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Hi all.
From the Acorn Electron and BBC Basic, through the limbo of beige boxes running Windows, then Apple before the fascism became too ugly to bear...and now to Ubuntu and my little Acer, it's been quite a journey. Now looking to move to the world of free software. I'm new to this and I don't mind asking questions.
I would dearly love, having developed in my early 40's a real deep seated need for freedom, to move to the world of free software.
I am currently using an Acer laptop, and running Ubuntu, but this is not enough, and I would like to run totally free software, then when my Acer packs up, look to buy a totally free system. I have tried free software (Gnewsense, Trisquel6 and 7 ) and of these Trisquel 7 was the closest to working for me. It recognised my wifi card and I could connect wirelessly, (which is not essential), but the brightness control didn't work at all, and the suspend/hibernate function did not work either. This was a pain to say the least.
My question is this. If I am to transition to the free world, is inconvenience like this usual and do people just 'live with it' ?
I don't use the web too much, I really only use my computer for email and for looking at the occasional website and news feeed with Lynx, and I'm at an early stage of learning Lisp after discovering emacs, and the command line. I don't own a mobile phone. I detest them.
If the aforementioned inconveniences are par for the course, then I will willingly accept that as part of the price of freedom, but I'd like to hear your views on this.
I'm very happy that my journey has brought me here, and I'd like to share and contribute to the community if I can help.
Happy days.
Sam.
Welcome Sam!
Inconveniences sometimes happen, but we do our best to find workarounds or report bugs, which often fix the problems :)
Welcome to freedom. :-)
Welcome freedom seeker! The amount of trouble has to do with the hardware you have. However there are easy and well functioning while still (mostly) free options available.
* http://shop.gluglug.org.uk/
free operating system + free bios
* http://trisquel.info/sites/countclick.php?url=http://libre.thinkpenguin.com
free operating system
Some people choose to live with their flaky hardware too. Also it is sometimes possible to make things like suspend work with some tinkering https://trisquel.info/en/wiki/troubleshooting-suspendhibernate
Thanks guys. To me these issues are inconvenient, but in the great scheme of things probably not. I understand RMS's Leemote had no suspend/hibernate function, but he seemed to manage OK. He seems to use his Laptop as no more than an email tool. At least it's a free tool!
As a relatively recent discoverer of free software, I was shocked that there seemed to be virtually no free laptops sold with free software, apart from the Leemote, which seems more rare than two completely rare things in a pod, and the Gluglug X60/X200 which looks like an old piece of IBM/Lenovo hardware. Is there really no more than this? We really do have a fight on our hands don't we! I'm sure we'll get there though. I think I may have to get used to sorting 'inconveniences' out for a good while yet!
P.S I wonder why the FSF aren't finding and promoting a suitable device, perhaps with the FSF brand. It's frustrating not to be able to find a site and click and buy a free device. It shows how far we have to go.
Anyway I digress. Let me know what inconveniences you live with! It may make me feel better!
SAM
RMS is now using a Libreboot X60/X60s from Gluglug.
Well, you are lucky your wifi card is working (many people had to buy a USB dongle).
And if you were to play games with 3D and such, you would find that ATI are useless in the free world.
Now I agree with what you said about the FSF. They seem to do SOME good, but I don't see them doing what they were (in my opinion) supposed to. Just like the GNU project, that never launched an official GNU distro.
Yes. Give show the people free software, and praise it's virtues, but give them a system to run it on that works as well as or better than the non free devices and software they're currently using.
In our rapidly building surveillance society where more liberty is eroded daily, I can see the FSF missing a real opportunity if it doesn't do something. My nightmare is that when RMS finally passes away, so will the FSF. Who is the new charismatic front man in waiting? Who is going to carry the torch?
They're doing an amazing job, but they need to do something heavy in order to really get your next door neighbout not only using it, but get this....wanting it!!
How can I get my neighbour to try free software when I show him my laptop and it seems beset with issues that make him think something is wrong with it...
I'm OK with that, I can work around it with help from the community, but he doesn't even know the community, or free software exists.
I'll do my best.
SAM.
Updating the kernel might solve some of the issues: https://trisquel.info/en/wiki/update-linux-libre-kernel
About the off-topic discussion:
- the FSF has the "Respects Your Freedom hardware product certification ": https://www.fsf.org/resources/hw/endorsement/respects-your-freedom
- the GNU project has the Guix System Distribution: https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/
- the free software movement has other charismatic front men (Bradley Kuhn, Matthew Garret, etc.).
Older Thinkpads like the ones from Gluglug are old hardware but you can turn them in a quite capable laptop fairly easily if you're not afraid to turn a screwdriver. Consider for example (I'm not sure where you are, I'm in the US so I'm looking at US prices, YMMV):
1) Used x200 with 2.4ghz core 2 duo processor - $65
2) Replacement wifi card or dongle that works with free software - $5
3) New ~100gb SSD - $50
4) 2 x 4gb ram modules - $50
5) Ultrabase dock - $15
6) AC adapter x 2 (one for dock and one for laptop) - $30
7) New 9 cell battery - $30
Total cost: $245 for a 2.4ghz dual core laptop with 8GB ram and SSD that works perfectly with Trisquel - and you also avoids the Microsoft tax that you would have to pay if you bought a new laptop. Plus you could cut out a lot of the upgrades I mentioned if money is tight.
Freedom issues aside, that is an amazing value compared to less powerful brand new systems (not even taking into account that those systems are bogged down with a proprietary operating system and malicious crapware). If you consider that you can bring 7 year old hardware that costs next to nothing back to life - that is a pretty compelling argument, not only for freedom but also from an economical and ecological standpoint.
If you're really ambitious and have a BeagleBone Black or something else that can program an SPI flash chip, you can even flash Libreboot on it and truly run free.
If you are not comfortable going this route, Think Penguin's laptops look good... so there are definitely options if people are motivated, but unfortunately if people don't understand how freedom intersects with technology, it will be hard to convince them that a computer that won't run Flash is better than one that will.
I think RMS and FSF understand the need for a free computer at this point... in the 90's they didn't focus on it because it was so far out of reach, and victory in the OS battle was still not assured (its still not, but IMO at this point GNU/Linux and free operating systems in general won't die with a single person or organization).
Alternatively you could just buy a Libreboot X200 with 12" display, 8 GB of
RAM, and a 120 GB SSD for around $600.
For sure, that is definitely a good way to go.
or you could get this mother board with 64gb of ram
a hex core cpu and a 4TB ssd with 30TB extra HDD space :P!
it may be a while before libreboot needs a higher spec computer supported!
Errr.....that, on a laptop?
its a server motherboard but if your willing to carry a monitor, keyboard and battery everywhere you go...
if you want a laptop you can still get some very good computers
the thinkpad t500 aparently can be used with quad core cpu's after installing libreboot:
http://libreboot.org/docs/install/t500_external.html#cpu_compatibility
so it can aparently run this thing:
http://ark.intel.com/products/37033
and can be upgraded to 8gb of ram
I use an ASUS N43SL, and, despite having bought it before I was
freedom-conscious, it works perfectly with free software. Unfortunately, it has
a proprietary BIOS- I plan to buy a Libreboot X200 when this machine finally
dies (had it for about 5 years).
Speaking of which, the Thinkpad X200 and X60 are robust and venerable devices.
Wonderful ergonomics, decent performance, and sturdy as hell. Just because
they're old(er) don't be too quick to dismiss them. Of course, the best thing
about them is that they support Libreboot (which is how Gluglug sells them).
As for suspend/hibernate, I never use those features- I don't really see what
they're for. When I'm at home, I have my laptop plugged in to the mains, and so
just leave it and let the screen blank. When I'm out and about, I just turn the
thing off to preserve my precious battery life. I don't know if my
suspend/hibernate works, and don't care to try. What are they for? How do (open
question) you use them?
Oh, and welcome to the free world. :)
Update: Gluglug no longer sell the T60 and the X60. They have been replaced by an upgraded X200.
but it is very easy to install libreboot on a x60 yourself
I'd personally rather buy one from Gluglug anyway, for the hardware
improvements, extra stuff, and Intel proprietary CPU stuff removed from ROM, as
well as Libreboot.
"and Intel proprietary CPU stuff removed from ROM"
doesn’t libreboot do that..?
"doesn’t libreboot do that..?"
Sure, but some people might still prefer to guy from Gluglug anyway. In this way you get to support Francis and his ongoing work. As an example, I purchased his Libreboot installation service so as to support him financially even though I already had Libreboot installed. I wanted to support him. We need libreboot and it's in our shared best interests to be sure he's still around and able to work on it full-time. That means money to pay rent and buy food and etc. as he currently does nothing else but Libreboot. (If you think of it, the computer selling business is a way to support his work.) Freedom isn't free: Support freedom. :)
Well said. Support freedom.
What I meant by 'Intel proprietary CPU stuff'- I didn't mean BIOS but Intel AME
and AMT. I have no clue what they are, but Gluglug have gotten rid of them too,
as well as replacing the BIOS.
a good point
Hear, hear.
These are very good points guys, I will certainly look into the available systems, and keep a close eye on the technology. At this point I have the option of keeping my current device and working through the issues, or moving to one of the suggested devices. I will have a think about what is best to do.
Thank you so much for the information. It is very much appreciated.
SAM.
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