Researching for a laptop

*Correction: "4K" should read "4K output"

If you want something right now, the best you can probably do is the System76 Serval laptop with an AMD chip and Nvidia graphics, but I don't think it has coreboot: https://system76.com/laptops/serval

Could be that the Serval is right in line with what you are looking for if you need something now.

If you are willing to wait longer, System76 is supposed to be coming out at some point with a laptop with coreboot and with an AMD chip and AMD graphics.

> In another recent thread [1] it was said that "coreboot is way better than libreboot". Unfortunately I have not used either, so I would appreciate more info.

Coreboot requires blobs on some hardware, and on some hardware can run blobless. Libreboot is a downstream project that only makes releases for targets that don't require blobs. The FSF endorses libreboot and not coreboot because libreboot never requires blobs, whereas coreboot sometimes does. However, freedom-wise libreboot is not any better than blobless coreboot. Basically, libreboot is for people who don't want or know how to have to research different coreboot targets to determine whether/which blobs are needed.

The arguments that coreboot is better are (1) coreboot receives more timely and frequent updates, and (2) if none of the targets that run blobless meet your needs (they won't, in your case), coreboot offers a compromise by supporting some targets with blobs, whereas libreboot offers no middle ground between zero blobs and a completely proprietary BIOS.

Here is a list of motherboards supported by coreboot:

=> https://coreboot.org/status/board-status.html

> The top experts who know much more about computers don't seem to be "afraid" to use non-RYF hardware [2]. So one could ask a logical question: Why should I be?

The RYF criteria are optimized for maximum software freedom. Where software freedom conflicts with power or security, power and security lose under the FSF's criteria. It sounds like you have a preference for software freedom, but also have requirements for power and security that the FSF does not factor in, so you will reach different conclusions than the FSF.

The only RYF hardware that might meet your power and security requirements is the Talos II. Since you are looking for a laptop right now, that's not an option, but it's something to keep in mind if you are ever looking for a workstation.

=> https://raptorcs.com/content/TL2MB1/intro.html

Don't want to buy a used computer? Then I've nothing to recommend.

By contrast, I'm willing to "invest in the past" rather than the "future". The reason is simple and straightforward: Newer means more anti-feature. I'm not stupid enough to treat purchasing such anti-feature as "investment".

However, here are still some "obsolete" devices you may be interested in: ThinkPad W520, W530, W540 and W541 with coreboot, all of which support 32 GiB of memory (four 8-GiB DDR3L modules). E450 and E550 (with Broadwell processors) also support 32 GiB of memory (two 16-GiB DDR3L modules), and they are being experimented by coreboot community (no Boot Guard).

Finally, it was I that said coreboot was way better than libreboot. Up to Ivy Bridge platform, coreboot can be as free/libre as libreboot (i.e., completely reverse-engineered). Therefore ThinkPad W520 and W530 with coreboot are good choices. W540 and W541 can use T440p's coreboot implementation. Although very few blobs are still needed, we're actively working on reverse engineering and will remove the blobs as soon as we hacked it. For E450 and E550, we're sure that there's no Boot Guard and we are doing research on them. (Indeed, purchasing such coreboot-able computers is, by contrast, really "investment in the future", because they can be liberated, not only theoretically but also practically.)

> Do you know which particular ones are without blobs?

I don't actively keep up with the status of Coreboot targets. nadebula.1984 does, so his recommendations are probably your best bet. It seems like the way he explained them was unclear to you. What I think he means is:

* W520 and W530 meet your hardware requirements and run blobless Coreboot right now.

* W540 and W541 are similar enough to T440p that they can run a modification of the version of Coreboot for the T440p. They currently require some blobs, but these are in the process of being reverse engineered.

* E450 and E550 cannot yet run Coreboot, but because they do not have boot guard they are viable future targets for Coreboot.

Since you are not a free software purist, and you are concerned with non-free blobs mostly for security reasons, you may want to ask the Coreboot community about the specific blobs needed for the W540 and W541 to get an idea of how isolated or capable they are. That may determine whether or not you decide they are tolerable.

> Also are there any companies that sell them corebooted?

Yes, a few here and there, but your shipping location and the model(s) you decide on will likely narrow your choices down to zero. It's worth checking eBay; different models come and go there, so you might get lucky and find what you're looking for.

> If not - what does one need to do it oneself?

It depends on the model. Some support internal flashing, in which case you just need to run terminal commands. Others require external flashing for the initial installation, which requires some dissasembly and flashing Coreboot from a SOC (only for the initial installation, upgrading can be done internally).

> What do you think about the Librem 14 and Librem Mini? I am asking because you mentioned coreboot-capable hardware with blobs which are being worked on, which seems to be the same situation as with these two.

You make it sound like you know of someone working on reverse engineering these blobs. Is that the case, and if so, who? If someone is indeed doing that work, it is quite unlike Purism to not be loudly taking credit for it. To be clear, Purism has no track record of ever reverse engineering anything themselves, so don't expect it to happen unless someone else is actually working on it.