Tehnoetic X200 Tablet and T500 now available

20 replies [Last post]
tct
tct

I am a member!

Offline
Joined: 10/23/2011

I'm happy to let you know that my online shop now offers Tehnoetic X200 Tablet and T500 preinstalled with libreboot and a free GNU/Linux-libre distro at customer's choice (Trisquel, Parabola, Dragora, gNewSense, etc.).

https://tehnoetic.com/tet-x200t
https://tehnoetic.com/tet-t500

We accept in-site credit/debit card payments, bank transfer and Bitcoin, and we ship worldwide. 5% of each sale profit go to FSF. Thank GNU!

Anonymous (not verified)
Anonymous

Congratulations!

Nice to see tablets with free software installed exclusively.

vita_cell
Offline
Joined: 07/19/2015

I have mine x200t (upgraded to 16 MiB) and it is a great computer, that you can convert it to tablet mode.

tct, one question, what is your profile image trying to say exactly?

onpon4
Offline
Joined: 05/30/2012

His avatar is about the Libre Tea computer card, specifically the fact that its PCB CAD files have not yet been released, a fact that that the crowdfunding campaign was very up-front about.

tct
tct

I am a member!

Offline
Joined: 10/23/2011

Nevertheless, their crowdfunding campaign and marketing e-mails for the "EOMA68 Computing Devices" make the false claim that "it has been a Libre Hardware and Software project right from the beginning".

https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop

Well, the truth is that it hasn't been a "Libre Hardware" (free-design hardware) project in the beginning and it's not now AFAIK. Hopefully it will become a free-design hardware project when they will start shipping the boards to their backers. Until then, I feel it's important for people to know the truth and that's why I'm keeping the avatar.

onpon4
Offline
Joined: 05/30/2012

You know, your avatar would be much more accurate / less vague if you said "Libre Tea cards" rather than "EOMA68 boards".

tct
tct

I am a member!

Offline
Joined: 10/23/2011

I disagree. "Libre Tea" is not a hardware project, it's an EOMA68 board preinstalled with Parabola, endorsable by FSF as software-freedom-respecting. The hardware project is EOMA68.

Also, people correct others by saying that EOMA68 is a "standard", not hardware. But the only EOMA68-compatible board is this board, developed by the EOMA68 project leader. So calling it EOMA68 board is not confusing. And let's not forget the name of the crowdfunding campaign was "[Earth-friendly] EOMA68 Computing Devices", and not "[Earth-friendly] EOMA68-compatible Computing Devices".

Sorry for the off-topic. Let's get back to the topic.

onpon4
Offline
Joined: 05/30/2012

That's not how it works. EOMA68 is a standard. Your complaint is about a specific piece of hardware (the Libre Tea card) based on that standard. when people see "EOMA68 boards are not libre hardware", that makes it seem like this also applies to the laptop and desktop housings, and to every possible EOMA68 component there could ever be, which is incorrect.

> But the only EOMA68-compatible board is this board

That's not true. There's the A20 (Libre Tea) computer card, the micro desktop housing, and the laptop housing. All of these have circuit boards in them. What you mean to say is that the EOMA68-A20 is the only EOMA68 computer card available right now.

Regarding what you actually mean, would you like to change that? You're free to do so. That's the whole point of the standard: you can focus on making a computer card, compatible with the laptop and desktop housings that already exist, without having to worry about all the design issues that come with figuring out form-factor and such. Spreading FUD about the entire EOMA68 standard because there's one replaceable component that isn't 100% perfect isn't going to achieve anything positive.

tct
tct

I am a member!

Offline
Joined: 10/23/2011

The "one replaceable component" you refer to is the actual computer. To avoid confusion with peripheral boards in the different housings for this computer board, I've updated my avatar which now says: EOMA68-A20 computer is NOT "Libre hardware".

"Libre Tea" is the name for the EOMA68-A20 computer preinstalled with Parabola. Others names are "Practically Perfect" (Debian), "Numero Uno" (Devuan) and "Getting Ahead" (Fedora), preinstalled with distros which are not fully free.

Misty
Offline
Joined: 03/22/2016

So sad to see this: "Nevertheless, their crowdfunding campaign and marketing e-mails for the "EOMA68 Computing Devices" make the false claim that "it has been a Libre Hardware and Software project right from the beginning".

Hello tct; Thank you for coming forward with this, "Well, the truth is that it hasn't been a "Libre Hardware" (free-design hardware) project in the beginning and it's not now AFAIK. Hopefully it will become a free-design hardware project when they will start shipping the boards to their backers. Until then, I feel it's important for people to know the truth and that's why I'm keeping the avatar."

I hope more people will spread the word. The ones who said it was Libre, though it's not, should be held accountable. This revelation could cause people to mistrust the company, so I'm glad to see some "damage control". I've been waiting for a fully Libre computer and tablet for awhile, (or something as close to it as possible), and hope I'm getting what the company says is in them.

strypey
Offline
Joined: 05/14/2015

Misty, if you read the comments by OnPon and others, you will see that TCT is spreading FUD. Please don't participate in spreading FUD about bleeding edge projects that are pushing us closer to 100% software freedom than ever before.

Misty
Offline
Joined: 03/22/2016

Misty, if you read the comments by OnPon and others, you will see that TCT is spreading FUD. Please don't participate in spreading FUD about bleeding edge projects that are pushing us closer to 100% software freedom than ever before.

OK Strypey, I will read them again, because I didn't sense it was FUD, so I don't understand why tct would do this. I'm not knowledgable enough on all this stuff to really know if it's FUD or not, so I'll have to read it again. If it's not accurate, I will definitely not spread it around. I have not mentioned it to anyone yet, so I'm glad you said something.

Now I am deeply concerned, so thanks for bringing it to my attention. Wow. It may be obvious to you and the other commenters, so I'm apparently missing something. My lips (and fingers) will remain silent on this till I have more facts.

tct
tct

I am a member!

Offline
Joined: 10/23/2011

I'm sorry to see yet another ThinkPenguin minion trying to convince people that it's "FUD" what others and I have proved with facts.

FYI, Parabola (the only free distro installed on EOMA68-20 computers) had to update their article about EOMA68 because the original article was propagating the false claim that it's "libre hardware".

https://lists.parabola.nu/pipermail/dev/2016-August/thread.html#4341
https://www.parabola.nu/news/new-ryf-seeking-hardware-crowdfunding-project-with-parabola-pre-installed/

And RMS also agreed with me that's it's not "libre hardware" (free-design hardware).

On 28.08.2016 22:30, Richard Stallman wrote:
> > But since FSF also encourages people to free the design of their
> > hardware, wouldn't be important to tell them that if they promote their
> > hardware as "libre hardware" they should distribute the free PCB design
> > sources along with the hardware? Or to stop saying their computer is
> > "libre hardware" until it actually is?
>
> Yes, and I am saying that to them.

On 29.08.2016 23:52, Richard Stallman wrote:
> Please stop attacking them publicly, for the next week or two. You
> are right, but attacking them harshly hurts the community. I think I
> can get them straightened out on these issues in a gentler way,
> and that will result in a better outcome for the community.

If EOMA68-A20 computer will be released as free-design hardware sooner rather than later, it's thanks to activists (including me) that have warned people about the false claims and demanded a deadline for the release.

The EOMA68 crowdfunding campaign hasn't offer and still doesn't offer any deadline for the release of free PCB files:

"The only exception to this rule to release everything in advance is the PCB CAD files for the Computer Card. We’re planning to release the PCB CAD files for the Computer card once sufficient units are hit that ensures any third party manufacturing runs will not undermine the project’s development or stability." -- https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop

And the campaign text still falsely claims that EOMA68 "has been a Libre Hardware and Software project right from the beginning".

And when the EOMA68-A20 PCB source files will be released under a free license, the free software community will have to reimplement it in a free CAD software, because the board was designed in proprietary CAD software and can be modified only in its proprietary format.

Unlike EOMA68, Olimex provide free PCB source files developed with a free CAD software (KiCAD) for the boards they market as "open hardware" (free-design hardware).

quantumgravity
Offline
Joined: 04/22/2013

So richard was asking you not to attack them publicly, but you're doing it anyway?

tct
tct

I am a member!

Offline
Joined: 10/23/2011

I did what he asked - give him time to try the diplomatic approach.

onpon4
Offline
Joined: 05/30/2012

What were the results of that attempt?

tomlukeywood
Offline
Joined: 12/05/2014

Nice!

tct
tct

I am a member!

Offline
Joined: 10/23/2011

I forgot to mention that the stylus and touchscreen of the Tehnoetic X200 Tablet with libreboot work out of the box in Trisquel (including pressure). It's a great laptop/tablet for designers, teachers, and team members. I've replaced my X200 with a X200 Tablet myself. :-)

And today we've also uploaded a first batch of pictures for our laptops, including for the newly added X200 Tablet and T500 ;-)

https://tehnoetic.com/laptops
https://tehnoetic.com/laptops/tet-x200t
https://tehnoetic.com/laptops/tet-t500

Happy hacking everyone!

Misty
Offline
Joined: 03/22/2016

good to see those pics!

The payment options are so limited I noticed; so regrettably I'm unable to buy one. I'd sure hate to buy the one I saw in the store, knowing what lurks inside. :(

tct
tct

I am a member!

Offline
Joined: 10/23/2011

> The payment options are so limited I noticed

It would be helpful to know which is the payment option you miss.

> I'd sure hate to buy the one I saw in the store, knowing what lurks inside. :(

I don't understand what you meant here.

tct
tct

I am a member!

Offline
Joined: 10/23/2011

FSF has announced the inclusion of the Tehnoetic X200 Tablet (https://tehnoetic.com/tet-x200t) in their ethical tech giving guide: https://status.fsf.org/notice/199957