Think Chromebooks don’t work offline? Think again.

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JR Raphael has an excellent article in Computerworld that explores how to set up your Chromebook so it’ll work offline. Yes, there are limitations. No
[See the full post at: Think Chromebooks don’t work offline? Think again.]

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jburk07, The Surfing Pensioner, lurks about, lmacri, Joulia.S, Microfix, HiFlyer, CyGuy, GreatAndPowerfulTech

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Google’s recent pronouncements to the effect that all future Chromebooks will be able to run Linux programs means that ChromeOS will be the most consumer-accessible platform for that purpose.  It’s already Linux under the hood, but without the ability to run Linux programs, it’s not what most people think of when they think of a Linux PC.

You can buy select PCs with Linux on them on the web, but you can’t just go to Wal-Mart or Best Buy and see multiple examples at varying price points.  With Chromebooks, you can.  They are fast to boot and update seamlessly, and they’re pretty secure.

It’s not all positive, though.

Anyone who is disturbed by Windows 10’s telemetry and forced updates should be even more suspicious of Google than they are of Microsoft.  Some of the reasons I’ve seen expressed about why Win 10 telemetry is bad include the assumption that any such vacuumed data will be used for ad-slinging, even though there hasn’t (AFAIK) been any evidence so far that this is what MS is doing.  (My own objection to telemetry is based on the concept that owning the hardware means controlling it, meaning that telemetry should not be mandatory, no matter what its purpose.)

The assumption that telemetry means targeted ads exists primarily because of Google and Facebook, whose data slurping for advertising is so pervasive that it has become the new normal.  With Google, it’s not just a guess that data is being scooped up for commercial purposes… it’s a known fact.

If having your personal data vacuumed up and stored by Google for their own benefit (and with all of the risks that brings; data that is not traversing the internet and being stored once there can’t be hacked or leaked) doesn’t bother you, Chromebooks could be a good choice, but I’d be a lot more positive about Windows 10 also if I didn’t mind that.

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rc primak, Bertram Pincus, jburk07, David F, HiFlyer

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Just got my first Chromebook today, looking forward to try it out. Still got Windows on my desktop (mainly for gaming and full Office suite), but no more on my laptop 🙂

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I really like my Chromebook, too, which is only about a month old, and have plans to explore its capabilities. Problem is, getting my dranddaughter off of it; her forefinger appears glued to the touchpad, her eyes to the screen……………………………………….

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That can be a problem with Chromebooks, in particular, because they are so very user-friendly when it comes to looking up things on the Web, as you have already explained.

One solution (that I don’t know how to implement but should be possible to figure out after some study of the problem) could be to make it so that, when starting a new session, instead of the user-friendly Desktop, what comes up is the Terminal application that gives access only to the Linux command line (where the only way to interact with the machine is by entering Linux line-commands), and adding to this setup the twist that the only way one is allowed to get out of Terminal and on to the Desktop is by issuing a secret line-command your grand daughter will never be able to figure out without learning a lot of Linux first.

And, in the process, she can also learn a trade.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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An ingenious idea, Oscar, but I can imagine it resulting in a lot of hard work for me! Presenting an eight-year-old with an I.T. problem to solve instead of the immediate entertainment she’s hoping for is not likely to enable me to get on with other things whilst she is happily preoccupied, which is the upside of her Chromebook addiction. Not to mention the fact that I’d have to set up the Terminal bypass in the first place and I haven’t a clue where to start! But thanks for the suggestion. The only long-term solution I can think of which is straightforward to implement is……………………….a second Chromebook. Maybe next year?

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rc primak

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Of course you know that I was kidding, right?

That does not mean it was necessarily such a bad suggestion…  One might choose to follow it and, as a side effect, become an expert on all things Linux in the hardest  possible way (and, while at it, also learn a useful trade along with, as in this case, one’s grand daughter), or else help poor Google make some additional profit. Why is it that people so often choose convenience over self-improvement, is what I would like to know.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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I wasn’t entirely sure, Oscar! On occasions you do seem to approach your technical goals by more elaborate routes than the average simple soul would take. That’s not meant to be a criticism; it’s just an observation!

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I think Linux terminal in Chrome OS wasn’t a big deal for most users. Even Android apps made more sense for the market that Chromebooks have had success in which is education. Still the OS ranks like 1/2 a percent in market share which means it barely even registers. Linux desktop has way more users at 2 to 3%. Still think one day Google will just pull the plug on Chromebooks. They just have not taken off in any significant way.

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_Reassigned Account wrote:

I think Linux terminal in Chrome OS wasn’t a big deal for most users.

I didn’t get the details of what was changing, but Google said that all Chromebooks would get the ability to run Linux programs.  If it was just the terminal, that would hold a lot of people back.

It may not matter to a lot of people, but it does mean that a device capable of running Linux programs out of the box was in a broad variety of stores for the first time. Most people will never install their own OS, and that has been a factor that has held Linux back as a consumer OS.

I don’t plan to use a Chromebook myself, but a larger market for Linux programs would be a good thing for me.  While I am not waiting for the proverbial “year of the Linux desktop” or anything like that, it would be nice to make some headway on the “chicken or egg” issue where developers don’t want to support Linux because it has too few users, and users don’t want to move to Linux because they need a specific Windows program.

Still the OS ranks like 1/2 a percent in market share which means it barely even registers. Linux desktop has way more users at 2 to 3%. Still think one day Google will just pull the plug on Chromebooks. They just have not taken off in any significant way.

And that is really perplexing.  With all of the advertising and floor space these things get at retailers, it really seems that they should be higher than that… not just because advertising makes people buy things, but because it would not be economically feasible to promote Chromebooks that don’t sell at the expense of laptops that do sell.

I was just searching for laptop bags at walmart.com the other day, and the site was pushing about six different flavors of Chromebooks in the “you might also be interested in” section.  Not a single Windows laptop among them!  (Sorry, Wally World, but I need a bag for the laptops I already have!  I don’t need the bag and the contents.)

Perhaps Chromebooks are getting counted into the Android numbers by the analytics bots for Netmarketshare?

Dell XPS 13/9310, i5-1135G7/16GB, KDE Neon 6.2
XPG Xenia 15, i7-9750H/32GB & GTX1660ti, Kubuntu 24.04
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Bertram Pincus, OscarCP

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There is a big disconnect between reported OS numbers and the sales space allotted in many stores. Based on sales space one would expect the sales to be may be 25% Apple, 25% Chromebook, and the rest Windows. It makes one wonder which numbers are wrong because retailers are loathed to give floor space to products that are carrying the own weight. I believe what I see at the retailers.

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Bertram Pincus

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I didn’t get the details of what was changing, but Google said that all Chromebooks would get the ability to run Linux programs. If it was just the terminal, that would hold a lot of people back.

It isn’t like that. Google is developing Crostini, which is their own proprietary Linux kernel.

See:

CROSTINI REPORT: WHAT’S NEW WITH LINUX ON CHROMEBOOKS

https://chromeunboxed.com/crostini-report-whats-new-with-linux-on-chromebooks/

To be more accurate, Crostini provides a Container environment, inside of which any other Linux system can be installed. I don’t know whether full-scale Linux Graphical Interface (GUI) apps can yet be run, but this seems to be the long-term aim of the Crostini Project. That, and adding a full Google Linux distro which is to be written in Google’s own proprietary code, bypassing the GNU/Linux GPL requirements which govern the “real” Linux kernel.

All very different from the Free Libre Open Source (FLOSS) concept.

-- rc primak

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Chrome web browser and Android mobile OS are a privacy nightmare. I can very easily assume Chrome OS is the same. Google is generally evil. Maybe not as evil as some other companies but evil enough that one should have serious concerns about using their offerings. I don’t trust Google so I have no interest in a Chromebook.

I don’t use Chrome browser. I am just waiting for some calamity to befall my android phone so I can justify replacing it it with a new much dumber phone. I can’t see any circumstances where a Chromebook would appeal to me.

My thoughts, not necessarily compatible with yours…

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Bertram Pincus

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I bought a Chromebook in 2016 to do one thing – create & modify docs offline. I was a VERY happy camper.  With the OS update the first week in Oct 2018 I have lost that ability. I was actually working with a doc offline, I went online to save my changes in the ‘cloud’ – got an OS update notice – applied update – saved my doc changes – went offline – tried to continue working on the doc & have been receiving the same sad dinosaur graphic with the “no connection” text ever since.  Very frustrating… I have to work around by saving doc as an msdocx on my sd card while online, then applying offline changes when I’m connected the next opportunity…. I have been on the forums for months, trying every suggestion. To repeat, I have tried everything – even a “power wash”… I feel like the sad dinosaur graphic…

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jburk07

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Woody

I was thinking about getting a Chromebook.  What kind do you have?

Thanks

Sam

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Hi Woody,
Here”s a page worth checking out,check to see how long any Chrome OS device will receive updates right now — or even before you buy it.
https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/6220366?hl=en

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ASUS Chromebook C213 12.5 inch
64GB memory .

iphone 6,need to upgrade soon,bugger !

Reeder M7 Go 2019 Tablet !

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b, rc primak

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One more reason I converted my Chromebook to Fedora Linux full-time.

-- rc primak

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Ascaris wrote:

Perhaps Chromebooks are getting counted into the Android numbers by the analytics bots for Netmarketshare?

Chromebooks rule the K-12 ( kindergarten to 12th grade) in US brushing aside iPads and Windows tablets/PCs.

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rc primak

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I may be stuck with a Chromebook with no alternative – my daughter’s school uses Google apps extensively as part of the educational process, and she has to get some sort of tablet or laptop for this purpose.

I am composing a letter to the principal right now, asking if he would consider what Microsoft has to offer, to replace what they are using Google apps for. I have two reasons for wanting this:

* I don’t feel at all comfortable knowing that Google will be “looking over her shoulder and taking notes” whenever she is using any of the Google apps.

* Companies in the real world are using Microsoft products, not Google products. It would be better for her resume if she were familiar with Microsoft products.

While doing my research, I found that if she has a school email address, she can get Microsoft Office for free! Did you know that? Here’s the web address:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/products/office

If in fact we are stuck with using Google products, the information in this article is very handy. Thanks for the info, Woody.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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Bertram Pincus

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I wanted to give an update about my letter to the principal of my daughter’s school. One of the school administrators called me in response to my letter, and we had a very nice conversation. He told me that we weren’t limited to using Google products; we could also use Microsoft products, and that includes being able to use a Windows device rather than a Google device. (Now if I can only find a decent Windows tablet that won’t break the bank!)

He told me one thing that I didn’t know: in education, the United States has laws (similar to the medical HIPAA laws) for protecting the students’ information. Knowing this makes me less worried about my daughter using Google products to do her school work.

At any rate, she doesn’t have to have a tablet or other such device till next year, when it will become a requirement, so I have a little time to see what is out there. Also, I imagine there will be some decent Windows tablets next year for a lot less money than they cost right now.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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The school official was probably referring to FERPA.

General Info is here:

https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/faq/what-ferpa

and info technology vendors must follow is here:

https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/audience/education-technology-vendors

IMHO however, I’ll bet Google does everything they can to play fast and loose with those rules.

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In all that the article said about working offline, there is no mention of how to use system-wide macros when offline.

In Sheets this is provided for. But in Docs, I made a Macro to insert the date and time into a document through a keyboard shortcut. It only works if I am online. Offline none of this or other custom modifications works.

So the functionality of Google Docs is seriously compromised if there is no Internet connection. At least in my experience.

Linux on the same Chromebook solved the problem — until Fedora 30 came out. There seems to be no way to install the new version of Fedora alongside Chrome OS on the CAVE firmware. Everything I’ve found so far says CHRX no longer supports Fedora. And the Fedora Installer needs to create a new Boot Partition to install Fedora 30. Which sends the Chromebook into Reset Mode.

So for now I’ve just converted the Chromebook to Fedora and left Chrome OS out in the cold. When the Chromebook can no longer receive updates from Google this will still be a fully functioning “Linuxbook”.

I will never support any device which comes from Microsoft, Google, Apple or Amazon (or Facebook) and claims to be able to “run” Linux. It will never be pure, FLOSS Linux. Never.

-- rc primak

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