I would love to be able to recommend librem but here are the problems

[Caliga]

Your web site needs to be revamped when it comes to describing your Pure OS

Yes, yes, yes.
Discoverability and up-to-dateness of information is a recurring topic here. And puros.net certainly does not live up to it’s potential, and the wiki does neither. A rather youg addition, docs.puri.sm looks promising.
Also, I think there is some behind-the-scenes work going on on PureOS. What is currently “Software”, will soon be the PureOS Store with some customizations to promote interesting apps. It would go hand in hand with the online search (software.pureos.net), which is not yet publicly announced and seems to be in beta stage.

As thought for food, I sometimes wonder, if some of the available information is deliberately not yet made as comprehensive as it should be, so they don’t get too many customers who’d rely on it
I think the systems are usable by beginners, but I’d say it works best for those who know a Linux guy.
And that’s not even to say it is more complicated than using Windows.
I think it is not, and François showed they are on a good way.
But people who are uncomfortable fixing minor things on Linux would most likely also ask a Win-Dude to help them with their Win box.

you need to strike a balance between staying true to your purism vision and the needs of potential customers

No, no, no.
Compromise leads to… compromise. (what on odd word in English…)
There are so many problems with caring for Windows

• sends the wrong message (“well, Linux is not quite ready, so if you have a need, use Windows”)
• sets a wrong incentive (“how do I… ah, scrap it, I’ll just boot Windows. Hm. Actually, I can do everything here. I’ll stay.”)
• would distract Purism from more important topics
• There are security implications. Given that HEADS and FullDiskEncryption are in place, a Win partition could hardly compromise the security of the Linux partition, but most likely you’d want a shared data partition anyway…

There are better alternatives. People who really want to get away from Windows should try hard. I understand it does not always work, but using it should be the exception. If one can not do the majority of things on Linux, they should think again why they want a Purism laptop

• For that one app you need, keep the old laptop. (<-- simple, yet effective )
• Or try a Win VM.
• Or even a ReactOS VM.

I’ll actually try ReactOS in the next months, as I need to use a tool that’s unfortunately not available for Linux (KNX ETS).

And while I admire the work of the Wine guys, I didn’t list it here, because it’s a bit a odd to run Win binaries directly on a privacy respecting, secure, pure OS. It’s like walking with dirty boots on a white floor.

[dmr]

As I said, I’m not offended. But I would describe your post as offensive: The sort of thing that would offend somebody more disposed to react than myself. That’s why I gave you advice instead of flaming back or reporting you or whatever.

In any case, while I grant you may have a point, you’re still criticizing me. Presumably I should care about the “M$ tax”, even if it’s no problem for me, because of how it affects others. Maybe so, but people are rarely persuaded by this kind of criticism, so why bother?

More importantly, I think you’re not really following my point here, which I think is important: I don’t have a straightforward option to just not pay for windows (except by making other choices with bigger implications than this). I could be angry and rage about this on the internet, but that wouldn’t do any good. So I don’t pay much attention to it because that’s the sensible response. You should only spend effort where you expect to make an impact.

What actual options do I have? Well, I could just buy a librem in spite of the downsides, because at this way I’d be sticking it to those evil Microsoft scum. You and I could encourage others to do the same. But I don’t think this would be effective or sustainable. By contrast, if I just chill out about it, but I also encourage Librem to offer options that would satisfy the practical concerns I have and which I suspect others like myself have, that could lead to organic, sustainable demand for their product and less people paying the dreaded “M$ tax” without me having to accept a currently-unacceptable option, or even having to get all that bothered about it in the first place. After all, if Librem offered a machine with all the stuff I wanted (although I get that this is isn’t possible for all requirements of all people), I would actually have bought one today, even if it was more expensive than the Lenovo machine. I was ready to go with a top-end Macbook Pro, which was nearly twice as expensive, until I found out that Apple’s new hardware changes had ruined linux compatibility. And there’s other people with the same requirements and low price-sensitivity as me. Not tons of them, but easily enough to sustain a small hardware vendor, probably just in my city alone (it’s in Silicon Valley).

So basically, I don’t exactly disagree with you. I just prefer to solve the same problem, but without having to get heated or ideological over it, or having to put any effort in. And I don’t see why this isn’t possible.

[reC]

even if it’s no problem for me

if you say so then i won’t press this issue further. i do agree to most of your points since they are well articulated and your contribution and presence here is appreciated.

[Kev123]

CPU. Compared to the top-end x390, which is 4 core/8 thread, the 13v4 is a measly 2 core/4 thread. This is unsatisfying. It’s particularly troublesome when one wants to run lots of virtual machines in parallel. I understand that it may be expensive for a smaller vendor to buy blocks of high-end chips at a good price point, but I’d be willing to pay a bit of a premium for the 13v4 if it came with an excellent CPU

I definitely agree with this one, I understand the logistical issues for a small company but I would be willing to pay a little extra and wait a little longer for delivery to have the option of upgrading to a four core8 thread CPU. Just be upfront with the customer that it is a special order that will take longer for them to receive.

[Kev123]

here it is “I don’t care about the “M$ tax” because it’s usually not me paying for it anyway” - who is paying for it then ? because at the bottom of the rabbit hole there is almost always WE the $ payers or tax-payers however you want to call it.

Here the thing I actually agree with a lot of what your saying, but as a customer I want access to a larger variety of software options. Sadly, most of the options on the market are windows base. What Purism needs to do is ensure that their OS is compatible with the most popular hardware and software on the market and advertise that fact if they want to reach a larger audience and wean people of the Windows teat. But what perspective customers need are solutions to their issues and problems not lectures. One is useful while the other is not.

[Kev123]

There are security implications. Given that HEADS and FullDiskEncryption are in place, a Win partition could hardly compromise the security of the Linux partition, but most likely you’d want a shared data partition anyway…

For my personal needs I wouldn’t want a shared data partition, that is why I like the librem 15 because I would be able to keep the two completely separate at a hardware level as oppose to partitioning a single drive which I am not a fan of because of security reasons. So the Windows partition wouldn’t compromise the security I have on the Pure OS partition which I would for most of my personal stuff. But even more importantly what I want as a customer is choice.

[Caliga]

Just be upfront with the customer that it is a special order that will take longer for them to receive.

I’ll be upfront with you. Your order of a quad core v5 will probably take about 6 months from now to become available

[yw662]

If it is possible to do things like this, I would rather order a combination of turbo supported high frequency 1c2t/2c2t/2c4t cpu, and a super power i915 gpu which is competitive with NV’s entry level gpu (like 1050 or so ?)

As far as I know there is no such super power i915 gpu

[tracy]

It is my understanding companies started (and operated) by geeks never EVER have good marketing. They will have to farm it out eventually.

Speaking of the Mac commercials, if you recall the one with the one throwing the hammer at the screen for the Orwellian hate session?

Given the fact of the current corporate surveillance state…

Oh the irony!

Puri.sm could revamp the commercial. Give it the required 20 degrees of separation to avoid copyright and claim parody.

[purple]

Perhaps one of you can create a post on how to install and boot Pure OS from a Flash Drive. Let those who are perplexed get a look at what might their future OS? I would prefer the proper hardware to go with it, but, I have not won the lottery yet.

[yw662]

create a post on how to install

Create a post on how to download the livecd image, create a bootable device with the image, boot into the live system, start the installer, and follow its instructions ?

Ok you have got one.

However I think there should be sth. on librem’s page saying “PureOS does not only run on librem, and librem does not only run PureOS”.