No, user software should not dictate kernel versions, unless there is no alternative (e.g. security issues). Maybe I'm unique in this, but I don't have a single-purpose workstation. My computer does not exist to run Google Chrome; I have lots of applications I like to use.
Consider a workplace setting where someone may have other software which is much more conservative about using new features. A newer kernel may cause that software to stop working entirely; upgrading a kernel rarely introduces just the feature Google Chrome wants to use. You could tell those people to just use a different browser, but there are a lot of workplace users - is this new feature right now really worth losing those users?
For all the effort the Linux community has put into keeping Linux distributions secure and making them easier to use, now Google is saying Linux users have to either know how to update their kernel outside the provided package manager to use Chrome, or use whatever older version of Chrome still supports their kernel. This is going to frustrate or alienate most new Linux users as well as veteran users who like stability and package management. Is using this new feature right now really worth losing those users as well?
Chrome is arguably the most popular browser on the Internet. They ought to be more conservative about things like this; the right way to handle a new kernel feature is to either delay its use until supported by the majority of your users, or to detect it at runtime and use it if available. IMO, what they have done here is lazy and arrogant. A very poor decision.
Consider a workplace setting where someone may have other software which is much more conservative about using new features. A newer kernel may cause that software to stop working entirely; upgrading a kernel rarely introduces just the feature Google Chrome wants to use. You could tell those people to just use a different browser, but there are a lot of workplace users - is this new feature right now really worth losing those users?
For all the effort the Linux community has put into keeping Linux distributions secure and making them easier to use, now Google is saying Linux users have to either know how to update their kernel outside the provided package manager to use Chrome, or use whatever older version of Chrome still supports their kernel. This is going to frustrate or alienate most new Linux users as well as veteran users who like stability and package management. Is using this new feature right now really worth losing those users as well?
Chrome is arguably the most popular browser on the Internet. They ought to be more conservative about things like this; the right way to handle a new kernel feature is to either delay its use until supported by the majority of your users, or to detect it at runtime and use it if available. IMO, what they have done here is lazy and arrogant. A very poor decision.