Video: Chromebook users to get easy access to Linux apps

Fuchsia[1], Google tells us in some recently revealed documentation, is not Linux[2]. So, what is it then? And what's it good for?

Google Fuchsia: What is it and which devices run it?

Google has been working on this open-source operating system since the summer of 2016. At first, we thought Fuchsia was for Internet of Things (IoT) devices[3]. We now know it can also power Chromebooks[4] and smartphones.

Is it a replacement for Android and Chrome OS[5]? Good question. It's not clear what Google plans for it. We do know it runs on Google's high-end, Chrome-OS powered Pixelbook[6]. You can also install it on Acer Switch 12 and Intel NUC and, eventually, on a Raspberry Pi 3.

Read also: Android Oreo vs Android One vs Android Go: All their differences, explained[7]

This isn't even alpha software. It's still a science experiment.

Unfortunately, on my Pixelbook[8], or any other platform, you can't do much with it. For now, the only thing it does on my Pixelbook is show the time. Oh, there's a real operating system there, but it has barely any functionality. This isn't even alpha software. It's still a science experiment.

Fuchsia developer Travis Geiselbrecht said in a Fuchsia IRC discussion that Fuchsia isn't "a toy thing." He added that it's not a 20-percent project -- and "it's not a dumping ground of a dead thing that we don't care about anymore." A 20-percent project is when Google developers[9] work on something because it

Read more from our friends at ZDNet