How Chrome OS Will Help Ubuntu
Many writers, including WorksWithU’s Joe Panttieri, have suggested that Google’s recently announced Chrome OS is bad news for Ubuntu and other Linux distributions struggling to establish a foothold on the desktop, especially in the netbook market. While only time will tell how this development will really pan out, I’m not so convinced it will be to Canonical’s disadvantage. Here’s why.
There’s no denying that Google enjoys magnitudes more mindshare and capital than Canonical can dream of. But these assets don’t translate into necessary success in the desktop operating-system market, especially on netbooks, at which Google’s new OS is aimed.
Succeeding where other Linuxes have failed?
After all, if there’s one thing that the failure of Linux on netbooks has proven (and yes, it’s time to admit it was a failure), it’s that most mainstream consumers view netbooks as mini computers that should be able to do everything larger computers can–which includes running Windows applications. No matter how many times they’re warned that netbooks are really only designed for web browsing, and that Linux behaves differently from Windows, most non-geeks head to the returns department when they discover that their netbooks don’t run the software they’re used to.
Despite this reality, Google thinks that Chrome OS–which is ultimately just another Linux distribution, whether Google wants to admit it or not–will succeed in a niche where Ubuntu has failed despite considerable effort. This belief reflects either arrogance or miscalculation.
Sure, almost everyone who’s used the Internet in the last ten years knows and loves Google, which is more than Ubuntu has going for it. But that doesn’t mean the average consumer is going to be any less upset when she purchases a netbook running Chrome OS and discovers that it can’t run Microsoft Office.
Rediscovering choice
While Chrome OS isn’t any likelier than Ubuntu to win over the masses afraid to leave the Windows bubble, its presence in the marketplace–even if it’s not as successful as Google hopes–will serve the useful purpose of reminding consumers, for the first time in two decades, that Microsoft and Apple are not, in fact, the only developers of operating systems in the world.
Although the destruction of the “Mac vs. PC” myth might not mean Ubuntu’s market share will surge overnight, it will teach non-geeks that there are alternative operating systems that most of them never knew existed. And that realization can’t do anything but help Ubuntu.
In short, I’m not convinced that Chrome OS will steal Ubuntu’s precious market share to any meaningful extent. But it will inspire more consumers to think outside the Windows/OS X box. In that scenario, Ubuntu has nothing to lose, and everything to win.
Many people tend to look at the narrow picture .. about google coming into the distro business .. just look at the fact that the OS would be based on linux … which = more and better hardware support .. because ubuntu might not be able to talk to hardware vendors .. google sure can and when google talks (no pun intended) hardware makers will listen .. better compatibility with google chrome OS will trickle down to other linux distros
I think that the Chrome OS can also help to improve Linux drivers. At this moment, most hardware manufacturers are taking Linux already very serious for their driver development but it can always be better. So if (!!) Chrome OS is based on the Linux kernel, that would be a good thing for end-users with all kinds of different hardware.
[…] http://www.workswithu.com/2009/07/10/how-chrome-os-will-help-ubuntu/ […]
Well said.
I agree that this will only make the Linux pie bigger.
But I strongly disagree on why Linux failed on the netbooks.
Those asian netbook makers are good at making cheap hardware, but they totally suck at making software. Firefox 2 without updates on a slow small SSD? It is the same with WinMo cells, they just don’t care once they shipped the thing. You never get big feature updates like from Apple. They just utterly suck at supporting software. If they had shipped a well configured Ubuntu things would look really different today.
Google could make a difference. I hope they will force updates like with Chrome on windows and Android.
A good appliction store and always uptodate software that just works for most use cases will go a long way.
Yes it will be yet another linux distro, but the big difference will be the name, Google. And as many have said, that if Google wants better hardware support it has the balls to do it and the hardware vendors will listen. All in all, I think it will be a win/win situation for Linux in general and this is sure to give both Microsoft and Apple a bloody nose.
The other upside will be the possibility of Ubuntu getting its act together and releasing quality distro’s instead of the poor ones as of late in order to compete with ChromeOS!
i think theres a little too much optimism about google’s monetary ventures being some sort of blessing to linux.
firstly their os is only gonna run a web browser, how many drivers do you need for a web browser? the reason hardware fails on linux has nothing to do with lack of drivers, linux developers constanlty break drivers that already work, dont forget the intel video driver problem in ubuntu 9.04 due to standard ubuntu unprofessionalism , and some times its even thanks to foss religion.
some guy breaks philips webcam support in linux because philips refused to opensource their driver
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/08/27/0517239amp;tid=222
if like me you actully go around reading mailing lists and developer blogs, you will will quickly realise that most linux developers, are either
a) building a server NOT a desktop, and thus dont care about desktop issues.
— try and install software not in the repositories and see what i mean
b) COMPLETELY out of touch with average computer users, and thus produce things only developers/techies can actully make use of.
— 10 second boot time
— ext4
— time based releases (because reinstalling your OS every six months is the first step on the road to freedom)
— grub2
(just do a search for ubuntu 9.10 features, and be underwhelmed)
users dont care about any of these things.
c) too busy building a lousy clone some proprietry software
— too many to list
d) etc, etc
linux’s problems do not lie in the code but in the community, even shuttleworth figured that one out, thats why he called for synchronicity.
here
http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/159
and here
http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/150
he doesent really care about releasing every six months, more about releasing in sync.
lets not forget that this google OS isnt going to be running X11 (it will run some other google invention) therefore any linux apps which relies on gtk, qt, fltk, tkinter, wxwidgets etc, etc basically all linux software with a GUI will not be able run on this OS, so dont even think about “promoting open source apps” with this google OS.
All google wants is people to connect to google servers, give up their personal information and look at ads. Besides google doesent want people using desktop apps they want everything to be in the web so they can control it.
google docs =gt; office suite
gmail =gt; mail client
youtube =gt; video/tv
googlereader/feedburner =gt; rss/news
picasa =gt; photos
google maps =gt; maps/maps+photos (geo tagging)
google wave =gt; community interaction
orkut =gt; community interaction
sketchup =gt; 3d design
google talk=gt; voip/im/phone?
blogger =gt; blogs
im pretty sure theres some more, oh yeah they also made/bought andriod to ensure mobile users will connect to google servers and make use of all of the aforementioned apps.
none of these apps are open source, they’re all closed, but this doesent bother linux users, when canonical do the same thing(ubuntuOne) THEN it bothers linux users.
now ask yourself if google makes thier own OS how will thier web apps be delivered? javascript? think not, im pretty sure thier OS will have a proprierty extension to the browser allowing native/faster code to be executed in the browser.
Google arent bringing opensource to the desktop,their taking closed source to the web. If their OS succeeds all linux desktop apps will be rendered useless.
the google OS being opensource is about as usefull as microsoft writing an opensource extension for internet explorer, useless, unless you actully buy windows and use internet explorer. Google OS will boot you into an opensource OS and a mixed source browser (chrome is not chromium) where all your applications are delivered closed source. hooray for linux/ubuntu.
this Google OS is a whole new breed of OS alien to the concepts of standard OS’s, and thus its success spells the end to linux/ubuntu , osx as well as microsoft.
@AmblestonDack: I don’t think it will give Apple a bloody nose, as they don’t compete at such low price points. Apple probably won’t even notice, unless you consider the iPhone a competitor with netbooks.
[…] Edit: Works With U has a nice article about why Chrome-OS may be a good thing for Ubuntu: http://www.workswithu.com/2009/07/10/how-chrome-os-will-help-ubuntu/ […]
Google “OS would be based on linux … which = more and better hardware support .. because ubuntu might not be able to talk to hardware vendors .. google sure can and when google talks (no pun intended) hardware makers will listen .. better compatibility with google chrome OS will trickle down to other linux distros”
Great point!
Chrome OS is going to succeed an extremely important realization. People will finally realize that it is possible to run a computer with something else. This notion will ease the acceptance of an alternative OS. Which will become an anchor point to increase the mass of non-Windows OS. From there, the public will accept more easily other OS and not only Chrome OS. At this point, Linux chance will increase much more than it is right now. Therefore in my opinion, Chrome OS is rather a positive news for the Linux world. Google can do that because of its name, not b/c its OS is better.
The majority of people I know, they think Windows is the Computer. Only those who use non-Windows OS can understand the subtle notion of alternative OS.
I really hope it acts as a wake up call for developers in the open source community to focus on usability. I like the terminal but there are people out there who need well designed guis, which is what I think Google will excel at
So many people are taking such firm stances on something they’ve only read a few general paragraphs about. How absurd. Let’s wait to see more details – and even perhaps some working code – before we jump to any real conclusions, alright? I, for one, remain cautiously optimistic.
Just because “The Year of Desktop Linux” has never really arrived, does that mean we can’t be open to the possibility of somebody re-imagining the OS? Google just plain “gets it” in so many things that it does. Perhaps this will be one of it’s successes as well.
I also think targeting netbooks and working with OEMs is an excellent strategy. Most people will just use the OS that comes with their computer – period. This fact alone makes existing Linuxes a non-starter for 99% of laptop/desktop users out there – one of those ‘sad but true’ facts that pretty much dooms Ubuntu and other Linux distros to go the way of the dodo – as far as making an impact on the desktop mainstream. (Sorry, but it’s true.)
Personally, I’m elated that Google is finally putting it’s design, usability expertise, and imagination behind a desktop (er, netbook) OS. IMHO most of open source software is totally brain-dead in the imagination department. In most cases, all it seems to know how to do, is copy (poorly) what has already been done before. Finally Google will breathe some real innovation into this field, and hopefully the entire open source community will benefit.
I also don’t understand some people’s alarm at exposing their data to ‘the cloud’. We already use Gmail, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Flickr. We already expose so much of ourselves and our data. Now think about all the organizations that have your sensitive data on their computers – of which you have absolutely no control over — your doctor, your hospital, your employer, various governmental agencies, insurance companies, credit card companies, and so on. All of this is to say, instead of whining about how insecure the ‘new’ cloud infrastructure is going to be, we should instead admit we already have one foot in the ‘clouds’, and focus instead on designing better safeguards to protect individual privacy. The cat is already out of the bag, people.
@ooboo: Excellent comment.
@ooboo:
The cat definitely out of the bag. But you shouldn’t be surprised that most people haven’t noticed that fact. The alarm factor about data in the cloud maybe delayed…but its not necessarily out of place. It’s like boiling a frog by turning up the water temperature slowly. We’ve been slowly putting more and more of our data out in the cloud across multiple services without necessarily realizing the risks. Each service, by itself, doesn’t get noticed. Having google out there pontentially conciliating all those services and all our data under a single umbrella maybe a step too big for most people to ignore without finally noticing the discomfort.
I say, we take this opportunity to be as shrill as possible about potential privacy concerns in the cloud. Use Google’s size and reach as a pretext to start shedding light onto data privacy and data sharing practises that are already established industry standards. Practises nobody really wants to talk about. If we publicly hold up Google to their own “do no evil” corporate policy standard when it comes to safegaurding personal data, maybe we can drag the standard up for the rest of the industry as well. I think Google can take the scrutiny.
-jef
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But if people use Chrome and it works the way they need it as marketed, there will be no need to check out Ubuntu. And the average consumer won’t.
[…] http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/10/intel_google_chrome_os/ http://www.workswithu.com/2009/07/10/how-chrome-os-will-help-ubuntu/ […]
Agreed that Linux lost the netbook war has been obvious for a while ( from March — http://blog.ibeentoubuntu.com/2009/03/linux-lost-netbook-war.html ).
Chrome, however, may offer a better integration of services than the awful stuff Linpus and Xandros did, getting over the consumer’s distrust of change. Purchasers of Chrome netbooks will also likely already be big users of Google services, meaning that the applications they want WILL be available … through the Chrome browser.
I suspect that Chrome OS will raise the Linux tide and all Linux boats will rise because of that.
Well said. I agree.
If I understand the announcement of Chrome OS well it will will be a linux kernel with the Chrome webbrowser on it. And it will only be able to run webapps. That seams to me something very different than a linux distribution.
I think Chrome OS will help Ubuntu. XP users will be forced to switch to something else as soon as Microsoft releases Windows 7 service pack 1. That is supposedly the End of Lifecycle for Windows XP. Vista wasn’t exactly an XP killer, but Microsoft wants to try to kill XP again with Windows 7. Alternatives like Chrome OS, Ubuntu, ANY Linux or even a Mac will be good choices if Windows 7 is a fiasco like Vista. The day that XP dies could be the day that Microsoft dies. Hasta la Vista, Baby!
I think the top three will be Chrome, Moblin and Ubuntu. Good things happening for Chrome will only benefit Linux in general. The Linux kernel is already awesome in hardware support and advancements will come at an even faster rate with the spotlight finally on Linux netbooks. Windows is still going to dominate for a long time but the consumer will start to understand that there is choice in the marketplace. Chrome and others will be hard to beat for security, performance and Internet style computing.
*This consumer buys nothing anymore “made for Windows”. MSI Wind “Suse Enterprise Desktop” running Ubuntu Jaunty.
I think there are a growing number of pro-Google eco-system inhabitants that will enjoy Chrome OS. It will give them easy and fine-tuned access to their Google services, perhaps in combination with their Android phone.
Whilst I agree that Chrome OS is unlikely to win over the Windows masses just yet, I suspect it will consolidate their hardcore users, giving them a netbook and a smart phone with which to consume Google services.
Dan:
Apple has proven that you don’t have to win over the masses to build a profitable software/hardware ecosystem. It’s okay to be niche…as long as you cultivate a customer-base that is willing to pay a premium for advantages your niche platform brings compared to what Microsoft is offering. Apple is sitting at something like 10% of computer sales..and that’s perfectly okay…because its a profitable venture. Apple doesn’t have to be the dominate vendor.. they have a loyal following willing to pay cash for products and services that sustains the software and hardware development Apple does. More importantly that loyal customer based influences other people to _buy_ Apple’s products and services…something Canonical doesn’t have in its Ubuntu userbase.
Google revenue strategy is pretty obvious to figure out. Control a segment of the mobile operating system market and drive more people to their already profitable advertising dollar supported services like search. Google’s search revenue is their strength…and their operating system developments reinforce that strength as well as building outward from it into potentially new revenue areas. Google has a well understood profitable core business.
Canonical’s revenue strategy is far less clear as Canonical doesn’t have an existing revenue stream that can be called a strength. For Canonical…5 years into their business plan… everything they are doing still seems like an experiment.. there is no core business. Nothing has solidified as a revenue stream strong enough for them to build outward from. That’s a problem.
I don’t see the point that consumers should have Ubuntu. I myself put Ubuntu at my mom’s and sister’s computer and I have to tell you.. It’s NOTHING good for no-tech people. The usual user wants to download a program to the desktop, doubleclick it and then it should install all by itself automatically. No manual handlers and crap. With Ubuntu just installing the driver for the WiFi was a murder. Not because there wasn’t a driver but because there was too much manual tweeking(blacklisting and so on). And guess what! Two weeks later my mom clicked on the user-friendly “Update” and a new kernel was installed but then the WiFi was lost! Do you think that usual folks want to sit for hours figuring out how to fix what is broken? People want things just to work, be minimal, easy to use! That’s excactly where all Linux distributions were fatal and that’s what Chrome OS is offering!