Re: [gNewSense-users] Company selling computers preinstalled with gNewSense

[Sam Geeraerts]

Karl Goetz wrote:
> On Tue, 2008-05-06 at 12:24 -0400, John Sullivan wrote:
> > I've been working with this company to get this free-software-only-systems area
> > of their site set up. You can buy laptops, desktops and servers preinstalled
> > with gNewSense. They are also donating a portion of each sale to the FSF.
>
> Do you know if they replace non functional hardware with hardware that
> works with free software, or if you'll wind up with bigs (eg
> sound/modem) that dont work?
> kk
>
> > http://laclinux.com/gnu

I sent them an e-mail asking about how the hardware and free software 
fit together. This was their answer:

> Sam,
>
> On Tue, May 06, 2008 at 01:33:35PM -0600, Sam Geeraerts via RT wrote:
>> I would like to ask you a few questions about your products:
>>
>> 1. Are the systems really 100% Free, including BIOS and firmware?
>
> gNewSense removes non-free firmware from the operating system and
> kernel in case that is what you are talking about, but at this time,
> none of our systems have free BIOS.  The operating system itself
> consists of 100% free software.
>
> We expect to release a file server that uses free BIOS and 100% free
> software later this month.
>
>> 2. Are the systems fully functional with 100% Free software?
>
> The best we have at this time with regard to laptops is any ThinkPad
> with an Intel video card and an add-on (pcmcia) wireless card and
> hardware modem (if a phone modem is desired).  Unfortunately, at
> this time we do not have any Lenovo-blessed internal wireless cards
> that do not require non-free firmware and that are compatible with
> the latest available ThinkPads.
>
> With regard to desktops, we offer systems with onboard Intel video
> cards that are 100% functional with free software (except for the
> BIOS).  We will release many new options over the next two weeks in
> order to have a higher percentage of systems with onboard Intel
> video and gigabit network cards that do not require non-free
> firmware.
>
>> I currently have a laptop and several desktop machines that are
>> still powerful enough for my needs. However, my exclusive use of
>> Free software inhibits me from making full use of those systems,
>> because features like 3D support, modem, card reader and wireless
>> network don't work. I don't really need those features, but if I
>> buy a new computer now, I only want to spend money on (read:
>> support) features that fully work with Free software.
>
> We do have desktop systems with 100% free software compatible
> hardware, but there are currently issues (mentioned above) in the
> laptops we sell.  We do help (e.g. by providing add-on cards) users
> get full laptop functionality with 100% free software.
>
>> 3. Do you ship to Europe?
>
> Yes, but duties and taxes are often high and are paid by the
> customer.
>
>> If the answer to the first two questions is yes, then I suggest
>> you make yourself heard on this wiki page:
>> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/FreeSoftwareLaptop. I've been waiting for
>> such a thing for a while now and I'll probably not buy a new
>> machine until it exists. New hardware only serves to creep in DRM
>> anyway (e.g. HDCP, Blu-ray, etc.).
>
> Thanks, we will keep that in mind as the laptop compatibility
> improves.  The lack of a built-in wireless card is the biggest
> problem at this time in our opinion.
>
>> Anyway, keep up the good work. I hope you can make more people
>> move to Free software and that more stores will follow your
>> example.
>
> Thanks for your e-mail and for your interest in our systems.
>
> Regards,