Where is there hardware (computers) which has no compatibility problem with free OS ?
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Hello, everybody,
On the market, more and more computers have compatibility problems with free OS. Sometimes the wifi card must be changed. Even, sometimes you replace by a compatible wifi card on an other computer but the computer doesn't start (because of the overlocked motherboard).
That's why I am looking for computers which are sold with free OS, and whose components (wifi card, motherboard, etc.) have no compatibility problems with free OS.
There is http://www.thinkpenguin.com .
But do you know some others in the world ?
GNU/Linux preinstalled...
https://www.gnu.org/links/companies.html
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On 2013-09-10 09:47, name at domain wrote:
> On the market, more and more computers have compatibility problems with free OS. Sometimes the wifi
card must be changed. Even, sometimes you replace by a compatible wifi
card on an other computer but the computer doesn't start (because of the
overlocked motherboard).
They don't have "problems". Such systems are not designed with
components that are supported with free software. Their focus is
profitability, and as such they may often go for cheaper components
which require non-free software (ie Broadcom), or more expensive
components deisgned for performance w/o regards for free software
support (ie. Nvidia).
The example you describe is DRM at the hardware level:
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Problem_with_unauthorized_MiniPCI_network_card
>
> That's why I am looking for computers which are sold with free OS, and
whose components (wifi card, motherboard, etc.) have no compatibility
problems with free OS.
>
> There is http://www.thinkpenguin.com .
>
> But do you know some others in the world ?
I don't know of any company that has such focus on designing / choosing
designs that support free software, even going as far as proposing new
designs and financing/organizing development of drivers for such design
(ie. the recent addition of Atheros/Qualcom USB wifi chipsets).
HP does have some servers in its lineup which they certify for use with
Debian, however they seem to lag behind in versions - they don't even
support Wheezy yet, AFAIK and their management software is non-free:
http://downloads.linux.hp.com/SDR/downloads/ProLiantSupportPack/Debian/dists/
http://downloads.linux.hp.com/SDR/downloads/ProLiantSupportPack/Debian/dists/stable/current/non-free/
F.
- --
Fabián Rodríguez
http://trisquel.magicfab.ca
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Actually, most computers will work fine with Trisquel. The big problems are AMD video cards and integrated graphics, which don't support hardware acceleration; new Nvidia cards, which might be crappy or not have support at all (support for them comes from reverse-engineering, which takes time); and a lot of wireless cards. For the wireless cards, you have a decent chance of getting something that works if you only get computers that have Atheros wireless cards with only Wi-Fi, no Bluetooth. Other problems would be only annoying at best, such as not being able to use some of the "Fn"-mode keys or not being able to disable the touchpad.
That said, the best choice would be to get a computer from Think Penguin (but go there through [0]; that makes the default OS Trisquel instead of Ubuntu, and it also makes some of the profits from purchases go to Trisquel).
I am a member!
Avoid newer Atheros 802.11ac chipsets as I believe they are (for now) dependent on non-free firmware. This include mini pcie / mini pcie half height / pcie. Note: there not yet out- but there coming. We have to be careful not to make the claim all atheros chipsets are free software friendly. Even specifying wifi is wrong. There are bluetooth/wifi combo cards with non-free firmware on the bluetooth portion. Something I'd like to get atheros to work with us on although... it's a future project. There is too much going on at the moment for me to deal with that particular issue.
Thank you for your answers. In summary, I was/am looking for DRM-Free hardware (computer, wifi-cards, motherboard, graphic card, printer, etc.).
Some people lent me their computers in order to install Trisquel (instead of Windows8). But there was always, with their computer, at least a compatibility problem with the wifi-card. Some years ago, we had not often this problem.
Now I can tell them (people/friends) some other possibilities (not only thinkpenguin).
P.S. : In some schools, informatics teacher use Apple, and schoolers have, consequently, to use Apple. Or how to lock kids with DRM already in childhood. "Excuse me, guy, I can't help you. I've never used Apple/Mac. Now I use Trisquel."
I am a member!
HP has excellent documentation on which of its printers are capable of working with 100% free operating systems. Unfortunately you'd have to read an entire book to decipher which printers are compatible and then there is still a chance you'll make a mistake. But... anyhow. Someday we'll add a larger set of HP printers to our catalog. I was also thinking of writing up some documentation or doing something that might assist in picking out printers that aren't offered in our catalog.
I am a member!
You can also try h-node. It is a hardware database which rates laptops and various parts based on compatibility with free GNU/Linux distributions like Trisquel. You can also help the project by testing and submitting your own hardware there.
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