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Is Google’s Chrome OS Good for Linux?

The number one reason Linux has not gained as much ground on the desktop as I think it could is simply that it does not always work out of the box and this is is due to the lack of driver support for standard peripherals. Most of the time Linux gets drivers for products much later in the devices life and by that point something better has come out that you want to use, be it a graphics card, sound card, wifi card, printer etc...Vendors don't see it as been worth while to invest in releasing Linux drivers along side Mac and Windows, because the returns are not significant enough.

With Google entering the Operating System (OS), their initial strategy is to sell netbooks with Chrome OS pre-installed on it. Google has said that one of there biggest focuses is to get driver support for everything you'd want to plug into your netbook, this means cameras, mp3 players, e-book reader, etc...it all should just work! They aren't taking the project lightly and have partnered with several big hardware vendors to ensure that wireless cards, graphics card, etc...are all compatible and work perfectly out of the box. They have also partnered with Canonical (the people behind Ubuntu) to help them creating a great stable OS. Chrome OS is essentially a very lightweight stripped down version of Ubuntu.

So how is this going to help Linux? Google is too big to ignore, even if they are just starting off in a new space and vendors are going to want to make their products Chrome OS compatible. I'd like to see Google rewarding vendors and allowing them to put a “Chrome OS Compatible” badge of some sort on there boxes which will make products attractive to consumers. Google has really embraced open source and open standards which is not only good for there business, but is great for the consumer. I believe this could be a defining moment in Linux history if Google can encourage companies to release drivers and support products for Linux.

I'm interested in what you think of the impact that Google could have on Linux, post a comment below.

Note: Great disscussion happening on the Ubuntu Forums

Related posts:

1. Google Chrome OS Open Source Project Announcement