Buying a Trisquel laptop in France

The problem is not so much the ability to ship, but the perceived insurance «in case anything happens». It's easier to send the laptop in the same country and even monitor the traject. If they are nearby I can even go to the shop myself. This is why I would like some dealer in France. But I won't rely solely on DuckDuckGo to find me a salesperson.

Thank you GNUser for your input. Only there's no such problem in my case. Debian 6 is out of the question, the kernel is too old. But Debian 7 does work, till it freezes. Tails, which is Debian 6 with a recent kernel had some issues, now it goes without a problem. Ubuntu I don't touch because of their Microsoftish policies. I know they are free. I also know that I am not skilled enough to take everything harmful out. I didn't like Fedora either because of their «latest software», huge quantity of updates and rpm. I don't know. In the past I have bricked a few computers with rpm updates. I never tricked deb distributions into that. But Fedora is smooth. And Fedora has security updates. And it can handle everything I throw at it it seems. Including upgrading full disk encrypted systems. Trisquel can't run on my hardware because it needs too many proprietary code, including for backlighting.

I used to build up my own PC. Since I switched to laptop only I'm handicapped and depend on others to do it for me. Heck! I don't need a webcam or optical driver either.

Free BIOS would be nice. Long battery life and the ability to go over to their shop if there's an issue I can't fix trumps that. Or, as you point out: going with a Trisquel CD.

The only part of the system that has to do with hardware compatibility is the kernel, Linux. So unless all Debian-based systems are using a different kernel version than all those other systems, maybe your computer has a Secure Boot feature that doesn't have keys these other systems are signed with, or perhaps these other systems aren't signed at all.

Yea, but who is going to pay the exchange tax, the VAT, the eco tax and any other tax the EU is going to put on that laptop? Than who is going to pay for the price of sending back the laptop if anything happens? And who is going to pay for a replacement during that time. Y'know, transatlantic postal packs don't go in a couple of hours.

Never took that into consideration. Chromebook means Google. And Google made Android. I have been suspicious from the start with the always positive attitude towards Android. Everywhere it is written Linux to imply FOSS, to receive a TiVo device with closed apps. This last year the news were quite upsetting. The part with google stores ALL your Wifi passwords and bookmarks was quite obvious. The broken RNG was less obvious. Meaning all geeks who could not help themselves have all sort of unsecure keys.

But that does not mean this is not an option. Thank you for the suggestion. I'll be back with updates. Right now I'm inclined to do an eco gesture and get a refurbished laptop.

Do you know for a fact that ldlc laptop can run Trisquel out of the box? How about coreboot?

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On 2013-12-27 08:33, name at domain wrote:
> As it has already been said, you had better take an Intel processor but without the TXT or vPro
"technologies".

Could someone properly document this on the Trisquel wiki or share
relevant links so I can do it? I'd like to refer to the above
statement/suggestion with sources when possible.

>
> As for the Wifi adapter, you can opt for an internal card such as
https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/penguin-wireless-n-half-height-mini-pcie-card

Those can also be obtained from your local laptop-repair store, second
hand. I carry several with me at all times in case anyone wants theirs
replaced.

>
> However the USB adapter is particularly useful if you want to carry
with you a Trisquel Live system and get a Wifi connection on the
computer you plug it into. Also, it is kind almost guaranteed that the
USB adapter will be usable with your computer you will buy after this
one. Probably the one after that too.

I also bought two different models from Thinkpenguin, they are essential
tools on the road. I documented my experience with those here (in French):
http://fabianrodriguez.com/blog/2013/07/09/atheros-ar9170-ar9271-debian-wheezy

F.

- --
Fabián Rodríguez
http://trisquel.magicfab.ca

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> ISTR an FSFE newsletter lauding a French user enforcing their right to buy a laptop without Microsoft Windows. So, please, whatever you do buy - don't pay 'Windows Tax.'

I'm puzzled by the French so far. They have such forward initiatives, and yet others are so backward.

Two years ago I have discovered the Windows tax. I don't know a big chain that would deal with Linux laptops. For them Linux means Android. End of story. I wanted to demand my money. I discovered the procedure is a pain in the ass. And that it takes time and sometimes money to go forward. Worse, my purchase wasn't that compatible with the distos of the time.

Today with Win8 imposed almost everywhere I had no option than to search elsewhere. The options are far apart and so far I had only one answer from a french company and that answer was to wait for the Linux guy. It's a good thing the French have a long history with postal delivery of goods, the postal service works perfectly and the law is pretty clear about some things.

> Because the keyboard on the netbook I bought secondhand earlier in the year gives me wrist pains in extended use I bought a Gluglug X60s in late October. I'm still absolutely delighted with it.

I'm waiting for my own. I have the camera ready.

> So I phoned Francis Rowe at Gluglug to find out what he does for overseas warranty support. He said he tests extensively before shipping so out of the over one hundred he's shipped so far only two have later developed problems. With both it was RAM. The users in question replaced the RAM themselves with his remote support. He also said major things like the LCD display would be RTB.

He told me the same thing over email last week. I have no idea why, but I am confident the guy knows what he does.

> From my own past I know IBM branded machines are _designed_ with maintenance, often by the end user, in mind. So the hardware maintenance manual is still available on line[1] and things like the keyboard, hdd, and RAM are what IBM calls CRUs (Customer Replaceable Units). Changing them is a doddle compared to most other laptops.

I had one such laptop for almost two years. The tech rep at the authorised service told me a few hours after I brought in the toy that the fan is broken and changing it would cost more than a new one. So I bought the idea and broke that one into pieces one evening just to check it out. If only I have gotten in contact with someone like Francis Rowe. The next one was an eeePC. They were new and they were good. But nothing compared with the ThinkPad. Tiny led light for the keyboard, three button mouse, the small red thingie which is easier to use than a touchpad, easy to change hard drives and RAM, sturdy plastics, extra configurable blue button, a complete set of LED indicators on the inside and a few on the outside too for complete feedback. Acer/Asus completely lack style.

> If French PC shops are like UK ones then it would seem you'll only have to ship to Gluglug when you would be waiting for your local dealership workshop to get parts anyway. Unless you're lucky enough to live somewhere close to the French equivalent of Novatech, and you wouldn't be asking if you were.

For the moment is going to be GluGlug. The French seem to have a terrible problem with anything other than French language. On the forums they were particularly assholes about my Google Translate. My mistake. I just wanted to get more answers.

> So I don't think your warranty support argument is as strong as you seem to think it is. And definitely once out of warranty having a PDF of that manual will put you in a better position than with many cheap laptops.

I agree the manual makes miracles. And it's a wonderful thing to have. Most companies hide that. Some even make it illegal to own one unless you sign some papers with them. But I can't make a thing beyond screwing\unscrewing.

> The Gluglug X60 is the only RYF laptop in existence, so, as I have told my friends, it is therefore the best laptop in the world. Further even when they don't agree with my principles on software freedom, they do agree the X60 is proof that second hand quality is better than new of the same price. Nothing even at twice the money is made to the build quality of the X60 these days.

The only x86 AFAIK. But some apps, Tor for example won't run on MIPS. Not in the next few years.

> Software freedom will come to naught if we're not prepared to 'put our money where our mouth is' and buy RYF first, explicitly compatible second, even if we have to save up extra money. Hardware manufacturers will continue to be reluctant to cooperate with or be helpful to the free software community until we can demonstrate a monetary incentive for them to do so. That starts with our individual purchases today. Which rather takes me back to the top of this post - whatever you do, don't make our problem worse by indirectly giving Microsoft any money when you buy your laptop.

You're talking about the small guys. The big companies are as good as any large country government. Burocracy. All sort of unwritten codes. Tyrans on any management level. Intel and AMD are sure against any disclosure about their microcode. Intel, AMD, Nvidia are sure against any close inspection of their chips. I'm not talking any conspiracy here. Only that Intel execs don't want to be reminded of the Pentium bug or of the stupidity of MMX. Nvidia surely does not want you to know how they cheat at 3dmark. They all want their crap to go quietly. So vPro is almost none about governmental control and almost all about sweeping the turds under the rug. With closed source and paid review sites the PR can just come with a large can of deodorant and say «shit? I smell pines all the way from the entrance!»

В 21:05 +0100 на 28.12.2013 (сб), chris.arijs написа:
> I know that Atheros Wifi cards are great but what about the other
> stuff ?

Check the h-node [1] project's hardware database. The information is
reported from fully free distributions. They lack motherboard section,
but still. Have in mind that some of the hardware might not be
available. At least new.

[1] http://h-node.org/

For desktops Coreboot list support for two current AMD CPU motherboards here:

http://www.coreboot.org/Supported_Motherboards

However, you're going to be left without 3D support unless you want to introduce non-free code in the form of an nVidia GPU VGABIOS. Both of the write ups seem to indicate you need some hardware tools, so trying to find someone friendly at your local Hackspace or Hacklab would be well advised.

For new laptops that don't explicitly guarantee support for free software then look for a PC shop who, like Novatech in the UK, does their own brand laptops 'naked' (i.e. no O/S). You'll need to speak to a techie rather than a sales assistant but you will be able to find out about WiFi (and changing it), TXT etc.

Although IMO you're better buying second hand locally. Then you've tested with a Trisquel Live CD/USB stick so you know it works, it's better for the planet and you're not keeping that war in Africa over one of electronics' raw materials going. Free software being more performant than proprietary most people don't need the latest hardware.

Which leads to the point that other than for web browsing, editing digital media and games most computing needs can be met by the command line and either Emacs or VIM. If you take the time to learn these things then you'll end up like me, with a 5 year old desktop that rarely gets above 10% CPU usage and stave off an upgrade until actual hardware failure or accident occurs.

About two years ago I was thinking the same thing as you do. I discovered that I need a larger bag to carry it. That the large surface of the cover can bend in the middle as much as to see waves on the screen. That the power needed to light up such a surface eats up the extra battery making it 5 hours tops when new. Next to me a friend with a 10" thingie could squeeze 12+ hours with a lighter battery. Sure the config was weighting in, but 12 continuous hours is something. And his Wifi was as stong as my external amplified antenna.