Linux expert Glyn Moody thinks that Google is set to give away free computers.

The writer of Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution said that Chrome OS based free netbooks could be offered by Google as a way to push its advertising. He said that with open source code the unit cost of software close to zero, but if people use netbooks the hardware will be pretty cheap too.

If all the applications are web based the netbook will not need hard disks or even much RAM. Moody thinks that Google could knock out a netbook for about $20 and make back the cost with the extra advertising revenue. He points out that Google recently bought the company Teracent to stick display advertising on the web which would mean that its netbooks would be sending out personalised display ads in real-time.

If Google are sticking such things on a free netbook it means that most of the great unwashed will carry them and Google's ad revenues would climb even higher.