There is absolutely no way to produce a laptop based on x86 technology that
is perfect. Everything is a compromise. Intel and AMD's tech is incorporating
digital restrictions in the CPU. At least for the moment you can avoid
proprietary graphics drivers by going with Intel and still get a system
without TXT or Intel Insider. Going forward though I'm doubtful that you will
be able to avoid at least the Intel Insider and equivalent. Until we have a
non-x86 solution there will be compromises.
What we really need is more demand from the GNU/Linux community for free
software products (not just hardware). In this case its laptops. It may be
possible to manufacture a non-x86 laptop with a 15.6" screen that doesn't
have TXT, Intel Insider, a proprietary BIOS, or other microcode (or
equivalent tech). However you (the GNU/Linux / free software user) need to
demand it. And you do that by buying the least restrictive solutions
available today. Simply donating to free software developers isn't going to
increase the demand for the hardware. We definitely need to contribute to
development although we also need to increase demand for whatever the least
restrictive tech this community can get get today is (hardware wise). This
way we can eventually get the demand up to a point where we can go to China
and get a non-x86 design manufactured without the issues we see now.
Things are getting better in some areas. non-x86 CPUs are getting faster for
instance. Even though Trisquel is a tiny distribution it's actually
positively impacting the demand for free software compatible hardware. It's
helping to sustain ThinkPenguin. And that is letting us move forward with
various projects. Including gaining support from larger distributions.
I'm working with the lead developers from some of the major distributions
(which currently include non-free software). Many/most want to see free
software friendly hardware on the market. I don't believe they are against
free software and certainly there is no question about there being
overlapping objectives. It's just not feasible for most users to adopt free
software right now (exclusively) and I believe everybody (free and "open
source") wants to get rid of it.
There is not a single Trisquel user who has not made a comprise. You simply
can't get a system that is 100% free of these issues.That doesn't mean you
don't support free software though. You just do the best you can do. So to
entirely shame users who are dependant on non-free software or not helping
them move off it is counter productive. I have no problem telling users the
problem with non-free software and why they should get rid of it. For the
most part we don't support non-free software either. Again though- nothing is
100% free technically- and there are some exceptions we will make like:
supporting those who are moving away from proprietary solutions.
