The Google OS surfaced in March--or did it?
A look back at CNET's server logs reveals that someone gave us a quick hint of the Chrome OS back in March, by surfing to a CNET.com site while apparently using a browser running on the still-in-development operating system. On March 4, 2009, an unusual user agent entry was recorded on our servers. The key bits, just to beat this over the head, are in bold:
When browsers request data from Web servers, they send a user agent item that generally includes the name and version of the browser as well as the operating system. This data is used by most Web publishers for statistical purposes. Some sites also use it to deliver different content depending on which browser is being used; sites that have stripped-down smartphone-friendly versions use the user agent string to tell when they should deliver it instead of the full Web experience. It is also common practice for non-mainstream browsers to put "Mozilla" in their user agent strings so they get the standard Firefox version of the Web site.
The above user agent came to our servers in a Web page request referred to CNET.com from Google.fi, the Finnish version Google Search. Our logs tell us it came from a machine in Helsinki, and that the user turned three pages on CNET while looking for product and pricing information on Dell Poweredge servers. Tracking cookie logs tell us the user did not come back again until May 4th.
The user agent string has appeared only sporadically since then in CNET's logs.
We speculate now that the user was a Google employee in Finland, working on the OS, who neglected security briefly.
When we first saw this string, another staffer here at CNET wrote a note, "It smells more like some coder type with a sense of humor than a truly secret project." The same CNET employee noted that Google has monkeyed with user agents before, as reported in a 2008 Internet News story, "Does Google have a secret OS?"
You can see what user agent your browser is reporting at several sites, such as useragent.org. See also: "History of the browser user-agent string."
If you have access to your server logs, I'm sure other CNET readers would be curious to know if you've seen these hints about Google Chrome OS in your records. Leave a note below and share your findings.
Rafe Needleman writes about start-ups, new technologies, and Web 2.0 products, as editor of CNET's Webware. E-mail Rafe. 
Hopefully they have their print screen button ready cause anyone can copy that string and say it visited their site.
This is my user agent for Google Chrome. (the pre-alpha linux version). As mentioned in the article, it helps you get the standard page layout rather than an "unsupported browser" thing on many sites. For example, Gmail doesn't work in Konqueror (Where KHTML/WebKit originated, part of KDE) if you don't change to a Mozilla user agent.
Maybe they just hadn't built their new windowing system yet, or they just didn't change that part for other reasons.
Or possibly one of the GSA (Google Search Appliance) machines, yes?
And unless I see GoogleOS running on a crunchpad-like device, I don't see how its going to differ from say Ubuntu Netbook Remix, Moblin or that unofficial google linux distro.
use LWP::UserAgent;
use HTTP::Request::Common;
my $ua = new LWP::UserAgent();
$ua->agent("Godzilla/2012 the world ends [en] (Windows Null Technology 0.9e-9; U)");
Open up the new Develop menu, select User Agent then go to other. Type whatever you want into the text box, like this...
BooFar/6.9 (X11; U; Freax i686; en-US; rv:1.9.6.9) Lizard/2009071311 Booble OS/KernelSanders 6.9 (pesky wabbit tricks are for kids) Foxfire/3.0.8
Tada! Custom operating system! Running brand-new, ultra-secret web browser that sleuthy journalist has never heard about!
it's Linux baby, yeah, awesome :)
The whole idea of you guys posting this information really leaves a bad taste.
Yes, that, or an equivalent in another browser, is what I first thought when I read the summary in the RSS feed for this article. I just copied and pasted that User Agent and am running this page with it now :P
Google's Chrome OS is going to be targeted at desktops which has significantly different needs than the server farms they have. The appliances run a version of CentOS.
Anyhow, this discussion is moot since we've agreed that user agent spoofing is kiddie play.
- by HashimWarren July 13, 2009 6:10 AM PDT
- Why reveal so much about this user's browsing? I feel like that is a lapse in privacy for CNET.
- Reply to this comment
-
(23 Comments)