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Will it run with completely free software? The limiting factor for lasting is not hardware but required proprietary software.

by holri 6y ago

whoisburbansky 6y ago
Are you implying they’re going to stop you from popping Ubuntu on it somehow? [Edit: Thanks for all the replies citing driver blobs and proprietary BIOS issues, totally slipped my mind that that was a concern, makes a ton more sense now.]
- ArchieMaclean 6y ago
  They may be wondering if the BIOS is FOSS. E.g. LibreBoot https://libreboot.org/ https://libreboot.org/ > Non-free BIOS/UEFI firmware often contains backdoors, can be slow and have severe bugs. Development and support can be abandoned at any time.
- sesuximo 6y ago
  Idk bro the cpu microcode from intel is closed source. How can you live with that </s>
- holri 6y ago
  Ubuntu runs also on proprietary drivers. If the hardware vendor stops to maintain the proprietary driver or binary blob the hardware could become obsolete very quickly, although it runs fine hardware wise. My 11yr old Nokia N900 runs absolutely fine hardware wise. It also could run a new linux kernel, but some drivers are proprietary and can not be updated. What a waste.
- gillesjacobs 6y ago
  I think he is referring to proprietary firmware/driver blobs that come with many CPUs and GPUs. Purism has focused on this issue and provide fully FOSS hardware [1]. 1. https://puri.sm/learn/blobs/ https://puri.sm/learn/blobs/
- marcodiego 6y ago
  He is just asking if it can reach the same level in terms of freedom as the laptops listed here: https://ryf.fsf.org/categories/laptops https://ryf.fsf.org/categories/laptops
  - whoisburbansky 6y ago
    Ah, that makes sense, I’d totally forgotten about proprietary driver blobs/BIOS issues.
nrp 6y ago
Our Embedded Controller firmware is fully open source. We're using a proprietary BIOS solution at launch, but that is something we'd like to fix in the future.
- walterbell 6y ago
  Please consider a future option for device owners to install their preferred vendor of open-source firmware. If the hardware and enclosure platform gains traction, it will hopefully attract open system firmware developers. This will require an owner-controlled mechanism for signed-firmware key management.

Will it run with completely free software? The limiting factor for lasting is not hardware but required proprietary software.

by holri 6y ago

Will it run with completely free software? The limiting factor for lasting is not hardware but required proprietary software.

whoisburbansky 6y ago

Are you implying they’re going to stop you from popping Ubuntu on it somehow? [Edit: Thanks for all the replies citing driver blobs and proprietary BIOS issues, totally slipped my mind that that was a concern, makes a ton more sense now.]

ArchieMaclean 6y ago
They may be wondering if the BIOS is FOSS. E.g. LibreBoot https://libreboot.org/ https://libreboot.org/ > Non-free BIOS/UEFI firmware often contains backdoors, can be slow and have severe bugs. Development and support can be abandoned at any time.
sesuximo 6y ago
Idk bro the cpu microcode from intel is closed source. How can you live with that </s>
holri 6y ago
Ubuntu runs also on proprietary drivers. If the hardware vendor stops to maintain the proprietary driver or binary blob the hardware could become obsolete very quickly, although it runs fine hardware wise. My 11yr old Nokia N900 runs absolutely fine hardware wise. It also could run a new linux kernel, but some drivers are proprietary and can not be updated. What a waste.
gillesjacobs 6y ago
I think he is referring to proprietary firmware/driver blobs that come with many CPUs and GPUs. Purism has focused on this issue and provide fully FOSS hardware [1]. 1. https://puri.sm/learn/blobs/ https://puri.sm/learn/blobs/
marcodiego 6y ago
He is just asking if it can reach the same level in terms of freedom as the laptops listed here: https://ryf.fsf.org/categories/laptops https://ryf.fsf.org/categories/laptops
- whoisburbansky 6y ago
  Ah, that makes sense, I’d totally forgotten about proprietary driver blobs/BIOS issues.

nrp 6y ago

Our Embedded Controller firmware is fully open source. We're using a proprietary BIOS solution at launch, but that is something we'd like to fix in the future.

walterbell 6y ago
Please consider a future option for device owners to install their preferred vendor of open-source firmware. If the hardware and enclosure platform gains traction, it will hopefully attract open system firmware developers. This will require an owner-controlled mechanism for signed-firmware key management.