71–80 of 97 posts
Purism are leading the Linux Mobile movement, with their investments in Phosh, GNOME, PureOS, and upstream development for the Librem 5. The Librem 5 remains the flagship device, in terms of performance, support and mainline support, though at a high price and lead time. Sparking and sustaining a field is tough, and it's clear Purism has had difficulties. I hope they get through these. I believe the movement relies o…
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You're assuming the rules you need to follow are a superset of the plain text of the law as written. This is incorrect. One example: assault with a deadly weapon. The definition of "deadly weapon" various wildly in different jurisdictions and isn't always clear simply from the case law. In some jurisdictions it means any weapon theoretically capable of being deadly, so slapping someone with a flip-flop (real example)…
You're focused on some extremely narrow view that's right on the legal/illegal boundary and thinking that's the whole world. The easiest way to not go to jail for assault with a deadly weapon is to not assault people. It is very easy to follow this guideline, and the success rate is quite high (most people in the world are not currently in jail). If you absolutely must assault someone, and you decide to use a weapon,…
I want to take a second to say how much I appreciated this line.
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> why do you assume they haven't spoken to an attorney? Accredited investor requirements are NOT “a good faith requirement,” and there absolutely are ways “for Purism to validate your accredited investor status.” This statement, in a general solicitation e-mail no less, would not get sign off from any competent securities counsel. Their fundraising site is tighter but still leaky. The notes are governed by Washington…
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Hello, author here. I accept that, and will try to write better in the future. However, I also subscribe to the philosophy that if nobody talks, who will? And so if I have questions, I would rather raise them and be 25% wrong, than leave them undiscussed until they potentially hurt someone. At a minimum, everything gets clarified, I might look like an idiot, but there's still a clarity there that there wasn't previou…
I appreciate your openness to feedback and encourage you to delve deeper into the subjects of your articles moving forward. Consider alternative perspectives, and attempt to steel-man the position opposite to the one you wish to present. As you mention ChatGPT, GPT can assist in providing counterarguments, helping you see the fuller picture. Keep in mind that condemning articles can have consequences. While Librem co…
I love Purism. I'm writing this on one of their laptops, which is beautiful and by far my favourite laptop (and I had one of the good MacBooks!). But watching them destroy themselves isn't fun. I've recommended Purism laptops to multiple people, only to have Purism ship them faulty machines (twice now, and my laptop shipped with a defective screen). I've watched the phone development with interest, but never got to t…
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I didn't mention it in the article, but since when does any legitimate organization advertise that you will receive a "5% bonus on your investment value!" if you send cash now? Maybe I've missed some but just that wording...
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So, you're an employee or ex-employee then?
I love Purism. I'm writing this on one of their laptops, which is beautiful and by far my favourite laptop (and I had one of the good MacBooks!). But watching them destroy themselves isn't fun. I've recommended Purism laptops to multiple people, only to have Purism ship them faulty machines (twice now, and my laptop shipped with a defective screen). I've watched the phone development with interest, but never got to t…
One of the problems is probably that "the world's best Linux laptop" on its own is probably quite hard to build a viable business on. The demand is relatively small, and there's quite a lot of competition – not just from other Linux-only vendors like System76 but also just "mainstream" laptops you can buy everywhere – my cheap Acer runs Linux quite well.
It also doesn't help that Purism 14 gives me a 4-year old CPU for $1370, which is ... not great, especially when System76 gives me 2023 CPU for $200 less.
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> sounds like a fraud it doesn't sound like a fraud, unless you or OP have expertise or information that you're not sharing? Fraud is a crime, you should have a basis for declaring it. it might be a poor investment, it could be seen as signs of a shaky company, but accusing a people of fraud should have a basis. disclaimer: i have no relationship to this company whatsoever, including I'm not a customer. i just don't…
> you should have a basis for declaring it This is not a court where we need to prove anything, it's just a discussion about a blog post. It's perfectly fine to say something sounds like a fraud based on limited knowledge. We shouldn't trust companies by default, just because they promise things that we want. If a company makes an investment offer that sounds a bit questionable, it's fine to say it sounds like fraud,…
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> you should have a basis for declaring it This is not a court where we need to prove anything, it's just a discussion about a blog post. It's perfectly fine to say something sounds like a fraud based on limited knowledge. We shouldn't trust companies by default, just because they promise things that we want. If a company makes an investment offer that sounds a bit questionable, it's fine to say it sounds like fraud,…
By that definition of fraud (asking investors for cash repeatedly to not run out before turning a profit), many unicorn-status companies are fraud. It takes a long time to become profitable and I don’t see a problem if it’s not said that the company is.
There is a difference here though, which is that those companies openly tell investors, "we're not profitable," and even have projections in their documentation for when they will be profitable assuming current growth continues. For example, Disney+ warns investors that it is not a profitable business but is trying to get to the point of profitability by the end of 2024. They also have regular public financial statements clearly outlining exactly how much revenue they received, expenses they paid for, and profits received if any.
Now, sometimes these projections are... very optimistic like Spotify; but they are still there and check many legal boxes. Unprofitability is not a concern if it is disclosed. Basically anything is OK if there is clear and full disclosure. Purism does not have a disclosure anywhere saying whether this is, or is not, true. You are just left to assume that the company is solid, happy, and solvent without much substance that I could find (not even the most basic Profit/Loss statement), unless I missed some obvious documentation.
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> you should have a basis for declaring it This is not a court where we need to prove anything, it's just a discussion about a blog post. It's perfectly fine to say something sounds like a fraud based on limited knowledge. We shouldn't trust companies by default, just because they promise things that we want. If a company makes an investment offer that sounds a bit questionable, it's fine to say it sounds like fraud,…
By that definition of fraud (asking investors for cash repeatedly to not run out before turning a profit), many unicorn-status companies are fraud. It takes a long time to become profitable and I don’t see a problem if it’s not said that the company is.
But that doesn't seem to be the case here. Reading between the lines, it sounds like Purism lacks the funds to fulfill the preorders that have already been paid, and the "investment" will just go into fulfilling existing orders. There is little potential for future profit, and instead it just sounds a bit like a ponzi scheme, where they have to keep finding new people to invest in the company.