I have been a Chrome OS user for about 4 years now. At first I did not think it would last all that long. Then MS went to browser apps for certain Office apps, which helped me for work. Then the Play Store was added and now I can run a zillion apps. I used DOSBox for GOG and it was opening up new doors for me. Now, Crossover is gearing up, in beta, for ChromeOS. 
What is the communities take on Chrome OS and is it or will it become more like true Linux in the future?
I think there is a clear dictation between “Open source” and “Source Available”
Open Source is a collaborative model where companies are looking for a relationship with other users.
Source Available means we publish the code but are not, in general happy to deal with what you have. I can;t’imagine any criteria by which I would call this Linux but what works 4 you and we will add deyails
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I do realize the difference. I was looking more at how it is being used and adopted. I have been a geek since the Psion series 3 and my Amiga 500 days and so I am used to systems or hardware not being adopted as mainstream in the consumer market. As many years and distros I carried the banner for and believed that “this is the year of the Linux Penguin” it never was adopted as I had hoped. Chromebooks on the other hand are being adopted better than anyone had guessed. It is nice to see companies that are normally backing Linux software (e.g. Codeweaver, DOSBox) now looking at the Chromebook as a viable way to get there software deeper into the consumer market with something that is being adapted for schools and adopted for day to day use by the buying public.
Question, is Chrome OS becoming more like true Linux?
No, because there is no-true-Scotsman.
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One needs to pay attention and be sure to get a Chromebook that has an Intel processor for this to work. I’m still giving myself a dope slap for getting one with an Arm processor. 
For certain use cases Chromebooks are great.
I got a Chromebook for the kids to use casually (i.e. not school work or anything) and they use it all the time. The difference for them between a Chromebook and a Windows laptop is very minimal as the overall experience of watching Netflix, YouTube, or wherever else they do, is more or less the same.
From my perspective though I really love the Chromebook. I’ve had it over two years. I unboxed it, added the WiFi password, Signed into Google, spend less than a minute showing the kids how to add their account and sign in and that was it. Really, that was all. I have quite literally had to do absolutely nothing else with it.
There is no way in the world that I’d of had the same ultra low maintenance experience if i’d have given them a Windows laptop, No way at all!
This topic sorta fits in with my suspicion that Google is going to put out a full fledged desktop OS soon. Maybe it will be an enhanced version of Chrome OS, maybe something a little different, but I think it will be similar. Google looks to be preparing for this day with things like the Pixel Book with the large SSD, and Chrome Enterprise for corporate environments.
If it happens, it might not thrill Linux enthusiasts but it should blow Windows out of the water. My guess is that they would release this OS to coincide with Windows 7 end-of-life, or maybe a little sooner.
Thoughts?
Depending on what google do with their crossvm work in chrome … ChromeOS can became a full fledged OS that can run more then webapps and chrome apps.
Just have to wait for the next IO and see if they bring something … Something like crouton without the need of developer mode and fully supported would already be amazing.
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Would love to see mandatory developer mode disappear. It’s mildly annoying to me but my wife would freak if she had to deal with it every day.
My first Crossover program working on my Chromebook HP13g1 i3 4GB RAM. I figured I would give Scrivener a try. It is a rather intensive program so I will test it out over the next 24 hours and see how much usability I have with it. I am running Crossover in the Windows 7 Wine settings. It is a bit clunky but so far so good.
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ChromeBooks are fun, they feel Linux-y, if you open a terminal you have full access to a package manager.
I even installed PHP on mine so I can serve web apps to localhost for text editing.
I don’t think it would replace my GNU/Linux KDE NEON desktop, but then ChromeOS is a toy for playing with things on the train and reading PDFs etc, not for serious work for me.
Looking to push the Crossover and install Steam…I currently have Steam on Chrome OS. I am still at work so won’t load any games until later. I will update.
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Surly this is true for any device, replace Chromebooks with Desktops, laptops, phones or bacon.