Will this tablet run Trisquel?
Starlab.systems have released this tablet which runs Coreboot and Linux: https://dk.starlabs.systems/pages/starlite-linux
These are the specifications: https://dk.starlabs.systems/pages/starlite-specification
Based on the specs, is it likely, that it will run Trisquel?
It looks cool with the 16gb of memory and coreboot.
The problem I see is that you have the proprietary wifi, so you will need an atheros usb wifi dongle. But those are built for normal USB ports, and this only has two USB-C ports. So in order to have any connectivity you are going to have to have a USB-C dock AND a usb wifi dongle hanging off of it. That will make it be not so good for use as a tablet.
If you wanted to use it as a portable desktop with Trisquel then it looks like it should work good. You could use the mini-HDMI port to send out your display to a larger monitor, and connect a keyboard and mouse to a USB-C dock.
have a USB-C dock AND a usb wifi dongle hanging off of it.
That would probably be annoying.
Another question is how to know how well/fast it would perform?
Is there a useful way for a non-savvy to compare the (potential) performance of computers?
For instance, how would this tablet perform in comparison with a T400s with 8GB of memory?
>"For instance, how would this tablet perform in comparison with a T400s with 8GB of memory?"
No comparison, I wouldn't think. The T400s is about 14 or so years old. This tablet has a modern quad-core processor with 3.7 ghz turbo boost and 6mb smart cache, M2 SSD hard drive, 4800MHz LPDDR5 memory, etc etc. I would think it would blow the T400s out of the water in terms of overall speed and responsiveness, especially with heavier loads. With light loads you might not notice much difference.
So in order to have any connectivity you are going to have to have a USB-C dock AND a usb wifi dongle hanging off of it.
Small USB-C-to-USB-A adapters exist too.
I am a translator!
That is what I use with replicant.
However, another question is whether it can boot on the Trisquel install USB, with the adapter.
Hard to say. You can contact Starlabs and ask but last time I asked about Trisquel compatibility on a product the only response I received was that they didn't currently test with Trisquel. If you're looking for a Trisquel friendly tablet i'd check out the Librem 11. It ships with Pure OS but if it works with that that then it probably works with Trisquel as well.
Stay away from Purism, they're very unprofessional and have an history of cash grabbing and never process shipments.
"Stay away from Purism, they're very unprofessional and have an history of cash grabbing and never process shipments"
If that's your experience that's fine but others have a positive experience with them. If we avoid anything that even one person has a negative experience with then we use nothing and sit in a cave.
> If that's your experience that's fine but others have a positive experience
> with them. If we avoid anything that even one person has a negative
> experience with then we use nothing and sit in a cave.
You seem to have forgotten about those who have negative experience
with caves
Good point.
And they must have been many, for we eventually left the caves.
Having feedback on how RYF companies operate looks useful. I do not remember reading about Purism "cash grabbing and never process[ing] shipments". So I wonder if JC8 could elaborate, telling her/his story (if she/he had purchased anything from Purism; not my case, by the way) and/or linking to posts about such bad experiences. Maybe JC8 makes a confusion with Technoethical (searching "Technoethical" in this forum will list several cases of "cash grabbing and never process[ing] shipments").
"Purism ghosts Librem 5 customer, lies about refund policy - AVOID!"
https://yewtu.be/watch?v=wKegmu0V75s
They apparently did not give a refund one of the preorders.
This video podcasts sites this post on ycombinator that it has ryf certification.
Then there's the whole hilarious situation with the RAM initialization blob where Purism went and hid it behind two layers of CPUs (not execution, just handling it), because somehow doing that - which provides absolutely no benefit to the user, it's just a waste of engineering time - made it possible to certify the phone under the FSF's utterly broken and nonsensical "Respects your Freedom" program, even though precisely zero freedom was gained by doing this, since it still running the same blob on the same final CPU with the same access. All the while while reducing security, since the blob is then made no longer part of the normal OS image and is not validated with it, so it could be backdoored as part of a supply chain attack and you would be none the wiser.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30761886
I am pretty sure it does not though. I might be confused here. The FSF does not have RYF certification for any Purism product.
https://yewtu.be/watch?v=wKegmu0V75s
Thank you for that link.
The FSF does not have RYF certification for any Purism product.
Indeed. But Purism aimed for that certification for the Librem 5:
It was a lot harder to design a phone from the ground up so that it would qualify for RYF (a designation that not even everyone in FOSS community values, much less society at large), that separated the cellular modem from the CPU, and made it possible to disable it with a hardware kill switch.
https://puri.sm/posts/why-fsf-endorsing-pureos-matters/
And, by the end of 2020, the FSF looked pretty keen to grant it, given its recommandation in the Ethical Tech Giving Guide, along with true RYF products: https://www.fsf.org/givingguide/v11/
https://www.fsf.org/givingguide/v12/ was still mentioning the Librem 5, but warning that it is not perfect. https://www.fsf.org/givingguide/v13/ stopped mentioning the Librem 5.
> I am pretty sure it does not though. I might be confused here. The FSF does not have RYF certification for any Purism product.
They used to, and after the FSF realized that they were trying to cheat the system, the certification was revoked.
This company has a plethora of cases of people not receiving shipments, being delayed for years, being never refunded, and getting their devices then turning out that they're built with such poor quality materials that they would break in less than a year after normal usage. The video from Louis Rossmann is just one of the dozens of other incidents involving Purism, and there's yet another video from Louis where he exposes that he was approached by a representative of the company, who tried to manipulate him and convince him of unlisting the video (link will be down below). When your scope and target audience and customers is niche and yet has so many systemic issues and incidents with you, it's very clear that the problem is you, not the customers.
(Also, their software repositories and documentation have been outdated/unmantained by about two years by now, since last time I checked).
Please, do not recommend Purism to anyone (unless you hate them), you're putting them in a really bad spot if they get any problems with shipments or when they rely on their devices functioning at all for their work. There are distributors that deserve far more attention and money than Purism.