How does Trisquel 11 work with Blackbird Secure Desktop in 2024?

So far I've seen it is used mostly as a server than a desktop computer.

As some "desktop" optimizations for such arch may not have reached mainstream packages, which is kind of expected due to the small amount of devices out there, and the even smaller number of those being used as a desktop computer.

Simon posted an article talking about this experience (as a server): https://blog.josefsson.org/2023/09/01/trisquel-on-ppc64el-talos-ii/

Cheers!

Thank you very much for the link, useful information.

As I understand it, Simon bought Talos 2, I did not see any information about its video card. ASpeed, as I understand it, is not a full-fledged graphics video card.

From what I read, I can draw some intermediate conclusions:

Pros:

1. You can install the libre distro -Trisquel. I wonder if any of the users have tried to install Parabola, Hyperbola, etc.
I see in Simon's blog that the user installed Guix.

2. Good service, the company monitors quality and helps users, even if they made a mistake, link to the article https://drewdevault.com/2019/10/10/RaptorCS-redemption.html

3. There is a forum https://forums.raptorcs.com

Cons:

1. Problems with WI-FI (users report that they cannot use network cards)

2. QEMU is slow (I still don’t understand why, someone reports that virtual machines work well)

3. Low optimization of programs due to architecture.

4. High cost

5. System load time is 2-5 minutes (user experience)

6. The processor heats up more than usual and the fans work louder.

7. OpenBSD not working, information for the future HyperBSD https://www.talospace.com/2024/04/openbsd-75.html

Interesting, detailed article with photos and review https://www.talospace.com/2019/06/a-semi-review-of-raptor-blackbird.html

I have a blackbird system that I've installed Trisquel 11 on and can report that it works reasonably well, with some caveats. The on-board ASpeed graphics supports fullHD monitors (after manually configuring XOrg), but does not have 3D acceleration. I've installed an old Radeon HD5450 in mine, and it works nicely. I bought an NVIDIA GT710, but the system wouldn't boot with that card installed. I didn't spend a great deal of time troubleshooting it, it's likely that someone could get it working but I haven't had time.

I have no problem Internet browsing, watching full-screen videos at 1920x1080 resolution or listening to music. I can run virtual machines, but haven't figured out how to run them with a graphical console. That may not be possible.
I haven't had any issues compiling programs so far, although I mostly work with Java. I have had problems with using Docker, which I use a lot with my work. Docker itself works fine, but many publishers of Docker images don't produce images for ppc64le. For example, the company I work for uses a Corretto Java base image for nearly everything and it doesn't have a ppc64le image. I'm in the process of going through and rebuilding everything based on Eclipse's Temurin image which does support ppc64le.
I haven't tried anything with 3D graphics, or attempted to run any games on it.
I haven't installed a wi-fi card, no idea about that.
There are certainly some gaps with support of some applications for ppc64le. However the one time I needed it, compiling it myself was about 98% successful (some features of the application that required some native integration didn't work, but mostly it did).
Blackbird machines are expensive, albeit less so than a Talos. My view though, is that companies are not going to bother with efforts to produce open machines if people don't buy them.
System load time is definitely slow. On the other hand, there appears to be an issue with suspend, so I leave mine running all the time ;).
In my experience, the processor rarely heats up enough to ramp the fans up. The fan is certainly not optimised for noise-efficiency though. It's more like a server cooler than a typical desktop CPU cooler. At full noise it roars, but at idle it's very quiet. Because of the unusual socket, there are no alternatives either, that I know of. If you're capable, you may be able to rig up a water cooling solution: https://forums.raptorcs.com/index.php?topic=110.0.
I have no idea about OpenBSD.

Hello Bernie.

Thank you very much for your detailed answer.

It was very interesting to read the real user experience. You confirmed that there are some problems with the network card and video card.
As I understand it, you need to buy a video card and additional cooling for the chip, it’s possible to do something yourself, as you said about water cooling, thanks for the link.

As I understand now, Blackbird Secure Desktop, with all its huge advantages, is still an experimental story for the user.
I would say that Blackbird Secure Desktop is more for geeks and enthusiasts than for the average user who bought a computer, plugged it in and started using it. And if we talk about experiments, then as I understand they are very, very expensive))

I understand why FSF is now using the ASUS KGPE-D16. If we imagine that the user accidentally damaged the Blackbird motherboard while improving his system, or something happened to it, since the system is always on)) then I can’t even imagine what it would be like, unlike the completely destroyed ASUS KGPE-D16 that is currently standing 150-200$

It's great that Trisquel and Vikings.thum are supported by Raptor Computing Systems!