Chromium OS is Out, and it is Based on Ubuntu Linux
A branch called chromiumos was just added to the official Chromium git repository, and the contents of the index files there indicate that Chromium OS, and in effect Google Chrome OS, is based on Ubuntu Linux. From chromiumos.git/src/package_repo/repo_list_image.txt:
71 fontconfig 2.6.0-1ubuntu12 optional utils pool/main/f/fontconfig/fontconfig_2.6.0-1ubuntu12_i386.deb 72 fontconfig-config 2.6.0-1ubuntu12 optional libs pool/main/f/fontconfig/fontconfig-config_2.6.0-1ubuntu12_all.deb 73 gcc-4.4-base 4.4.1-1ubuntu3 required libs pool/main/g/gcc-4.4/gcc-4.4-base_4.4.1-1ubuntu3_i386.deb
Here are some videos from the Chromium OS website that just went live:
What is Google Chrome OS?
Chromium OS Security
Chromium OS & Open Source
Chromium Fast Boot
There’s a live transcript of the Google Chrome OS event speech by Google VP of Product Management, Sundar Pichai, over at TechCrunch. They have also just posted a video demo of Google Chrome OS recorded at the announcement event in Mountain View, showing off the interface, bootup times, and more.
Update: Ars Technica has just published an excellent analysis of Chrome OS.
Guess What: Google Is Making a Phone Now
It seems very likely that Google is planning to release their own phone; not ‘merely’ a phone based on their mobile operating system, Android, but the Google phone — their take on the iPhone. Michael Arrington thinks the phone won’t be a traditional cellphone, but rather rely on data connections/VoIP via Google Voice entirely. Google already has the technology (they can rebuild him?) to give users of its Google Voice service real phone numbers; it seems like a logical next step.
Google is building their own branded phone that they’ll sell directly and through retailers. They were long planning to have the phone be available by the holidays, but it has now slipped to early 2010. The phone will be produced by a major phone manufacturer but will only have Google branding (Microsoft did the same thing with their first Zunes, which were built by Toshiba).
There won’t be any negotiation or compromise over the phone’s design of features – Google is dictating every last piece of it. No splintering of the Android OS that makes some applications unusable. Like the iPhone for Apple, this phone will be Google’s pure vision of what a phone should be.
I wonder if Google is having a serious go at world domination right now. First browsers, programming languages, operating systems, internet protocols, Wave, and now phones — where does it end? Oh well; for now, I don’t want it to.
Google to Release Chrome OS Within a Week
Google is apparently releasing their highly anticipated, lightweight, Linux-based operating system targeted at netbooks, Google Chrome OS, within a week, according to TechCrunch. TechCrunch also thinks we should expect shoddy driver support, which seems like a strange conclusion considering the maturity of the Linux kernel.
There’s really not that much information about the operating system, though it is safe to assume that there will be a strong emphasis on the Chrome browser and all of Google’s web-based services and applications.
Let’s wait and see.
Update: It seems that Google is planning a special Chrome OS event for Thursday, the 19th of November, which will include a demonstration and “complete overview” of Google Chrome OS. The product apparently won’t be released until (early) next year, but the wording “complete overview” gives me the impression that they are just polishing and testing now.
Update 2: Chromium OS is Out, and It is Based on Ubuntu Linux!
This Is Why The Vocal Minority Doesn't Matter
If you play video games, you probably know the Call of Duty series of games. If you play games on the PC, you probably also know that Infinity Ward, the company behind Call of Duty, decided to leave out dedicated server support in their latest installment, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. You’ve probably complained about this, and you might even have decided that Infinity Ward isn’t getting your money at all.
Here’s why they don’t care:
Ninite is like Automatix for Windows
Ninite lets you construct a custom installation package containing different software of your choice. This package then installs all of the applications in one go, using their default settings — it also tries to skip any toolbar installations and other annoyances automatically.
Automatix was a dangerous abomination, code-wise, but its concept was noble. Ninite seems to be striving for something similar (albeit saner) on Windows. If you’re lazy, and you don’t mind trusting a third party too much, you should give it a try.