Open-pc.com - for hardware that runs on free software
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Open-pc.com look like they put together computers that will support free software, like Trisquel.
Here is there url:
If their hardware really is fully functional with only free software, then that's good, though I can't say I'm thrilled about how they describe it as "pure Linux."
> Open-pc.com look like they put together computers that will support
> free software, like Trisquel.
Poor machines if their specifications are complete. As Jason Self wrote
in their forums, machines without free BIOS or needed specifications
aren't "open".
But are there any machines that work with a free bios?! I know Richard Stallman has one - a laptop which isn't manufactured anymore.
I asked in the coreboot irc channel and they didn't seem to know of one there...
If anybody knows of a place where you can get laptops that work with a free bios, let me know!
> But are there any machines that work with a free bios?! I know Richard
> Stallman has one - a laptop which isn't manufactured anymore.
It's still available.
> I asked in the coreboot irc channel and they didn't seem to know of
> one there...
They certainly know http://www.coreboot.org/Supported_Motherboards,
probably some of these boards are available.
> If anybody knows of a place where you can get laptops that work with a
> free bios, let me know!
No one not with YeeLoongs, unless you could the Lenovo laptops which
could have Coreboot installed later (never used it).
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I'm pretty confident in saying this is wrong. The laptops are old and I'm positive I've looked. You can't even find them on the major auction site(s). You need a very specific version of the Lenovo model. It's also not compatible with free software for other reasons (graphics and wifi I believe).
The machine RMS has is also not available any more. The new version is not free software friendly. It's got a non-free software dependent graphics chipset.
As far as desktops go it's mostly boards that are no longer being manufactured so they are impossible to get (just about). You will pay a significant premium for them if you can get one (you probably can with a little bit of effort).
In some way they seem to be related to Chris.
At least this model (http://open-pc.com/static/open-pc/open-pcxs.php)
links to here:
https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/open-pc-desktop
To me the case looks pretty much like the one Chris sells:
https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/home-theater-pc-libre-style
@Chris: Could you please clarify your relationship (if there is any) ?
TIA,
Holger
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I bought the earlier non-theatre-pc version from ThinkPenguin and I was assured that the device was essentially the "Open-PC".
I only wish I had waited a few months. I was unaware that a new version with improved graphics was coming. It works alright, but I did what I could to lower the memory footprint of Trisquel.
If anyone gets the theatre-pc version, would you please post your assessment here in the forum?
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I'm not sure what you meant by this although the Open-PC and Penguin Wee are/were identical hardware wise. The only difference is in the software/branding of the unit.
The original Penguin Wee/OpenPC should run Trisquel great. If you ordered it with 1GB it might not be sufficient for the latest version. I'm guessing that is what your gripe is. Upgrading the ram would be a good idea. We usually recommend more ram to people unless they are trying to cut corners and also sticking with an older LTS release. I would not advise less than 2GB for the current version of Trisquel and even then 2GB only if one is going to stick with the 6 release once it comes out for the next 3 years.
The new Penguin Wee / HTPC is nice. It supports HD video and is much faster. The original Penguin Wee though has some nice qualities about it too. Especially if you are just looking to use it for web browsing, email, word processing, etc. The new version is a super charged Penguin Wee and probably overkill for the majority. Most of the people buying them are not at all tech savvy. They are just looking for something simple to send emails, browse the web, and maybe do a little typing (think snail mail letters). The original also is a really great system for learning GNU/Linux because of the price point. It works perfectly without the need to deal with proprietary software thus allowing one to really get into the software.
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I certainly have no gripes with the machine!
It now has 2 gigs and works great. The only thing I wished is that I had the newer intel HD graphics. However, its fine.
I was also advocating using lightweight software with such a machine to improve it's performance.
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The OpenPC project was a failure. There were major issues that could have been resolved. The idea was to basically put out a free PC. We already had that. At least to the extent it ran free software (distribution like Trisquel). In fact it was more of a backward motion as it used OpenSuSE. OpenPC is really just a branded version of OpenSuSE with a few tweaks. It looked REALLY cool. BUT the problems were this:
1. Multiple announcements prior to the availability of the system(s). We weren't the only ones shipping an "OpenPC". It should have really been one system that had shipping from multiple continents. Then there were no announcements after it was released. It needed promotion that it never got.
2. It wasn't completely free (not from the free software perspective at least). The wording used to describe it was all wrong. "Open" is a bad word. I don't believe it actually contained non-free software as the OpenSuSE developer(s) are active in removing non-free firmware/drivers. However I think it's web site contains information on installing non-free software. That makes it a no-go in this community.
3. We already had a system with chipsets made it free software compatible (again, it's not free BIOS, X86 is never going to be 100% free even with a free BIOS) and was selling great.
4. There was an article written by someone who didn't get the facts. This was several months after the initial availability. They managed to find our web site and made up stuff for the article. Never were we contacted. They claimed for instance the US version of the OpenPC shipped with Ubuntu. It did not. Ubuntu is not free. The OpenPC version of OpenSuSE was at least not shipping non-free software for the most part (again- it isn't quite Trisquel free though). We did not ship Ubuntu with the OpenPC version which was linked from the OpenPC web site. There was an entirely different page for it. There still is. We did also ship a version with Ubuntu though. The system is still available with OpenPC. I would not recommend it. I'm doubtful the software is being maintained. It's a very old effort now and it's probably based on an unsupported version of OpenSuSE. It's not possible to find it our on web site directly.
All in all we are basically doing what the OpenPC project attempted to accomplish. A PC built for free software users. Non-free software is a hindrance to free software users and that was what the project was trying to solve. The translation / English of those running it wasn't great. I never was really sure if they understood the problem(s) even though I attempted to explain it. It wasn't my place and the project was basically done when we got involved. We just gave them a new means to distribute a product in a region they otherwise could not. They already had completed development on it (software wise).
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