I run a Chromebook from HP that no longer has support from Google. I had to pull the back off and remove a physical screw to reinstall the OS but am happily running Pop_OS 22,04 on it which gets linux-firmware updates. Unfortunately I have not seen a bios update in quite some time, but the firmware still gets support from the kernel and distro. I did need the juevos to actually open my computer up after researching what to do and the knowledge to futz with all the keyboard oddities to get the keyboard fully functional that most people just don’t have the knowledge to easily do nor the patience to fight with Google searches and Gallium tools/documentation to make these things work.
That’s the problem though, serious firmware security flaws are found all the time. My HP laptop stopped getting BIOS updates after about five or six years, but other models with very similar model numbers did get security patches with problems like “the root user can reprogram the BIOS and infect the system in a way that can’t be removed”.
Also, the ARM Chromebooks will likely have the same problem Android phones do, where Google needs to go in and alter the kernel for the shitty proprietary drivers to work (or pay for an updated driver, if that’s even available).
Lastly, someone is going to need to test the updates on all of these devices. You don’t want to release an update for a model nobody uses anymore and accidentally brick an entire school right when exam weeks are starting, that would be worse than telling the school to buy a different $50 computer after several years of updates.
Google can and should do better (Microsoft manages to get 10 years of updates so why can’t Apple and Google?) but I also understand Google’s point here. Most of the deprecated laptops were slow and shit when they were new, bought by schools as a symptom of underfunding or because school admins thought they were smart and tried to save a buck. When you buy a crap tier device for barely any money, you have to adjust your expectations in terms of support.
That isn’t the case for very expensive Chromebooks, including the ones Google themselves released. 300 or 400 dollars should be enough for 10 years of support, and if they aren’t, it’s time to move away from Chromebooks back to Windows, where this type of arrangement is common.
How often do you see a worthwhile firmware update to something older than two years?
Besides, running Linux isn’t a blocker for firmware updates if the vendor supports it.
I run a Chromebook from HP that no longer has support from Google. I had to pull the back off and remove a physical screw to reinstall the OS but am happily running Pop_OS 22,04 on it which gets linux-firmware updates. Unfortunately I have not seen a bios update in quite some time, but the firmware still gets support from the kernel and distro. I did need the juevos to actually open my computer up after researching what to do and the knowledge to futz with all the keyboard oddities to get the keyboard fully functional that most people just don’t have the knowledge to easily do nor the patience to fight with Google searches and Gallium tools/documentation to make these things work.
That’s the problem though, serious firmware security flaws are found all the time. My HP laptop stopped getting BIOS updates after about five or six years, but other models with very similar model numbers did get security patches with problems like “the root user can reprogram the BIOS and infect the system in a way that can’t be removed”.
Also, the ARM Chromebooks will likely have the same problem Android phones do, where Google needs to go in and alter the kernel for the shitty proprietary drivers to work (or pay for an updated driver, if that’s even available).
Lastly, someone is going to need to test the updates on all of these devices. You don’t want to release an update for a model nobody uses anymore and accidentally brick an entire school right when exam weeks are starting, that would be worse than telling the school to buy a different $50 computer after several years of updates.
Google can and should do better (Microsoft manages to get 10 years of updates so why can’t Apple and Google?) but I also understand Google’s point here. Most of the deprecated laptops were slow and shit when they were new, bought by schools as a symptom of underfunding or because school admins thought they were smart and tried to save a buck. When you buy a crap tier device for barely any money, you have to adjust your expectations in terms of support.
That isn’t the case for very expensive Chromebooks, including the ones Google themselves released. 300 or 400 dollars should be enough for 10 years of support, and if they aren’t, it’s time to move away from Chromebooks back to Windows, where this type of arrangement is common.