[Discuss] Do we have desktop/laptop like librem?

[Blibbet]

On 09/16/2016 11:12 AM, Jay Patel wrote:
> Thanks Lee.  May be economically not fit for project. Maybe some FSF
> community can pick it up with their OpenSource like redhat or something
> like libreboot doing.
>
> Thanks,
> Jay

Unfortunately, no
FSF is focused on their Respects Your Freedom hardware certification,
and a vague effort towards Free Hardware (the GPL equiv of the OSHWA's
'BSD', somewhat). FSF is only focused on GPL-licensed hardware. No
OEMs/IHVs nor IBVs would touch GPL hardware, industry has too much IP to
keep separate.

Libreboot is not focused on any new hardware, just refactoring existing
Windows PCs or Chrome PCs, refurbing ancient IBM ThinkPads and a few new
ARM chromebooks. With their GPL focus, it'll be hard to get mainstream
OEM/IHV involvement, so refactoring existing closed-source-hardware
systems seems main future.

Nobody else in the OSS community is is focused on OSH. That's the job of
the OSH community. :-)

(And there is no OSF (Open Source Firmware) community focused on getting
free (as in beer or freedom) firmware into modern hardware, there are
the the UEFI, U-Boot and coreboot communities.)

OCP only has partners that focus modular open source hardware for
enterprise-level systems. Unclear of the economic existance of OSWHA is,
if only to focus on economically-questionable cutsey blinkey-light
projects, not real-world solutions. IMO, an OSH modular/secure (ITL
stateless laptop)

Having a useable laptop seems economically worth investigating. Each
year they get more and more sealed, and the closed-source hardware gets
more closed and complex. The fact that I'm not an economist does not
mean this project should be considered more by the OSHWA (or some other
OSH group). :-)

PS: The recent thread on OSH SSDs is related to this. The closed-source
world is moving towards SEDs, self-encrypting disks, which have TPM and
use TCG's OPAL interface. There is an open source alternative, but no
OSH implementatoins yet. :-(