Google support page listing AUE dates for every make/model: https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/6220366
Surprisingly some of them get updates up until 2032. > On May 29, 2023, at 11:19, D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk <[email protected]> > wrote: > > | From: Stewart C. Russell via talk <[email protected]> > | > | TIL that Chromebooks brick themselves when they hit a hard-coded date: the > | date when Google stops providing updates: > | > https://coloradosun.com/2023/05/26/colorado-schools-chromebooks-churn-outdated/ > | > | The article's about Denver Public School District, who are finding a whole > lot > | of their Chromebooks bought during pandemic are running out of life. The > | environmental and cost impacts are huge. > > [James' reply has detailed useful information.] > > All commercial OSes sunset old hardware. Only ChromeBooks declare that > date when the systems are first available. (It would be good if support > lifetimes were longer). > > The article is quite confused. I think that this is what it really > means > > - after AUE (Auto Update Expiration) the devices still work but there is > no promise of security updates. > > - the school board seems to have a policy that says devices without > security updates must be banned from their network. I think that > that is a wise policy but it isn't the same as saying that the > devices are bricked. > > - the school board bought a lot of units at the same time so many are > losing support at the same time. > > - (speculation) perhaps the school board bought older models of > ChromeBooks because they were cheaper, even though their AUE was > sooner than newer models. I always check the AUE before I buy a > ChromeBook > > ================ > > [The rest of this is meandering discourse supporting the above. Feel > free to ignore.] > > I certainly have a ChromeBook that no longer gets updates. Annoying. > But it still works (last I checked, well after support stopped). I > don't use it because: > > - I bought it to run Linux but I never got it to do so (Giles has the > same model and he did get it to run Linux). > > - I have newer ChromeBooks with much nicer features > > - (probably) too many web sites require more resources > > - I don't like browsing with known security problems > > The actual claim in the article gets narrowed down to: > > An arsenal of Chromebooks that can’t keep up with new software or > that shut students out from the websites they rely on will > essentially become obsolete, leading to both significant costs for > districts and environmental hazards — issues highlighted in the > April report. > > What software can they not keep up with? ChromeBooks really don't > have many applications. Things I can imagine: > > - school policy that forbids using stale browsers (since they will > have known vulnerabilities) > > - new ciphers or CoDecs that are not supported (probably too soon for > that) > > - new browser features like Web Assembly (WASM). These seem pretty > unimportant. > > - modern Chromebooks support Android apps but old ones don't. > But I'm pretty sure that that transition was years before the > pandemic so I don't think that it would apply to a fleet of > ChromeBooks bought for the pandemic. > > Much later in the article: > > “My role is to get as much as we can out of these devices before > we’re no longer able to have them on our network,” Dodge said, > adding that Chromebooks that can’t receive security updates can > pose threats to the district’s network. > > This certainly sounds as though the ChromeBooks still work but no > longer are considered secure by the school board. I actually think > that is an appropriate policy. > > Windows has been pretty good in recent years as far as providing free > updates and supporting old hardware. Microsoft is changing this: Win > 10 support disappears in October 2025 (if I remember correctly) and > Microsoft policy is that old computers are not supported (for a > definition of "old" that we need not go into; most of my computers are > "old"). I expect that most school Windows systems are old. Oh, and > Windows is hard/impossible to keep secure, even with updates > (especially in the hands of students). > > iPads and Android tablets also fall out of support. I don't think > either come with a promise of updates until a declared date. So they > are inferior to ChromeBooks in this issue. > > The greatest longevity is a Linux system. I'm pretty sure that the > school would not replace ChromeBooks with Linux systems. > > So: I would think that this is stupid reporting but a useful but partial > Public Service Announcement. > > Certainly the school board should have known the support life when > they purchased the ChromeBooks and planned for that life cycle. No > other OS provides as clear a statement of support lifetime up front. > --- > Post to this mailing list [email protected] > Unsubscribe from this mailing list https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk
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