Google Chrome Cross Platform

[me-5yx05kfkO/aqeI1yJSURBw at public.gmane.org (Matthew Gillen)]

On 03/10/2010 08:08 AM, Edward Ned Harvey wrote:
> But I do believe it is the future.  When Chrome OS comes out, as an OS that
> can't install any apps, essentially immune to viruses and stuff.  It'll be
> nearly indestructible although limited in functionality.

Sure it will.  Keep dreaming.  If it allows you to do anything nontrivial
(watch video, listen to music, look at pictures, run javascript) then there
will be holes at some point.  And if all you can do is look at static html,
and can't do any of those things mentioned above, then no one will care or
want to use it.

You need only look at *BSD, which doesn't have any of these 'consumer
friendly' applications installed by default, prides itself on security, and
yet even they had a hole in their default install (one hole in 8 years or
however long it's been now is still considered an amazing feat).

> This will be attractive to a lot of people who don't want to mess around
> with supporting their systems, who have grown accustomed to crap PC's full
> of junk so it's cripplingly slow, or the alternative uber-high priced
> apples. Chrome OS will satisfy a lot of people and become very popular. I
> know I'll get one for my Mom so she can stop calling for support. ;-)

FWIW, I agree this day will come eventually, just like car culture changed
over the last 40 years to the point where people are now perfectly happy to
not be able to work on their cars in their own garage anymore, other than to
change the oil.

But I'm not convinced that day is around the corner.  The reason mostly has to
do with how quickly things move in the software world.  There's always
something new that people want to try out.

For example: why doesn't Apple package up the 20 most popular apps for the
Iphone, audit them for security/quality, pre-install them, and sell a locked
down Iphone?  Because it would be out of date before they could even finish
the security audit (I'm purposely ignoring all the issues they'd have
licensing from all the app developers, or all the other financial reasons they
have for operating the App Store).

5 years ago I would have agreed with you more.  The explosion of the App Store
model has made me less certain of which direction the world will go.

Matt