ChromeOS Flex [LWN.net]

ChromeOS Flex

Posted Sep 17, 2025 20:55 UTC (Wed) by marcH (subscriber, #57642)
Parent article: Providing support for Windows 10 refugees

> "If they only use the browser, afterward they say that it looks just like Windows".

Speaking of which: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChromeOS_Flex

For sure it's not FSF-compliant but if the main goal really is to avoid [e-]waste then that should be one of the options. I'm surprised it was not mentioned one way or the other.

I think "too much choice" and fragmentation in general has been one of the reasons the "Year of the Linux Desktop" never came. Which Linux? For good or bad, ChromeOS removes a lot of "choice" and complexity. It's designed to work like a smartphone which is great for people who want to forget about their computer and don't care that much about their Freedom.

You could argue that no caring about your Freedom means falling into the same vendor lock-in trap again. But it's not the same: you can use a Chromebook without using Google services much. Every service is different but it's generally much easier to switch from one cloud service to another than replacing some Win32-only application or asking MS to support PCs without a TPM2

There are hundreds of guides like this: https://www.google.com/search?q=degoogle+android

to post comments

ChromeOS Flex

Posted Sep 25, 2025 6:34 UTC (Thu) by rhn (guest, #102779) [Link] (1 responses)

> you can use a Chromebook without using Google services much

This suggests you had a different experience from mine. My Chromebook is still waiting for its turn to get de-googled it after I tried to set it up and discovered that there's no leaving the setup screen without a Google account.

ChromeOS Flex

Posted Sep 25, 2025 15:03 UTC (Thu) by marcH (subscriber, #57642) [Link]

You need a Google account and you must use... Chrome. That's not for everyone but that's what millions of Windows 10 users have already been doing for years.

It all depends what the objectives are.