Space then Enter to wipe this device and reinstall stock Chrome OS" every time it's turned on.
...yeah, I don't like that either. But it can be done for most Chromebooks [chrx.org] out there (maybe not the ARM Chromebooks right now, though it's hard to imagine it's impossible if it's possible for the IA Chromebooks)
Will such a firmware patch void the warranty on the display hinge, the keyboard, and the power jack? I worry about the warranty because I've had to have my current laptop serviced once under warranty to replace the power jack.
It shouldn't, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't or that a malevolent hardware manufacturer wouldn't risk trashing their reputation by refusing to honor a warranty when they should...
I'm a software guy however, not a lawyer. I don't even read EULAs.
Because the Nokia N900 and other Maemo/MeeGo phones weren't sincerely marketed in Slashdot's home country. When N900 was still in production, none of the carriers nor Best Buy had ever heard of it.
And because Windows Phone 7, Windows Phone 8.1, and Windows 10 Mobile appear to have failed to gain a substantial user base.
to what end? (Score:4, Insightful)
Chrome OS and Android are both untrusted, and inherently untrustable OS's. I would never allow one of them to run on any hardware I owned due to Google being a marketing and data harvesting company above all else. That is in their DNA and pervasive in their software which exists to collect as much of your data as possible.
Merging them into one OS is not going to make that any better.
Re: (Score:1)
No it won't, but it reduces costs for Google (good for them), and focuses development efforts on one system. (Good for us.) Maybe this means it will bring real multiuser support to our phones. (Something Android lacks).
Hopefully the new "OS" will continue to be open source like Android, so that we can update it ourselves when the enviable carriers refuse to update the damn thing.
Although, I'm wondering about those ChromeOS devices. Alot of school systems bought into those because they were cheap. Is Google
Work me, personal me, my kid (Score:4, Interesting)
If I could quickly and easily switch users on my phone, I'd immediately set up three profiles to keep things separate:
Ray@work
Ray@play
RaysKid
No more accidentally triggering auto-complete of a personal URL while at work. I can let the kid play a game on the phone while I'm driving, knowing the toddler won't be clicking on important work or personal stuff.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
android does have this feature, the first version allowed you to have a guest session, next came the ability to create different users. now you can also lock the screen to a single application (for example set it on netflix and you can't switch or get out of netflix). these features should have been included from the start...
Re: (Score:3)
If Google stops supporting them, the backlash will be pretty severe.
Ridiculous. Any chromebook that is updateable can have its OS replaced with Andromeda.
Re: to what end? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Any chromebook that is updateable can have its OS replaced with Andromeda.
If the update isn't official, the user will have to enable developer mode to install it. And once the device is in developer mode, its firmware will complain to the effect "OS verification is off; please press Space then Enter to wipe this device and reinstall stock Chrome OS" every time it's turned on.
Re: (Score:2)
The solution to that is patching the firmware.
Does it void the warranty? (Score:2)
Will such a firmware patch void the warranty on the display hinge, the keyboard, and the power jack? I worry about the warranty because I've had to have my current laptop serviced once under warranty to replace the power jack.
Re: (Score:2)
It shouldn't, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't or that a malevolent hardware manufacturer wouldn't risk trashing their reputation by refusing to honor a warranty when they should...
I'm a software guy however, not a lawyer. I don't even read EULAs.
Re: (Score:1)
To what end? That will depend on licensing. If it's not open source, then we will know
Re: (Score:2)
Because the Nokia N900 and other Maemo/MeeGo phones weren't sincerely marketed in Slashdot's home country. When N900 was still in production, none of the carriers nor Best Buy had ever heard of it.
And because Windows Phone 7, Windows Phone 8.1, and Windows 10 Mobile appear to have failed to gain a substantial user base.
Re: (Score:1)
May as well add Windows and MacOS/IOS in there as well. Just as bad.