Anybody got their Eoma68?
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Anybody received their preordered Eoma68 yet? Or are everyone in the 31st October batch?
Those haven't shipped yet. This is the latest update:
Also, "EOMA68" is a standard, not a device. The devices being sent out are EOMA68-A20 ("Libre Tea") computer cards, EOMA68 micro-desktop housings, and EOMA68 laptop housings.
Right, 31st October then. I'm really curious about this project, but what holds me back is the lack of Trisquel support. I once tried to install Parabola to check if a non-tech like me could use it. But unfortunately I didn't even manage to install it.
Is Parabola a CLI only OS?
> Is Parabola a CLI only OS?
No. Pretty much all the software Trisquel has, Parabola has. The difference is that Parabola (like its parent distro, Arch) is a "power user" distro, so it's harder to set up and configure. It also uses a different package management system, "pacman".
I've never tried it, but it seems that getting the GNOME desktop running would just be a matter of installing the "gnome" and "gnome-extra" packages.
In fact, the biggest problem you would face running Parabola is that it's a bleeding-edge rolling-release distro, meaning you always get the latest versions of the programs you use. A lot of average users think of this as a good thing, but running the absolute latest versions of programs means you're more likely to encounter new bugs and other breakage than if you use older versions that you get used to over the course of a few years or so (even if it means dealing with some old bugs that are fixed in newer versions). So that's something to consider.
Hm ok. But is the default desktop environment in Parabola a "window type" graphical interface like Trisquel?
There's no default desktop environment. You have to install one from the command-line.
I use Parabola as a somewhat naive user. I have mine set up so that I do almost everything from XFCE, the only thing I use the terminal for regularly is updating the system. The challenge is in getting it set up.
I originally started using Parabola because I thought it would help me learn system details and the terminal better, but really what I learned is how to find relevant information in technical manuals. I'm probably a lot more naive than most Parabola or Arch users, but I've had it working well for me for a couple years. I still need manuals when I need to do a fresh install, but I've gotten pretty quick with it now.
Btw:
EOMA68 is a standard? Standard for what? :)
Also:
I don't understand this actually.
What exactly is this card?
I mean.. in a laptop and stationary pc u have a motherboard, cpu, gpu(s), ram module(s), probably fans etc etc etc...
But this card... has everything built into that little card?
Yes. See https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop (there is even a video).
It's actually sort of comparing apples to oranges, because EOMA68 is designed for small, low-power processors. The more appropriate comparison is to cell phones, and without going into technical details (mostly because I'm not intimately familiar with those details), the PCMCIA form-factor EOMA68 uses is actually quite large compared to many cell phones, and without the burden of having to include things like a battery and a screen. So yes, it all fits into that card. :)
Wow, okay interesting! :) Thank you.
I really hope this thing takes off and we will have more powerful machines with this free standard :)
Nonetheless I think I'm actually going yo go for this thing, it sounds very interesting
EOMA68 is a standard for computer cards, made with PCMCIA cases, that plug into housings supporting them. So for example, you could have 5 different EOMA68 computer cards and 5 different EOMA68 housings, and you can plug in any of those computer cards into housings that they will fit into, and expect them to "just work" without any problems. The reason they can be expected to "just work" is because of that standard.
I see, thank you for explanation
> EOMA68 is a standard for computer cards, made with PCMCIA cases, that plug into
> housings supporting them.
Yes, exactly. Since it's not really accurate to refer to the computer cards that are about to ship as "the EOMA68", I've been referring to them as "the first-generation EOMA68-compliant computer cards", which is rather verbose, but accurate.
According to last week's Freedom Friday meeting, Trisquel 9 will support ARM, so you should eventually be able to run Trisquel on the EOMA68 computer card.
Parabola does not have a default desktop environment like Trisquel does. You'll start with a command line. If you open a TTY in Trisquel with Ctrl+Alt+T you'll see what Parabola will look like at first. You can then use the command line to install the display manager and desktop environment that you wish to use. You also won't be able to use Synaptic or gnome-app-install (Add/Remove Applications), but there might be other graphical front ends for the package manager (Parabola uses pacman, not apt like Trisquel does). Parabola is also a rolling distro, so you will always have the latest software but it will not be as stable as a LTS distro like Trisquel.
If Parabola seems like too much for you, Debian is probably the next best option. It's not as beginner-friendly as Trisquel, but is far more so than Parabola. Debian does not include any proprietary software by default, but it has documentation and free software that guides users toward non-free software, so watch out for that.
I have not used Devuan, but someone mentioned in a thread on this forum that it includes some non-free firmware by default. If this is true, then Devuan is not as free as Debian.
Fedora is non-free because it uses Linux instead of Linux-libre.
Did Parabola do away with their install ISO with the LXDE desktop? I used it just 3 months ago, worked fine.
"I have not used Devuan, but someone mentioned in a thread on this forum that it includes some non-free firmware by default. If this is true, then Devuan is not as free as Debian."
only in the installer, not the kernel-- i believe if you install devuan and then do not install non-free support for your networking, and do not keep the installer, you are as free as you would be with debian.
i consider this a step backwards freedom-wise, plus a step forward for init freedom. a nice compromise is refracta, which puts the non-free firmware in a folder on the desktop that is easy to remove. it uses the devuan repos, so if youre looking for a libre-as-debian devuan, refracta is probably your best bet. i think its out of date, but gnuinos is devuan with linux-libre and libre repos. http://gnuinos.org/
sadly, refracta and gnuinos do not include arm support, so they wont help much in this thread.
which goes back to devuan, because it does support arm. as for the freedom-respecting status of the arm versions, ive never used them or heard much about it. parabola isnt impossible to use, it is a little less friendly than trisquel at least. if you want some nail-biting install fun, try upgrading gnewsense on a lemote. ive done that, not recently.
Thank you for the breakdown :)
Yeah you can get a "MATE installer iso" from Parabola's website, although I never got it to work. Maybe there are some incompatibility issues with the hardware I use, idk.
I guess I'll be waiting a little bit, hoping and crossing fingers that in near future Eoma will ship with Trisquel 9:)
I think if I were to buy one now I guess I would take the plunge and go for Libre Tea. I think I could manage to install a DE from the Command Line. But it's just ... So much money of it turns out to be very hard and frustrating:p
Haha thanks anyway for the breakdown :)
> I think if I were to buy one now I guess I would take the plunge and go for Libre Tea. I think I could manage to install a DE from the Command Line.
You could probably handle Parabola if you want to go for it. The hardest part is installing, which you won't have to deal with since it will come preinstalled with the Libre Tea. Everything else will get a little bit harder than with Trisquel, but you are proficient enough with the command line by now that you could manage it if you're willing to deal with a little initial inconvenience and learning.
> But it's just ... So much money
The laptop is pretty damn expensive. If EOMA68 is successful, the modularity of the laptop will make future upgrades less expensive and should save money in the long run, but it's a very large initial investment.
The computer card and desktop housing are a more manageable investment. I've ordered one of each and plan to order a second desktop housing. I'll keep one desktop housing at home and one in my office, so that I only need to carry the computer card with me between those two locations. I also plan to use the computer card on its own as a car navigation system the way that a Raspberry Pi is used here.[1] (Currently I use my laptop and set my destination before I start driving, but it's inconvenient that I can't safely interact with it while driving.) I don't need these things that badly, but I want to support EOMA68 and I think they'll be useful enough to justify the purchase.
> so that I only need to carry the computer card with me between those two locations.
That's clever.
> I also plan to use the computer card on its own as a car navigation system the way that a Raspberry Pi is used here.
But what will be the display?
PS. Is there any way to look at the different housing colors they offer?
PS PS. Why does the the completely assembled pack cost 1200$ and the card cost 65$ and the housing cost 500$? I mean... I thought it was as simple as "slide the card into the laptop"? Are one paying like 600+$ for them to slide it in for you? :P Or am I missing something here?
> But what will be the display?
A touch screen. See the link.
> Is there any way to look at the different housing colors they offer?
Not sure.
> Why does the the completely assembled pack cost 1200$ and the card cost 65$ and the housing cost 500$
The $500 laptop housing includes all of the parts needed to assemble the laptop, but you'll have to put them together yourself. The $1200 option comes with all of the parts preassembled, so you're paying for the assembly of the laptop. The price difference does seem a little steep to me. If you feel up to the task of assembling the laptop yourself, it could be a fun way to save $600.
Note that it's not a price difference, it's a support level difference. Luke/lkcl can't sell product, he just funded the completion of a few designs and is giving those who funded it some hardware with those designs as a "thank-you". So in fact all of the pledge levels are much, much higher than the expected price of the devices; they're that high because much of the money had to go toward things like testing and fixing unforeseen problems. It's retailers who will (if everything goes according to plan) then sell these devices. I'm hoping that Think Penguin might be such a retailer, although Chris hasn't come out and said whether or not he plans to stock these devices.
Note that the pre-ordered cards are sort of early access, so if you're concerned about facing difficulties or needing technical knowledge, you shouldn't order them now; instead you should wait until a vendor is selling them and buy from there.
Good point!
One more question here in this thread about the EOMA68:
they offer a package called "Print it Yourself", but they do not offer any 3D-printer.
Is it reasonable to assume that one can order the "Print it Yourself" package regardless of what kind of 3D-printer one has.
For example this: https://www.fsf.org/resources/hw/endorsement/aleph-objects ?
It's been delayed yet again:
https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop/updates/test-run-of-100-a20-cards-and-contract-work
Sigh
The March 31 date is approaching. I wonder if it will actually happen? The last update was March 22 where they were assembling 500 boards to go into the wooden housing for the computer to plug into. The actual computer is supposed to happen separately.
https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop/updates/500-micro-desktop-pcb-assemblies
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