I’m not sure what to think about google. As every day passes and we hear about some new thing that are proposing or doing I get more and more frustrated because google seems to becoming the next microsoft. And while microsoft has been great in the marketplace and even the stockmarket… they are a constant security risk and their idiomatic choices just do not suit me.

As I mentioned in a previous post… my development environment is strictly a browser and a terminal shell. I suppose I should have added IPSec; OpenVPN and drive encryption. Lastly cloud based configuration means I can replace my laptop on demand or feel confident opening my user account on any ChromeOS device assuming all the things.

But now Google is hinting at ansible. Sure it’s nice that RedHat and google are working together but really? Ansible is a scripting tool meant for installing applications and tools. I suppose an installer like this is meaningful in some ways but really.

“We” seem to have any number of installers already. Whether it’s ‘install’, or a package manager, flatpak, containers, or so on. There is another side effect here. ChromeOS devices are or have been leftovers from the previous model year or such. They are typically underpowered or at least low powered machines with little or minimal RAM and other resources.

Exposing the ChromeOS device to vulnerable apps and other attack vectors is one thing but squeezing the last bit of performance is another.

Right now ChromeOS is out of favor for my desktop in favor of Pop_OS but for my family it’s still ChromeOS. It’s the cobbler’s rule.