Chromium OS
Encyclopedia
Chromium OS is the open source
development version of Google Chrome OS
.
Chrome OS's source code
was released on November 19, 2009 under the same BSD license
as Chromium OS.
, web browser
and window manager
, and system-level software and userland services.
.
While Google did not expect that hobbyists would use and evaluate Chromium OS ahead of its official release, Sundar Pichai
, Google vice president of product management, said that "what people like Hexxeh are doing is amazing to see." Pichai said the early releases were an unintended consequence of open source development. "If you decide to do open-source projects, you have to be open all the way."
Hexxeh's work continued into the following year. He announced "Chromium OS Lime" in December 2010, and in January 2011, released "Luigi", an application designed to "jailbreak
"/"root
" the Google
Cr-48 "Mario" prototype hardware and install a generic BIOS
. The developer made the builds available in virtual machine format on March 13, 2011, the date of his most recent blog posting. With no official build of Chromium OS forthcoming from Google, Hexxeh's "Vanilla" nightly builds of Chromium OS remain the principal resource for people wanting to try Chromium OS.
In May 2011, Dell Computer also released a new build for Dell Inspiron Mini 10v netbook, following up on an earlier build released almost 18 months earlier. The build did not support audio, but was bootable from a USB drive.
and the Xi3 modular computer, introduced by the company of the same name.
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
development version of Google Chrome OS
Google Chrome OS
Google Chrome OS is a Linux-based operating system designed by Google to work exclusively with web applications. Google announced the operating system on July 7, 2009 and made it an open source project, called Chromium OS, that November....
.
Chrome OS's source code
Source code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
was released on November 19, 2009 under the same BSD license
BSD licenses
BSD licenses are a family of permissive free software licenses. The original license was used for the Berkeley Software Distribution , a Unix-like operating system after which it is named....
as Chromium OS.
User interface
Chromium OS uses the newnew:tab page found in Google Chrome to open web apps. Compared to prior builds, this replaces the applications page. Chromium OS provides a clock, battery indicator and network status indicator. The key combination toggles a keyboard overlay that shows the function of all the shortcut keys used in Chromium, including task and memory managers also found in the Chrome browser, and a command-line interface that accepts common Linux commands.Architecture
In preliminary design documents, Google describes a three-tier architecture: firmwareFirmware
In electronic systems and computing, firmware is a term often used to denote the fixed, usually rather small, programs and/or data structures that internally control various electronic devices...
, web browser
Web browser
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
and window manager
Window manager
A window manager is system software that controls the placement and appearance of windows within a windowing system in a graphical user interface. Most window managers are designed to help provide a desktop environment...
, and system-level software and userland services.
- The firmware contributes to fast boot time by not probing for hardwareHardwareHardware is a general term for equipment such as keys, locks, hinges, latches, handles, wire, chains, plumbing supplies, tools, utensils, cutlery and machine parts. Household hardware is typically sold in hardware stores....
, such as floppy diskFloppy diskA floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
drives, that are no longer common on computers, especially netbookNetbookNetbooks are a category of small, lightweight, legacy-free, and inexpensive laptop computers.At their inception in late 2007 as smaller notebooks optimized for low weight and low cost — netbooks omitted certain features , featured smaller screens and keyboards, and offered reduced computing...
s. The firmware also contributes to security by verifying each step in the boot process and incorporating system recovery. - System-level software includes the Linux kernel that has been patched to improve boot performance. Userland software has been trimmed to essentials, with management by UpstartUpstartUpstart is an event-based replacement for the traditional init daemon — the method by which several Unix-like computer operating systems perform tasks when the computer is started. It was written by Scott James Remnant, a former employee of Canonical Ltd....
, which can launch services in parallel, re-spawn crashed jobs, and defer services in the interest of faster booting. - The window manager handles user interaction with multiple client windows much like other X window managers.
Builds
By May 2010, compiled versions of the work-in-progress source code had been downloaded from the Internet more than a million times. The most popular version entitled "Chromium OS Flow" was created by Liam McLoughlin, a then 17-year-old college student in Manchester, England, posting under the name "Hexxeh". McLoughlin's builds boot from a USB memory stick and included features that Google engineers had not yet implemented, such as support for the Java programming languageJava (programming language)
Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
.
While Google did not expect that hobbyists would use and evaluate Chromium OS ahead of its official release, Sundar Pichai
Sundar Pichai
Sundar Pichai is an Indian American computer engineer. He is currently the senior vice president of Chrome at Google Inc..-Early life:Sundar Pichai received a B.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur and was awarded an Institute Silver Medal. He was a resident of Nehru Hall in the...
, Google vice president of product management, said that "what people like Hexxeh are doing is amazing to see." Pichai said the early releases were an unintended consequence of open source development. "If you decide to do open-source projects, you have to be open all the way."
Hexxeh's work continued into the following year. He announced "Chromium OS Lime" in December 2010, and in January 2011, released "Luigi", an application designed to "jailbreak
Privilege escalation
Privilege escalation is the act of exploiting a bug, design flaw or configuration oversight in an operating system or software application to gain elevated access to resources that are normally protected from an application or user...
"/"root
Rooting (Android OS)
Rooting is a process that allows users of mobile phones and other devices running the Android operating system to attain privileged control within Android's Linux subsystem with the goal of overcoming limitations that carriers and manufacturers put on some devices...
" the Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
Cr-48 "Mario" prototype hardware and install a generic BIOS
BIOS
In IBM PC compatible computers, the basic input/output system , also known as the System BIOS or ROM BIOS , is a de facto standard defining a firmware interface....
. The developer made the builds available in virtual machine format on March 13, 2011, the date of his most recent blog posting. With no official build of Chromium OS forthcoming from Google, Hexxeh's "Vanilla" nightly builds of Chromium OS remain the principal resource for people wanting to try Chromium OS.
In May 2011, Dell Computer also released a new build for Dell Inspiron Mini 10v netbook, following up on an earlier build released almost 18 months earlier. The build did not support audio, but was bootable from a USB drive.
Devices
Some devices have shipped with Chromium OS preinstalled. They include the Kogan Agora Chromium Laptop by the Australian company KoganKogan Technologies
Kogan Technologies is an Australian manufacturer and retailer of consumer electronics devices. The company, founded in 2006 by Ruslan Kogan, sells products direct from Asia to customers in Australia and the United Kingdom....
and the Xi3 modular computer, introduced by the company of the same name.
See also
- Google Chrome OSGoogle Chrome OSGoogle Chrome OS is a Linux-based operating system designed by Google to work exclusively with web applications. Google announced the operating system on July 7, 2009 and made it an open source project, called Chromium OS, that November....
- Google ChromeGoogle ChromeGoogle Chrome is a web browser developed by Google that uses the WebKit layout engine. It was first released as a beta version for Microsoft Windows on September 2, 2008, and the public stable release was on December 11, 2008. The name is derived from the graphical user interface frame, or...
- Chromium (web browser)Chromium (web browser)Chromium is the open source web browser project from which Google Chrome draws its source code. The project's hourly Chromium snapshots appear essentially similar to the latest builds of Google Chrome aside from the omission of certain Google additions, most noticeable among them: Google's...
- Android (operating system)
- Boot 2 GeckoBoot 2 GeckoBoot 2 Gecko is a proposed open source operating system in development by Mozilla Corporation, initially targeting Android-compatible smartphones.-Announcement:...
- EasyPeasy
- Joli OS
- WebconvergerWebconvergerWebconverger is a Debian-based live operating system designed to be used solely for accessing Web applications. It can be run from various media like CD & USB flash drive and can be installed on a local hard drive. Webconverger is an open source project and has its own public git repository but it...
operating system based on Firefox