Chrome OS is getting full-fledged Linux apps
Google Chrome is getting a big upgrade with the ability to run Linux apps, with a preview set to be released on the Google Pixelbook today before rolling out later to other models, according to a report from VentureBeat.
It's a major addition to Google's web-based operating system, which up until now has offered web-based Chrome applications and, more recently, the ability to run Android apps. But the option to run full-fledged Linux software marks the first time that real desktop applications have come to Chrome OS.
According to Chrome OS director of product management Kan Liu, users will be able to run Linux tools, editors, and integrated development environments directly on Chromebooks, installing them from their regular sources just like they would on a regular Linux machine. According to Liu, "We put the Linux app environment within a security sandbox, running inside a virtual machine," with the apps running seamlessly alongside Android and web applications on Chrome OS.
Related Stories
Microsoft reportedly working on $400 Surface tablets to compete with the iPad
Microsoft is working on a new line of budget Surface tablets to better compete with Apple's low-cost iPad options, according to a report from Bloomberg.
According to the report, the new Surface tablets won't just be smaller, cheaper Surface Pros. Rather, Microsoft is said to be completely redesigning the devices, with 10-inch screens instead of the 12-inch size currently found on the Surface Pro, rounded corners that more resemble an iPad than the more rectangular Surface design, and USB-C for charging. Most importantly, priced at $400, they will be more in line with Apple's cheaper tablets, too.
Google also recently introduced an education-oriented ChromeOS tablet to compete with Apple's iPad.
Also at Laptop Magazine.
Related: Microsoft to Challenge Education-Oriented Chromebooks With Windows 10 Laptops Priced From $189
Apple Expected to Compete Against Chromebooks With Cheaper Education-Focused iPads
ChromeOS Gains the Ability to Run Linux Applications
Google's Fuchsia OS will support Linux apps
Google's non-Linux-based Fuchsia OS has added an emulator for running Debian Linux apps. Like its upcoming Linux emulator for Chrome OS, Fuchsia's "Guest" app will offer tighter integration than typical emulators.
Google has added a Guest app to its emergent and currently open source Fuchsia OS to enable Linux apps to run within Fuchsia as a virtual machine (VM). The Guest app makes use of a library called Machina that permits closer integration with the OS than is available with typical emulators, according to a recent 9to5Google story.
Last month, Google announced a Project Crostini technology that will soon let Chromebook users more easily run mainstream Linux applications within a Chrome OS VM. This week, Acer's Chromebook Flip C101 joined the short list of Chromebooks that will offer Linux support later this year.
Previously: Google's New Non-Linux OS: Fuchsia
Google's Not-So-Secret New OS
Google Fuchsia UI Previewed
Google to Add Swift Language Support to Fuchsia OS
ChromeOS Gains the Ability to Run Linux Applications
Google may add Windows 10 dual-boot option to Chromebooks
Google appears to be working on dual-boot support for Chromebooks. XDA-Developers has discovered that Google has been working to support an "alt OS mode" for its Pixelbook laptop for months now. Dubbed "Campfire," an obvious nod to Apple's own Boot Camp feature, Google's dual-boot is rumored to support Windows 10 on Chromebooks.
XDA-Developers claims Google is attempting to pass Microsoft's hardware certification for Windows 10 to allow its Pixelbook to officially run the alternative operating system. References to Microsoft's Windows Hardware Certification Kit have appeared in development builds of Chrome OS, and Google's Campfire work might extend to other new Chromebooks in the future.
Dual-boot support is said to be arriving on the Pixelbook soon, as Google engineers are pushing through multiple changes for Chrome OS to support the new feature.
That makes Google's recent attack ad a little funnier.
Also at Engadget, The Register, 9to5Google, Tom's Hardware, and CNET.
See also: Why cheap Chromebooks running Windows will benefit Google, not you
Related: ChromeOS Gains the Ability to Run Linux Applications
Google's Fuchsia OS Adds Emulator for Debian Linux Applications
Google has quietly crept out of the tablet business, removing the "tablets" heading from its Android page. Perhaps it hoped no one would notice on a Friday and by Monday it would be old news, but Android Police caught them in the act. It was there yesterday, but it's gone today.
[...] Google in particular has struggled to make Android a convincing alternative to iOS in the tablet realm, and with this move has clearly indicated its preference for the Chrome OS side of things, where it has inherited the questionable (but lucrative) legacy of netbooks. They've also been working on broadening Android compatibility with that OS. So it shouldn't come as much surprise that the company is bowing out.
[...] Google's exit doesn't mean Android tablets are done for, of course. They'll still get made, primarily by Samsung, Amazon and a couple of others, and there will probably even be some nice ones. But if Google isn't selling them, it probably isn't prioritizing them as far as features and support.
Also at 9to5Google.
Related: All New Chromebooks to Support Android Apps
The first Chrome OS tablet is here
Apple Expected to Compete Against Chromebooks With Cheaper Education-Focused iPads
ChromeOS Gains the Ability to Run Linux Applications
Ask the Community: In the Market for a Modern Tablet
(Score: 5, Touché) by PiMuNu on Wednesday May 09 2018, @05:03PM (19 children)
I hope people are not going to start referring to linux executables as "Apps". A crime against humanity.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday May 09 2018, @05:16PM (9 children)
It is inevitable that Inkscape, Gimp, VLC and many others will be called "Apps" by Chrome OS users.
Woo Hoo! I've been waiting for this! Can't wait to read TFA . . . er, am I supposed to read that before posting?
(I just bought a new Pixelbook last month.)
For some odd reason all scientific instruments searching for intelligent life are pointed away from Earth.
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Wednesday May 09 2018, @05:24PM (8 children)
I wonder how much overhead will be involved. My 2 GB Chromebook would probably struggle to run those, if it gains the ability at all. I had a fair bit of trouble running the ChromeOS version of VLC, although the alternatives were even worse and the program has since updated. I'm interested to see which version of VLC runs better and if VideoLAN stops developing the ChromeOS port due to this move.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday May 09 2018, @06:01PM (7 children)
There's your answer about overhead right there.
Emulating another entire operating system in order to run a single program is never cheap.
Furthermore, they stretch the meaning of "seamlessly" to the breaking point. Nothing in a proper sandbox runs seamlessly.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Informative) by DannyB on Wednesday May 09 2018, @06:14PM (5 children)
Right now (in developer mode) I run Crouton with two different "chroots", sometimes at the same time. (Ubuntu Unity, and an Ubuntu Xfce) If a desktop Linux runs in a window fairly seamlessly, then I don't see why a single app could not equally run this way. In fact, right now, Crouton has (almost trivial) instructions how to run a single app from your desktop Linux in the way that it appears to be an "App" on the Chrome OS. (eg, one app appears in a window, rather than an Ubuntu desktop appearing in a window. And by "window" this can also be a "browser tab" instead of a window.)
Each chroot with a few Linux apps only takes about 5 GB of storage, so they are cheap. If I added Java, Tomcat, Eclipse and some code, I'm still probably not talking about more than 2 or 3 GB of storage. The lowest Pixelbook has 128 GB of SSD. An Asus C302 has 64 GB of SSD.
With Google putting actual development resources into this, rather than something unofficial like Crouton, I can easily see it working seamlessly. Or at least more seamlessly than Android apps work. And they work. But some Android apps have a few quirks depending on the app.
For some odd reason all scientific instruments searching for intelligent life are pointed away from Earth.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by frojack on Wednesday May 09 2018, @07:51PM (4 children)
In a chroot is not seamless. If it were, it wouldn't be a chroot.
VMWare and Virtual Box offer a similar "appearance" but have the decency to explain all of the limitations this appearance imposes, as well as some of the risks involved. Its pretty easy to break out of the chroot once a user interface can be interacted with in the same display environment (xorg or wayland).
And the idea of adding full X/wayland capability into Chrome defeats the very purpose of having Chrome. It was supposed to be a light weight impenetrable sandbox for apps that rarely relied on local storage, and never relied on local program installation. Now you want both of those. You apparently don't really want ChromeOS, so why did you buy it?
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 10 2018, @02:48AM
Speaking for myself, I bought a couple chromebooks not because I want ChromeOS, but because I want lightweight laptops with decent battery life, which implies non-x86, which (for now) implies ARM. The whole ARM laptop market right now consists of chromebooks, locked-down winRT crap, and Android tablets with keyboards. Of these, chromebooks generally win or tie with winRT for performance, and definitely win for ability to run normal Linux stuff.
(Score: 2) by Pino P on Thursday May 10 2018, @06:10AM
Because the store sells that laptop in Windows and Chrome OS editions, not a GNU/Linux edition.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday May 10 2018, @02:07PM
By seamless, I mean the UI experience. I launch a Chrome OS app. An Android app. A Linux app (but not yet today). It all just works.
I very deliberately bought ChromeOS. It's a geek / nerd paradise.
I had taxable gift from employer which must be spent on tech gadget(s). Started thinking about an Android tablet to replace my beloved Nexus 6, 2013 model which bit the dust a couple years ago. Then I started thinking about low end Chromebooks. Then I looked at higher and higher end. I was focused on Asus C302 with 4 GB RAM and 64 GB SSD. But then I just had to get the Pixelbook. Because.
My reasons were:
* It's a nice machine, nice specs
* Beautiful in appearance, light weight, 360 foldable into tablet, has touch screen, high res
* Self updating, no fuss, turnkey
* Chrome OS apps
* Google Assistant built in ("hey google, how many ways to skin a cat?", google: "42")
* Android apps (quite a large library of turnkey easy to use software)
* Can run in developer mode, effectively rooted, you really do own it
* Plenty of videos, and experience from friends about using Crouton to install "linux desktop" or "linux command only" chroots.
* Microsoft free
* Apple free (although it looks and feels like something Apple would build, in a good way)
Chrome OS already has X. It is Linux with a Chrome web browser.
The chroots simply take advantage of the existing X. In developer mode, it is rooted. You don't even need a chroot. You can run software directly on the base Linux which is Chrome OS / Android. It is not laid out in a way that most familiar distros are, so chroots are great.
With Android, you can run Termux and get many of the advantages of Linux command line software. Node.js, Python, VIM, etc. And I even have Termux installed as an Android app. (because I'm a geek) But nothing like having a "real" Ubuntu desktop -- in a window (like a VM but not a VM).
In short it has all of the turnkey benefits of Chrome OS / Android / Google Assistant out of the box. Plus the vast library of Linux desktop and command line software.
Yet Google makes a model that starts at the low end with 128 GB of SSD and 8 GB of RAM ??? Who are they doing this for? Developers, Developers, Developers. We got my mother in law a Chromebook, and she loves it, but the use case is very different from a Pixelbook.
As for impenetrable sandbox, in Developer Mode, it is about as penetrated as it gets. You can set your own root password on the Chrome OS linux. You can encrypt your chroots easily with Crouton. You can set the BIOS to legacy mode and boot other OSes.
As for local program installation, they added Android to Chrome OS.
Hope that helps. In short, it's a fantastic geek toybox in a small light package.
For some odd reason all scientific instruments searching for intelligent life are pointed away from Earth.
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Thursday May 10 2018, @08:06PM
Depends on what you mean by "seamless". Graphical (X/Wayland) apps are rendered like native apps. You get a bubble launcher icon or whatever they're called, just like native apps. They can access all your files (with user confirmation), just like native apps. So yes, Linux apps run seamlessly as Chromium OS apps.
Maybe you're forgetting that Chromium OS apps are heavily sandboxed by default already, so running Linux apps in a chroot/VM/container makes them roughly exactly the same as native apps.
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 3, Informative) by DannyB on Thursday May 10 2018, @02:27PM
One other piece of info you didn't ask for.
Google maintains the Chrome OS image, for different models of chromebook.
The BIOS has an unconventional UI. It tells you how to completely reinstall Chrome OS. Use another computer to go to this URL, and download the image for the following 16 digit model number. Then "dd" that image onto a USB stick. Then pick reinstall (or whatever it is called). The BIOS verifies that this USB stick image is the real deal, and then fully re-installs the OS totally wiping everything. This option is useful if you repartition the SSD and install, say Ubuntu, directly onto the hardware.
If you still have Chrome OS, rooted or not, the Settings have an option called "PowerWash". This does effectively the same thing, but from a write protected copy of the OS. If you take the machine apart (but nobody would do that!) there is a certain screw you can remove to un-write-protect that copy of the OS.
You really do own the machine. Can do literally anything to it. Yet can reinstall or PowerWash it back to factory fresh. Quite a refreshing change from Microsoft OSes that stopped providing reinstall media a long time ago.
For some odd reason all scientific instruments searching for intelligent life are pointed away from Earth.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 09 2018, @05:53PM (8 children)
Oh don't be such a grandpa, back in the day only the cool kids called software "applications" instead of programs. So of course the hip crowd continued the practice by shortening the cool word! "Program" may be more accurate and descriptive, but "application" helps bridge the gap between ignorance and usage. If the word itself doesn't make much sense then clueless users will feel more comfortable.
Do you really want people to use "executable"? They will associate linux or whatever with crime and death!!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by frojack on Wednesday May 09 2018, @06:02PM (1 child)
The word "Application" bridges no gap.
Sorry, that's just bingo-word bullshit.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 09 2018, @06:09PM
I guess my humor was a little too veiled. I hate "apps" however I also realize it is impossible to fight certain popular trends so I'm trying to make peace with it.
(Score: 4, Informative) by DannyB on Wednesday May 09 2018, @06:14PM (2 children)
Back in the day we didn't call it an App.
We called it a deck of punched cards!
For some odd reason all scientific instruments searching for intelligent life are pointed away from Earth.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 09 2018, @06:23PM (1 child)
The cards are inanimate! Just cause you suck at poker doesn't mean you should take it out on the deck.
If you are upset at my terrible humor I have a lemon you can suck on >:O
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday May 10 2018, @02:15PM
In my youth I used punched cards and watched them be replaced by CRT terminals.
As card decks went away, people began using decks to play cassette and 8-track tapes.
Now people use decks for lounging and grilling outdoors.
For some odd reason all scientific instruments searching for intelligent life are pointed away from Earth.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Thursday May 10 2018, @02:39AM
Let's settle this once and for all - they're called "Progs", dagnabbit.
(Score: 2) by corey on Thursday May 10 2018, @04:35AM
Nah. We called them "appz". The other " apps" that provided fun and entertainment were called "gamez".
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Thursday May 10 2018, @08:02PM
Uh, no, not all programs are applications.
Firefox is a program and an application.
The Linux kernel is a program but not an application.
sed is a program and a utility, but not an application.
python is a program and an interpreter, but not an application.
Not all executable files are programs. For example, you can add a shebang line to a video file that runs a media player, which would allow you to execute the video file, but the video file itself isn't a program (without heavily abusing the definition of "program").
Smartphones generally only support applications, which is why the abbreviation "apps" is so commonly used now, however real computer also support applications, and "apps" is a valid word for referring to these types of programs.
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 09 2018, @05:55PM (1 child)
Embrace *hug of death initiated*
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday May 10 2018, @02:30PM
You should use Python instead.
For some odd reason all scientific instruments searching for intelligent life are pointed away from Earth.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 09 2018, @05:57PM (1 child)
Imagine a Beowulf cluster of these . . .
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 09 2018, @06:18PM
Chrome? Chrome? Chrome OS! App app app! Chrome os! APP! Chrome chrome chrome GOOGLE chrome chrome app chrome app
(Score: 2) by Arik on Wednesday May 09 2018, @06:14PM (12 children)
From the context later on it sounds like they mean X-Window applications, which doesn't have anything to do with linux.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 09 2018, @06:19PM
I think you can find them on the iTunes store
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 09 2018, @06:20PM (5 children)
Your incredible display of pedantry has piqued the Director's interest, how would you like to become a member of the elite Grammar Nazi Corps?
(Score: 1) by Arik on Wednesday May 09 2018, @06:36PM (4 children)
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 09 2018, @06:41PM
I will have to toss this back in your court, if the GSPD was doing its job then "Grammar Nazi" would never have become a popular meme. Maybe you could learn a thing or two from that old political party.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Gaaark on Wednesday May 09 2018, @06:54PM (2 children)
Colonel No, no this is silly.
Dino What's silly?
Colonel No, the whole premise is silly and it's very badly written. I'm the senior officer here and I haven't had a funny line yet. So I'm stopping it.
Dino You can't do that!
Colonel I've done it. The sketch is over.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. I have always been here. ---Gaaark 2.0 --
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 09 2018, @09:16PM (1 child)
Dino: Colonel have you submitted the proper paperwork? The sketch seems to have kept going.
Colonel: That's preposterous!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 09 2018, @10:20PM
If preposterous is a word, why can't postposterous be one?
(Score: 4, Informative) by DannyB on Wednesday May 09 2018, @06:22PM
GUI applications that are compiled for and run on Linux. On the same Linux kernel that is also running Chrome OS and Android. One kernel. No emulators. If you boot your Chome OS in "developer mode" you have effectively rooted it. Then you can use Crouton to install multiple Linux "distributions" -- but not in the conventional way you install an ISO. Each is a "chroot" somewhat modified to launch the distribution as a chroot, while Chrome OS is running (including running Android apps at the same time). You can launch multiple "chroot" linux desktop environments at once. It makes a Pixelbook into a very thin, light, attractive development machine.
It will be cool if pre-packaged Linux apps (or even entire desktop environments, sans kernel) can run on Chrome OS -- WITHOUT being in developer mode.
A Chrome OS user who doesn't know the difference between "Developer Channel" and "Developer Mode" probably shouldn't use either.
For some odd reason all scientific instruments searching for intelligent life are pointed away from Earth.
(Score: 1) by goathack on Wednesday May 09 2018, @07:50PM (1 child)
GNU/Pendant.
(Score: 2) by lentilla on Thursday May 10 2018, @03:51AM
GNU/Pe
ndant.I suspect I've been trolled :-) Nicely played sir, nicely played.
(Score: 2) by crafoo on Wednesday May 09 2018, @10:51PM (1 child)
"like they mean X-Window applications, which doesn't have anything to do with linux."
Come on now.
(Score: 1) by Arik on Wednesday May 09 2018, @11:56PM
http://openports.se/
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by jmorris on Wednesday May 09 2018, @08:41PM (2 children)
At this point THE universal for development is the POSIX API as modified by common Linux usages. A console mode Linux application will now build and run on any Linux, almost any BSD, OS X, Windows and now Chrome OS. Getting one to work on most Android devices is also fairly straightforward. Graphical applications do not officially run on Windows and on Android only with non-trivial difficulty but those barriers to adoption will eventually fall.
It is now clear, if you are a developer who isn't obsessed with "RIGHT NOW" and isn't a blithering idiot who can only code on Visual Studio, you want to be writing for Linux. Linux is the future of computing, server, desktop, tablet and smart phone. Microsoft already has Linux distributions (yes plural) and offers many of their own applications for Linux. Eventually they will bend the knee and port their latest ABI to run atop a Linux kernel because of the driver issues. All chipmakers deliver Linux development support kits. Video support on non-x86 is the last big holdout in all of it being Open Source and upstreamed.
(Score: 2) by crafoo on Wednesday May 09 2018, @11:00PM (1 child)
The trend is towards more closed hardware and blackbox firmware, not less. So these "hold outs" will only increase, with very little incentive _so far_ to maintain parity. For instance, (assembly) coding at the hardware level on ARM: vile and disappointing at every level. Computing is so disappointing these days. IBM Power is ironically looking somewhat interesting compared to the alternatives.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday May 10 2018, @02:35PM
You really do own a Chromebook, or at least a Pixelbook. See my other posts here in this topic.
In short: You can root it with the flip of a switch. And then restore it back to factory clean un-rooted with the flop of a switch. You can PowerWash a ChromeOS (under Settings). You can download a reinstall image from Google to USB stick and the unconventional BIOS can reinstall it. In Developer Mode, it really is rooted and you own it completely.
For some odd reason all scientific instruments searching for intelligent life are pointed away from Earth.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 09 2018, @09:19PM
Nuf said.
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Thursday May 10 2018, @08:17PM
Some of you might be wondering, why use Chrome OS?
For me, the reason is security. Security researchers don't bring Linux or Windows laptops to conferences; it's too risky (try searching for DEFCON and Chrome OS). They bring a Chrome OS laptop.
Chrome OS has a lot of security features, that make every other OS look like a bank vault door made of paper. The bootloader and OS are all signed and mounted read only. Anything suspicious and the hardware will kick the machine into recovery mode and reimage the machine using the protected factory image. All applications are sandboxed, all users are sandboxed, much more heavily than default *nix file permissions. Updates are signed and happen automatically in the background; it takes a few seconds to reboot the machine and run with the latest security fixes (and Chrome OS gets security patches really fast, much faster than Windows and faster than most Linux distros). The lack of persistent state is a bonus, since you can wipe the machine without losing anything important, and wiping the machine is a great way to get rid of any software intrusions, if they manage to get past the sandboxes. Coupled with 2FA, there's not much an attacker can do even if they compromise all of the security layers, since all of your data is protected by your Google account credentials
Of course, this does rely on you trusting Google. If you do trust Google however, there simply isn't a more secure machine than a Chrome OS device.
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!