Chrome OS Could Offend the Open Source Community

The announcement a few days ago of Google's new Chrome OS was simultaneously shocking and expected. It's a typically understated and quietly ambitious move on behalf of Google. It's also proof -- if it were needed -- that Google people are supremely smart. They have their sights firmly set on the future as well as the here and now.

Chrome OS is initially targeted at netbook computers but it's anticipated it will spread to more mainstream computing devices as time goes on. Like Intel's Moblin OS, Chrome OS is a proof of concept that will use the hothouse environment of netbook computing to grow and mature.

[ Track the latest trends in open source with InfoWorld's Open Sources blog and Technology: Open Source newsletter. ]

I'm reasonably sure that Chrome OS will offend the open source community. There may even be a major reaction against it. You might not see open source luminaries picketing the Googleplex (although I wouldn't be surprised), but there will almost certainly be a handful of inflammatory blog postings, and some very hot collars.

(See related: "How Google Chrome OS Could Beat Windows")

Figuring out what's so wrong about Chrome OS is also a perfect illustration of the strange ways and workings of the open source community. Here are Chrome OS's sins, laid out one-by-one.

1. Chrome OS will include proprietary technologies

Linux still lacks a high-quality open source Flash plugin. Practically the only choice for 100% site compatibility is to use Adobe's proprietary plugin, so Chrome OS will need to license and include it out of the box. HTML5 will lessen the need for Flash over time, especially on video sites (and it's interesting that Chrome OS isn't due until 2010, when HTML5 might have more of a foothold). However, the Flash plugin is definitely required at the present time. How can I keep up with Strong Bad's antics without it?

Then there are multimedia codecs. People are gonna want to play their tunes and watch their movies. There are open source versions of most popular codecs but to keep its nose clean and avoid litigation Google will have to license the patents covering them. This will offend the open source community, who see the software patenting system as broken and corrupt.

It's not just a software issue. Linux also has a poor set of fonts. To avoid users complaining about web pages looking crappy, Chrome OS will need to include the standard Microsoft Web fonts (Arial, Times New Roman, Courier etc.). It could probably do with including the more recent Microsoft Vista fonts too. These can be freely licensed (Microsoft was very careful to make this possible), and Google certainly has the cash to do so. But such a move will undoubtedly offend the community because the font packages won't be freely distributable.

Google could take the approach of having the user download proprietary software after installation, just like Ubuntu, but I doubt this will happen. It's too amateurish, and too scary for the non-technical user. It also resides in a legally grey area.

2. Chrome OS was created to take away your privacy