[eloisant]

For me the selling point of Chromebooks is that it's a stateless computer, so not much can go wrong.

Also updates are really smooth: done in the background, just have to do a quick reboot and you're done.

Since I migrated my mother to a Chromebook, she no longer breaks anything and I no longer have to do tech support.

[sudosysgen]

You know, all those same things are true of a lightweight XFCE or Mate Linux desktop. They've been true for over a decade now.

Incidentally, I put Xubuntu on my grandma's computer for a few years.

[nikisweeting]

How is Xubuntu in any way stateless? It has a full local filesystem with a package manager and everything, lots of ways it can be messed up, no?

[sudosysgen]

It's stateless the same way Chrome OS is: you put a systemd-timer on sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade, and you only use the web browser and libreoffice.

ChromeOS also has a package manager and a full local filesystem, you just don't see it. Don't touch it on and XFCE debian derivative and it's the exact same.

[inetknght]

> For me the selling point of Chromebooks is that it's a stateless computer, so not much can go wrong.

Do you really think that's the case?

> Also updates are really smooth: done in the background, just have to do a quick reboot and you're done.

How are there updates if it's stateless?

[elcomet]

State here is about user data / apps.

All your data and applications are on the cloud. So if you loose or break your Chromebook, just buy a new one, and all your work is already there.