Transitioning to Libre software
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Hello everyone this will be a somewhat long post so I don't expect answers for all my questions but anything helps!
I am a Windows user since late Win2000 - early WinXP and have been using Windows for almost the past two decades. Ever since Vista I've been looking for a way out of the Windows and I got a MacBook and ran bootcamp thinking I had the best of both worlds, only to find MacOS just as terrible. Recently I have had to switch back to Windows and Win10 is a steaming pile of shit. I have really had my patience tested with Win10 because even though I went through PowerShell and neutered all of the crapware that comes with Windows, I was still getting updates without my constent and I felt as though I never had any power over my machine. When researching tools for privacy and for security I came across some videos on the Intel ME chips on newer CPUs and my journey through the rabbit hole began. I have since been watching a ton of Richard Stallman Videos, researching software and hardware through fsf.org
I have never used GNU/Linux before but I would consider myself a tech savvy person, I know how to code some basic C, but that's about it. While I have used an arduino, I don't have the ability to flash LibreBoot on a machine using a raspberry pi. I have since ordered a pre-librebooted machine using FSF endorsed 'Libiquity' for the Taurinius x200.
https://shop.libiquity.com/product/taurinus-x200
My questions for this are:
1. When buying a pre-librebooted device how can I know that the CPU is libre? Can the seller of the x200 install non-free software before shipping or does libreboot prevent that?
2. My x200 will be shipped with trisquel 7.0, will I be able to update through the OS itself to 8.0 or have to create a new bootable drive?
3. Also I bought the x200 with low ram and a hdd, wanted to update those two myself and have come across these:
https://www.crucial.com/usa/en/thinkpad-x200-%28all-types%29/CT13662844
If anyone has an x200 please let me know if these are compatible or please recommend if there's an SSD with even more capacity that would also be compatible.
4. I am using a VPN called Mullvad, on their support page for Linux it requires the kernel to be 4.8 or newer, from what I have seen Trisquel 8.0 seems to be 4.4 is there any work around for this (I really like the kill switch and IPV6 support they have on their app). If I have to change my VPN what is one that would be recommended?
https://mullvad.net/en/guides/install-mullvad-app-linux/
Thanks!
New to GNU
Welcome :)
> 1. When buying a pre-librebooted device how can I know that the CPU is
> libre? Can the seller of the x200 install non-free software before
> shipping or does libreboot prevent that?
Do you mean could the seller install non-free software in the Trisquel
system on the HDD? If so, no libreboot would not prevent them from doing
this. However, it doesn't matter what's on the HDD if you are planning
to upgrade to an SSD.
> 2. My x200 will be shipped with trisquel 7.0, will I be able to update
> through the OS itself to 8.0 or have to create a new bootable drive?
Vendors should not be shipping laptops with Trisquel 7, because it does
not receive security updates. However, it is possible to upgrade to
Trisquel 8 without reinstalling.[1] Again though, if you are upgrading
to an SSD then it doesn't matter what is on the HDD. You'll need to
create a bootable drive[2] to install Trisquel on the SSD.
> 3. Also I bought the x200 with low ram and a hdd, wanted to update those
> two myself and have come across these:
>
> https://www.newegg.com/crucial-8gb-204-pin-ddr3-so-dimm/p/N82E16820148345?Description=crucial%20ddr3&cm_re=crucial_ddr3-_-20-148-345-_-Product
>
> https://www.crucial.com/usa/en/thinkpad-x200-%28all-types%29/CT13662844
>
> If anyone has an x200 please let me know if these are compatible or
> please recommend if there's an SSD with even more capacity that would
> also be compatible.
I have an X200 as well. I think that any SATA SSD should be fine. I'm
not sure about RAM.
> 4. I am using a VPN called Mullvad, on their support page for Linux it
> requires the kernel to be 4.8 or newer, from what I have seen Trisquel
> 8.0 seems to be 4.4 is there any work around for this (I really like the
> kill switch and IPV6 support they have on their app).
I also use Mullvad. You can upgrade the Trisquel 8 kernel to 4.15 by
installing[3] the package "linux-generic-hwe-8.0", or install an even
newer kernel from jxself's repository.[4]
[1] https://trisquel.info/en/wiki/keeping-system-updated (
[2] https://trisquel.info/en/wiki/installation-guide
[3] https://trisquel.info/en/wiki/installing-updating-and-removing-software
[4] https://jxself.org/linux-libre/
Thank you very much! I will read the links you provided and follow them when I get my system.
I have been testing out the bootable drive on my current machine which has loads of non-free drivers including iSeries intel, wifi card and likely loads more. I couldn't connect to the internet to further find drivers while in the liveboot. How should I proceed when I recieve the x200, will it work out of the box with trisquel 8.0 (with drivers)? Or should I somehow make a backup of the drivers that will be shipped with the HDD before installing the SSD?
Firstly, my answers to your questions:
1. The CPU and chipset of X200 can be recognized as free/libre. There is no 30-minute time bomb, so you can completely remove the ME.
2. Normally you can neglect the preloaded operating system and install it by yourself.
3. If you want to buy two 4-GiB DDR3 SO-DIMMs to upgrade the RAM of your X200 to 8 GiB, be sure to buy those with 16 chips (2R*8). The 8-chip (1R*8) 4-GiB DDR3 is not supported by the legacy chipset of X200 series. For SSD, just purchase arbitrary one with appropriate capacity.
4. Using VPN is illegal in China, so I can't offer any help about VPN.
Furthermore, my suggestions on transitioning to free/libre software are somehow against the community guidelines here. I'm not sure whether I should post them here. (In my "Introduction to GNU/Linux" documents, "Installing GNU/Linux on a physical machine" is the last chapter. At this point, readers should have no major difficulties in using GNU/Linux and (hopefully) they no longer want to switch back to Losedows.)
Regarding your ram advice, I've searched for 16 chip (2Rx8) and indeed I hadn't noticed that I need low density ram. x200 does not 'officially' support 4gig sticks according to Lenovo's specifications. However I cannot find on NewEgg or Amazon any seller who specifies "1Rx8" or "2Rx8". I have searched some thinkpad forums and found a list of compatible ram however some are PC3 10600 and others PC3L 12800. While they both are working according to other thinkpad users which one should I prefer?
Thanks!
As long as the SO-DIMM is 2R*8, it should be supported by 4-series chipset (X200, T400, W500 series). If you only use them for X200, then PC3 10600 (1333 MHz) is enough. If you wish to reserve them for future use as well (e.g. using them on newer ThinkPad models like X230 or T440p, both support coreboot), then you'll need PC3L 12800 (low voltage, 1600 MHz).
Avoid the PC3 8500 (1066 MHz), the frequency is too low and they cannot be used on platforms newer than Sandy Bridge (X220, T420, W520 series).
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