Taurinus X200 laptop now FSF-certified to respect your freedom

https://shop.libiquity.com/product/taurinus-x200

by IceyEC • 11 years ago

62 41 11 years ago

shop.libiquity.com

IceyEC• 11 years ago

I just wish they would make something like this on newer hardware

nextos• 11 years ago

It might be possible with the new Rockchip ARM Chromebooks (more specifically Asus). It's been discussed in the Libreboot mailing list lately.

gioele• 11 years ago

Librem 13 and Librem 15v2 [1] are one blob away from being FSF-certifiable. And they are brand new hardware.

[1] https://puri.sm/

listic• 11 years ago

one blob away

I'll believe it when I'll see it. All we have is their word for it, and I really don't like the way they are promoting their product so far.

andrepd• 11 years ago

They are also expensive as all shit.

garrettgrimsley2• 11 years ago

It isn't going to happen, at least not through the use of Libreboot [0], which is what the X200 in the parent article relies on for their firmware replacement. The X200 is one of the latest support ThinkPad models, as the newer ones also use Intel Management Extensions. Without replacing these binary blobs with free software you won't be able to get the FSF certification. [1] Or would it fall under the "secondary embedded processor" exception?

Will the Purism Librem laptops be supported?
Probably not. There are several privacy, security and freedom issues with these laptops, due to the Intel chipsets that they use. See #intel. There are signed proprietary blobs which cannot be replaced (e.g. Intel Management Engine and CPU microcode updates). It uses the proprietary Intel FSP blob for the entire hardware initialization, which Intel won't provide the source code for. The Video BIOS (initialization firmware for the graphics hardware) is also proprietary.
It will likely take many years to replace even one of these blobs, let alone all of them. Some of them (ME firmware and microcode) can't even be replaced, which immediately disqualifies these laptops from being added to libreboot.

[0] http://libreboot.org/faq/#librem

[1] https://www.fsf.org/resources/hw/endorsement/criteria

jlgaddis• 11 years ago

An i5 @ 2.2 GHz w/ 4 GB of RAM starting at $1649 or an i7 @ 3.0 GHz w/ 4 GB of RAM starting at $1849!? Wow, good luck selling those.

lucb1e• 11 years ago

For me, this is exactly what I've been waiting for. Every time there is a free software laptop (and it's not aimed at really poor people or at weighing only 20 grams) it's hugely expensive because of small scale with high end hardware. And usually it doesn't ship to the Netherlands either. This one, or at least a variant they link to, actually fixes all of this. Choosing the 240gb ssd option, the price is still quite reasonable (and SSDs are just fast, almost regardless of the rest of your setup).

lfam• 11 years ago

They claim they can't do it on any new Intel hardware because the hardware is fundamentally incompatible with the FSF's goals: http://libreboot.org/faq/#intel

hydrogen18• 11 years ago

So find an ARM SoC vendor that will make hardware that is compatible with their goals?

badpenny• 11 years ago

Notebook designed and manufactured by Wistron Corporation, assembled by Lenovo Group Ltd., and modified by Libiquity LLC. Product contains a combination of new and refurbished parts.

So it's a rebadged Thinkpad?

dogma11383• 11 years ago

Yes, also potentially a lawsuit waiting to happen, not sure whats the legal status when you take something refurb it and then rebrand it.

monocasa• 11 years ago

Nah, it's fine, just not normally a viable business model.

userbinator2• 11 years ago

A Lenovo Thinkpad X200 is itself a rebadged Wistron Mocha-1, if you want to think of it that way.

Despite what companies like HP/Compaq, Gateway, Dell, Lenovo, etc. want you to think, their products are actually mostly just branded by them, and mainly the work of ODMs such as Compal, Inventec, Pegatron, Quanta, and Wistron. Looking on the motherboard often reveals the true name and manufacturer of the product:

http://www.laptopschematic.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Mo...

(HannStar is the manufacturer of the actual PCB.)

buffoon3• 11 years ago

Most stuff is like this. If you pick up an HP, Casio or TI calculator these days you'll find they are all Kinpo calculators with slightly different firmware.

justin_vanw• 11 years ago

Yea, this is just a Lenovo X200 w/ libreboot. The same old laptop that's been around for years and years, now with a crappy sticker over the windows key!

http://libreboot.org/docs/hcl/x200.html

buffoon3• 11 years ago

You forgot the ridiculous price tag for a refurb X200. My stacked X201 8Gb of RAM, 256Gb Samsung 840 pro, new 9-cell, ultrabase with DVDRW, keyboard, mouse, 22" TFT cost about the price of their bottom end model in total (via ebay)

I assume it hasn't got a hard disk in it as well as they are technically standalone computers with closed source firmware as well these days.

Freedom is expensive.

jordigh• 11 years ago

Freedom is expensive.

I'm willing to pay that price for owning something that I know cannot spy on me, does not have remote kill switches I can't control, and is completely serviceable from bottom to top by any third party.

It really is sad that these requirements are now expensive. They used to be taken for granted.

userbinator2• 11 years ago

http://libreboot.org/docs/hcl/gm45_remove_me.html

Worth nothing that the ME could be disabled/removed on the GM45; perhaps there are undocumented ways to do this on the newer chipsets too, although Intel would probably consider that a "security vulnerability"...

pgeorgi2• 11 years ago

The ability to disable ME on GM45 was known for years. It's just that these guys didn't believe it and fought extra hard to rediscover it.

All options to disable ME (there are a few) on newer devices are totally impractical, if for nothing else, because it disables certain power management capabilities.

If you like to fry eggs on your laptop, that may be the way to go though.

pella• 11 years ago

"The Free Software Foundation loves this laptop, but you won't" http://www.pcworld.com/article/2879086/the-free-software-fou...

Why the FSF loves these old ThinkPads

- Trisquel GNU/Linux operating system.

- The low-level firmware on the laptop was replaced.

tokenrove• 11 years ago

They also have great keyboards, great pointing devices, no irritating touch pad, and are highly portable and highly robust. It would be nice if there was something newer that actually compared on these fronts, but there just doesn't seem to be. (I am using a 2015 MBP presently and it's pretty ghastly compared to any of my X-series Thinkpads, except the X1 which is even worse.)

One bummer about these is that the aspect ratio isn't 4:3, though.

bluecalm• 11 years ago

I haven't used old Thinkpads but my current x250 is great:

1)great pointing device - check (the buttons are back)

2)no annoying touch pad - it's there but it's small and easy to set to very low sensivity (I use it only for occasional quick click with my thumb)

3)highly portable - check + great battery life (I sometimes get more than 15 hours)

I've got 8gb of RAM but 16GB chip is already available (RAM is not soldered but there is only one slot). The display (IPS 1920x1080) is fantastic and the keyboard is fantastic as well (well, apparently it depends if you are lucky to get it from one manufacturer over the other).

I am not a fan of 16:9 but other than that I love almost everything about this laptop.

nickpsecurity• 11 years ago

Because a Core Duo and GMA combo is the very definition of respecting freedom. ;)

pcunite• 11 years ago

I want freedom from ugly stickers on new laptops! I currently have to take a blow-dryer to remove them.

pcr0• 11 years ago

I love how they called it a "small ultraportable".

tdsamardzhiev• 11 years ago

The X200 is also a viable self-defense tool, unlike those pesky macbooks!

lawnchair_larry• 11 years ago

Too bad 2GB has been unusable for a decade or so.

Taurinus X200 laptop now FSF-certified to respect your freedom

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