Peppermint Ice is a Linux distribution whose main claim to fame is its use of a ‘site-specific browser’, dubbed Ice, which is based on Google’s Chromium browser. This lightweight Linux distro is designed for netbooks and has a strong focus on Web applications.
I have an laptop that has installs of Ubuntu and Peppermint Ice. Ubuntu is prettier, but Ice is much faster on old hardware. I gave up using the SSBs for gmail and docs though, because they were more stable left in the normal browser.
This is my favorite distro at the moment. At least on this computer.
But you almost wonder why it even has a desktop or windowmanager ? I mean, why not just run a browser in “kioskmode” ? Or did I misunderstand what it is for ?
We have the vast majority of our data where it should be: on our own machines/drives, in our own possession, in our own homes–basically in our own hands. Why the hell would we want to add an extra dependency aside from electricity (read: Internet connectivity) and have to rely solely on one or more companies to “take care of” (ie. control and even trade for profit–or even share with governments if they want)? Even worse, the company will probably eventually even gain *ownership* of the data by sneaking changes (which are almost always to the company’s advantage, not its users’) in the privacy policy and terms of service–er, I mean the fine print that no one ever bothers to read.
Even assuming you have a rock-solid Internet connection, you still have to rely on the third party data holder’s Internet connection, server downtimes, and even worse–possibility of attacks/security breaches against their servers. Not to mention the fact that open/available wireless Internet access points (and to a greater extent, wired gateways) are not nearly as ubiquitous as electricity at this time, and never mind the inherent security risks involved with connecting to just any random network (including those of clueless friends and family members). This concept just never made sense to me, and never will.
As I once stated before (on the DistroWatch.com forums), PeppermintOS is a disgrace to the plant it takes its name from. Stay away from it if you value your data and want control over it. Storing and/or transmitting *some* data “out there” may be useful and more convenient in a few special cases (e-mail, instant messaging), but it should be done sparingly… not as the primary (or even only) method of data storage.
In conclusion… f*** the “cloud”. There are just so many points of failure with the whole network setup and privacy problems that I just don’t see how this buzzword got popular in the first place–probably advertising and clueless users, as usual… the typical Microsoft/Apple crowd.
Edited 2011-02-10 09:26 UTC
I can’t mod you up because, apparently, I’ve already done so recently. Nothing could be more true than your first sentence.
In “the typical Microsoft/Apple crowd” though, you forgot two big proponents of the “cloud” (what a silly name anyway): Amazon and Google.
Very true–but the point I was getting at is that basically all the computers (at least traditional general-purpose “personal computer” systems, or “desktops,” whatever you want to call them… take your pick) that the majority of people are using fall under either Windows or Mac. Those are the people most at risk of “falling for” this cloud nonsense, as they will blindly follow advertising, their companies are more than willing to take the extra control, and both companies have a history of making computers usable by people who… well, I’ll just say, shouldn’t be sitting in front of the screen of an Internet-connected computer at their skill level in the first place.
Google does have a disturbing amount of information about people just from their search engine alone though, and if you use Chrome and/or an Android device (or leave the reported attack sites and web forgeries notifications on in Firefox), it’s even worse. I admit that I have never used Amazon all that often though, unless I needed to, and haven’t used it in a long time… so I’m not exactly sure what “extra” information they hold through their other services. Or even what other services they provide, since I have absolutely no interest in using them for anything but buying physical products. [My last online purchase was a DVD/CD RW drive from Newegg not too long ago… and before that I can’t even remember what I bought online. Hot pepper plants from ChilePlants.com last spring maybe?]
I can imagine the future of computer shopping now. Currently it’s something like this: you might think, “alright, there’s a 2TB hard drive for $130 and a 32GB USB flash device… that looks good, it should hold me over for a while, complimenting the stock 500GB drive quite nicely.” In the future, you’ll look at a computer and go, “hmmmm, the internal storage in this machine is barely even 32GB. It says “Cloud-ready,” I wonder what the storage plan is; how much storage space will Master allow me to use on their servers, and what is (or will be) the monthly rate? Will it be DRM-protected from myself?”
Really, the more I think about this and the possibilities, the more disturbed I get.
Huh? How did Windows and Mac get in here? We were talking about a linux. Obviously, plenty of linux people are interested in the cloud, as is shown by both Peppermint Ice and Ubuntu. The cloud may be over hyped, but it has its place. Bookmark and password syncing come to mind. And Dropbox has a linux client for a reason. Looks like linux users are “falling for” this cloud nonsense too.
Of course they have bots combing through your info, but hey, nothings free right? You decide what is safer with you and what is safer stored in the cloud. Wouldn’t you agree there is a reasonable argument for storing some info there?
Peppermint Ice gave decent performance for the minimal needs I have on an old crappy laptop. Yes, I could have just used a browser and no os for most what I do on it, but I have the OPTION to save things that I want to keep. I have more flexibility than I would on an iPad. But I gotta say, when I do save something from there, it usually goes in dropbox.
Fair enough, but it is such mega-corporations with more greed and marketing $$$ than respect for their customers who will really try to capitalize on this “cloud” crap. That it the whole point I was getting at. *They* are the ones who see big green dollar signs and have the ability (and will more than likely try, probably with success) to make it happen. Hell, look at Apple’s locking down of their portable iGadgets… they would love to make *everything* revolve around their servers.
The simple fact is, it is *not* Linux itself that will have the will and advertising power (money) to convert people in droves to “cloud”-based systems. It is the current decades-long near-monopoly holder (Microsoft) and its runner-up (Apple), as well as any other companies who benefit from storing *your* information. Including Google and others, as voodoomoth pointed out. Just look at these companies’ past history and current tactics for the proof. Their EULAs, TOS, etc. for their various software and services are good places to start for a quick idea.
Very, very little. E-mail being the primary one, as by its very nature it is generally sent to and stored on a remote server for later retrieval (need privacy… use encryption or another method of contact). Maybe login details and a basic profile and settings for forums. The infrequent, occasional trustworthy online store to speed up and simplify orders; they know this is top-secret information, and will be damn well sure it is safe, because they can get their asses sued to hell and back if anything funny happens. As for storing actual personal data online for my own use? Nah–that’s what portable media are for… and I can actually bring them *with* me and access the files on my cousin’s computer. On the other hand, I can’t exactly lug the Internet around in my pocket for use on other machines to access such online services.
Personally, I think it’s nothing more than that “oooh, shiny” feeling, and possibly someone with hidden plans of starting a for-profit business by doing something that *seems* useful (and at first glance, is), but has some dark secrets behind its innocent minty-fresh plant-based name. But that’s just me, and I do tend to be pessimistic in a lot of cases.
Totally forgot about Google’s ChromeOS which, despite running the Linux kernel and being different from pretty much anything else around (including every traditional Linux distro out there) and not even having “Linux” in its name, will be heavily cloud-based. Another OS (if you can really call it that) that I would recommend against, but Google–with all their money–is a company that can force their way onto the market for the long term. To be fair, at least Peppermint doesn’t go *that* far and does offer a more traditional “desktop” for those who want it, but still, I’m not too crazy about it.
Edited 2011-02-11 10:03 UTC