Trisquel friendly hardware to keep an eye out for during upcoming sales?
Hey all!
North America is about to being it's annual "holiday sales" season, which can sometimes be meaningless marketing and sometimes can actually result in decent savings on hardware. I have attempted to install Trisquel on all my current laptop hardware only to find each has some component or other which requires binary blobs or closed source drivers, and which can't be easily modified, so I'm on the lookout for a laptop (new or used) that I can modify or configure so that all the major components work (mostly graphics and wifi) without external hardware.
I know in the past I used to be able to find compatibility recommendations but I can't seem to locate it again. Are there any references out there for people like me so I can put together a shopping list? I keep running into recommendations of the framework but I've always used modified corporate return ewaste rather than multithousand dollar hardware, so I'm wondering what else is a common platform these days.
I'm assuming there is a doc I'm missing that's right under my nose somewhere?
Thank you
-Jackalope
(Previously I used a T60 and a T420 with a firmware flash and swapped wifi card well past their sell-by dates, but I'd really like something slightly more modern and able to support 16gb of RAM. If I could get a T60 with more ram I'd likely have never updated. I miss my 4:3 ratio square. :( )
Posting about MNT Reform here. I don't know if this can be an option. I believe the source of the laptop is freely distributed; meaning, I understand that one could make their own using MNT Research's documentation[1][2], however, I can't tell whether the laptop can run freely. From the founder of the company behind the production of MNT Reform, I read:
> The first thing I wanted to make sure was the possibility of running mainline Linux on the machine, without using any proprietary binary blobs or drivers — while still being able to use basic GPU acceleration.[3]
However, on a blog, I read:
> Almost all of the firmware, hardware and software on this laptop is free and open source. Saved for a bit of non-ARM firmware at the start of boot, there are no binary blobs in use.[4]
[1] https://mntre.com/docs-all.html
[2] also, from the founder: "with the 3D files, you will be able to print chassis parts in any color or modified shape you want."[3], and I've heard him saying that someone did, but I don't know if there is info about this on the web.
[3] https://interfacecritique.net/journal/volume-1/hartmann-mnt-reform/
[4] https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2020/01/mnt-reform-open-source-laptop
Follow up about MNT Reform:
- https://trisquel.info/en/forum/imx8m-comments
- https://trisquel.info/en/forum/how-free-mnt-reform-version-2
These were posted 6 and 4 years ago, respectively --- they discuss how MNT Reform includes non-free blobs.
> they discuss how MNT Reform includes non-free blobs
This has been the case ever since, and still is. The efforts on the LS1028A module brought some hope, but it also comes with a blob:
"The eDP (embedded DisplayPort) controller still needs binary firmware"
https://mntre.com/media/reform_md/2022-07-25-ls1028a-status-update.html
It may still run fully free as a headless server, but a $2,000+ laptop is probably overpriced for such a use case.
> and still is.
Thank you for the update.
My understanding was that you can run it like a normal laptop, however, regardless, I think 3d video acceleration is a no-go.
Not sure if that matters to you and him or not though.
I could be wrong though of course, but that's what I remember the dev himself saying and yeah, it is still overpriced considering the only libre option or close to libre option maybe is that one.
It's probably better like you said to wait till more libre options appear that are more speedy/capable before buying it.
> I think 3d video acceleration is a no-go.
You'd be thinking wrong, the SoC has both OpenGL and Vulkan rendering, it's digitally handcuffed, though, but that's the case for every modern non-concept GPU.
Well I am glad to be wrong then. But the GPU is handcuffed you say...
Well someone will need to fix that then.
I imagine buying hardware that's non-free with the intention of liberating it is within the FSF's standards.
Nope, can't do. You could write a whole re-implementation that works and the hardware would refuse to run it unless it's signed/approved by the manufacturer, that's the whole point of these being digitally handcuffed and unless there's some private key leaks or some hardware exploit involved to jailbreak them they will stay proprietary ad-infinitum, or until the manufacturer decides to free them, but they most likely won't.
MNT Reform is only libre with LS1028A and ath9k wifi card.
Other than that? No...
I am a translator!
For the graphics, as far I understand, any Intel CPU of generation up to 12th with integrated graphics should be fine.
For the wifi, the issue is to be able to replace the wifi card. I have seen people saying that certain vendors (among which HP) have been claiming not to set any bios whitelist anymore, but I have no clue how reliable such a piece of information is, from when it is and whether they have persisted or not.
So I am afraid that the only way to know is to try replacing the wifi card and see whether it works.
Yeah, when last I was current on hardware and common gotchas, I was using a T420 or T440 and you could flash the bios allowlist to install an Atheros wifi card. It looks like Libreboot supports the T480, so I might try to get my hands on one of those in as good of shape as possible. It seems fairly modern. It's a shame I can't find if the T580 would do, since I'd enjoy the larger screen (I have poor eyesight) but I can probably live with the 14" 1920x1080.
I keep side tracking myself thinking I need something newer, but I know dang well the 8th gen i5 or i7 will spend most of it's time waiting for something to do. It will support up to 32G of ram "officially" and possibly 64 according to some reports - 32 should hold me for a while. It's built like a tank, the world is full of replacement parts, the keyboard is known to be good, and it shouldn't require exotic kernel support. If I can kill Intel ME I'm not really sure why I'm trying to talk myself into something newer. Capitalism, I suppose! All the more reason to buy some deeply discounted corporate ewaste and liberate it.
I think I was mostly looking to confirm there isn't a newer option the cool kids are using.