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System76 Will Ship Linux Laptops With Coreboot-Based Open-Source Firmware

forbes.com

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Re: System76 Will Ship Linux Laptops With Coreboot-Based Open-Source Firmware

#21

Post by awinter-py »

floatboth wrote: post #15
awinter-py wrote: post #11

BYO software is my #3 consumer electronics question (after form factor & 'does it work at all') and drivers are an important frontier of this. SO TIRED of downloading blobs to have wifi on linux. AFAIK there isn't even a usb wifi dongle that has an open source wifi driver, much less a commercial wifi chipset. even companies that are in theory dedicated to quality are teetering on the edge of using software to enable…

Most Wi-Fi blobs are not blob drivers, they're firmware that runs on the Wi-Fi card. For Intel Wi-Fi, FreeBSD includes the firmware out-of-the-box, many Linux distros do the same I'm sure.

wait what's the difference? driver runs in kernel, firmware runs in card?

Re: System76 Will Ship Linux Laptops With Coreboot-Based Open-Source Firmware

#22

Post by Avery3R »

awinter-py wrote: post #11

BYO software is my #3 consumer electronics question (after form factor & 'does it work at all') and drivers are an important frontier of this. SO TIRED of downloading blobs to have wifi on linux. AFAIK there isn't even a usb wifi dongle that has an open source wifi driver, much less a commercial wifi chipset. even companies that are in theory dedicated to quality are teetering on the edge of using software to enable…

>there isn't even a usb wifi dongle that has an open source wifi driver

Qualcomm atheros?

Re: System76 Will Ship Linux Laptops With Coreboot-Based Open-Source Firmware

#23

Post by Avery3R »

awinter-py wrote: post #21
floatboth wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most Wi-Fi blobs are not blob drivers, they're firmware that runs on the Wi-Fi card. For Intel Wi-Fi, FreeBSD includes the firmware out-of-the-box, many Linux distros do the same I'm sure.

wait what's the difference? driver runs in kernel, firmware runs in card?

Yeah

Re: System76 Will Ship Linux Laptops With Coreboot-Based Open-Source Firmware

#25

Post by vonseel »

Bob312371 wrote: post #8

I wonder if that's working for them as a core selling point. Does having an open firmware really steer people into buying one of these laptops? I'm curious to hear from an actual buyer on why they purchased that laptop when there are so many linux friendly options available. For web dev I've been running ubuntu on a virtualbox on my macbook pro for years. It's pretty much just as fast as my fully specced out desktop.…

Eh why would you use Ubuntu in a Virtualbox on a MAC for Webdev? Considering browser support, wouldn’t Mac be the safer choice to match potential user systems and browsers, and Windows in a VM or browser stack if you really need it? Are you really using an editor that isn’t supported well on Mac? Privacy aside, I would never switch to Linux for my desktop GUI, and I’m a command line *nix hacker at heart. Aside from hundreds of unsupported apps, I just don’t like the way other operating systems look. I heard it has to do with font licensing..

Re: System76 Will Ship Linux Laptops With Coreboot-Based Open-Source Firmware

#26

Post by timidiceball »

rsync wrote: post #16

I would love to buy an open, linux-based laptop to replace my aging 11" MBA but these are huge laptops - the smallest has a 14" screen. Should I be looking at the Pinebook 11" ?

There are a lot of great deals on MacBook 12's now that it's end of line. I think you'll probably find the Pinebook 11" seriously lacking in power.

Otherwise consider a Surface Laptop! The 3:2 aspect ratio is surprisingly sticky

Re: System76 Will Ship Linux Laptops With Coreboot-Based Open-Source Firmware

#27

Post by akeck »

awinter-py wrote: post #21
floatboth wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most Wi-Fi blobs are not blob drivers, they're firmware that runs on the Wi-Fi card. For Intel Wi-Fi, FreeBSD includes the firmware out-of-the-box, many Linux distros do the same I'm sure.

wait what's the difference? driver runs in kernel, firmware runs in card?

I think it is, or includes, the baseband firmware for the actual wifi radio. I believe, but I'm not 100% sure, that the FCC has specific restrictions on how baseband radio firmware gets distributed.

Re: System76 Will Ship Linux Laptops With Coreboot-Based Open-Source Firmware

#28

Post by awinter-py »

Avery3R wrote: post #23
awinter-py wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

wait what's the difference? driver runs in kernel, firmware runs in card?

Yeah

are there tools for parsing the firmware bin? are they a threat vector?

is it like a settings file?

Re: System76 Will Ship Linux Laptops With Coreboot-Based Open-Source Firmware

#29

Post by darau1 »

Bob312371 wrote: post #17
darau1 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got a Gazelle a few days ago, mainly because I didn't want to have to troubleshoot anything when I get it. I wanted a plug and play linux experience, and this is it.

That's a fair point. I tried running Ubuntu & Arch on my macbook and was horrified to find that you have to set up and the fan regulation yourself or else the thing will just cook itself. Not to mention the fun you'll have setting up the wifi and the especially good luck getting multi-touch support work just right.

I installed Arch on a Macbook and couldn't get Ethernet working, but I managed to get wifi up. I do not miss it

Re: System76 Will Ship Linux Laptops With Coreboot-Based Open-Source Firmware

#30

Post by snagglegaggle »

jackpot51 wrote: post #5
kop316 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hello! With only needing the Intel FSP, does that disable the Intel ME? And what other peripherals need closed firmware? You also are not here: https://www.coreboot.org/users.html I say that because I have been in the market for a laptop, and I am looking for a free(dom) based laptop. I looked there and it led me down the path of a Purism laptop. Have you also thought about adding some sort of hardware kill switches…

The laptops which we will be delivering with open firmware will require the FSP and Intel ME, with the Intel GOP driver being an optional component to enable graphics acceleration in UEFI. The ME is disabled by way of a HECI message early in the boot process, so there are no runtime ME components similar to using the HAP bit on older ME versions. I will get https://www.coreboot.org/users.html updated as soon as possi…

>The ME is disabled by way of a HECI message early in the boot process, so there are no runtime ME components similar to using the HAP bit on older ME versions.

But why would I believe this? It seems you're selling snake oil. You can't really call it open firmware if there's still a lot of closed firmware in it.

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