But there are frequent commits to multiple repositories on the fuchsia code base[1]. I don't really see where Google is going with this, if it's neither meant to replace chrome OS or Android.
Maybe a long term project? I think Google is at a position where they can write a great OS from scratch, learning from the mistakes of others, and it has a chance of becoming the greatest OS that ever was.
With the talent of it's engineers, they can bring new ideas that can be better implemented, from scratch on a new OS. They already have a bunch of languages, web frameworks, and so many more technologies from Google that can be well integrated in this.
And looks like the project is mostly BSD licensed, which is great! I'm excited for just that alone.
This is like Apple saying they are committed to PPC right before they announced the intel transition, or Nintendo stating that "The DS will not replace the GBA". If they become successful in building that OS, that statement will be thrown away as something they had never said. If they stumble upon roadblocks while trying to build this, they will have this statement to back them up.
It's typical market-o-speech.
They are not actively working on this :
https://github.com/fuchsia-mirror/modular/commits/master
For no reason.
Re:Google’s not-so-secret new OS
by techenthusiast on Wednesday February 15, 2017 @12:45AM
(#13650012)
I recommend looking through all the open source commits :)
https://chromeunboxed.com/some-andromeda-perspective-hiroshi...
I think you alluded to this, "cue endless debates over the semantics of that, and what it all entails," but it might be worthwhile to add the official statement.