[Note: This thread is intended to be a discussion thread for topics covered in the blog post. Please keep comments on topic. Any questions about a specific product order should be directed to support@puri.sm. Any questions about topics not covered in this blog post should go in their own new discussion thread.]
Progress on Many Fronts
We continued to ship Librem 5s throughout March all according to plan and also continue to hunt down CPUs. As we get more hardware confirmed we will contact the next group of Librem 5 backers with their shipping estimate and at the moment our pipeline is full well into May.
Camera and Hardware-accelerated Video Support
We made a lot of progress in March on the software front. Probably the most exciting news is that after a lot of work from the team to write kernel drivers, we have gotten both the front (“selfie”) and back cameras working! With the drivers functional we can now get raw images from the camera sensors. The focus now shifts outside of the kernel and into “userspace” software to post-process those raw images, correct colors and brightness, and provide a default camera app.
I should probably also pre-emptively say that any replies to this thread in the form of: “Any news on something-not-mentioned-in-the-post?” will have a default answer of “no” since if there were news on something else related to the Librem 5 to publish, it would have been included in the post.
I’d really like us to discipline ourselves to keep these news post threads on-topic and those kinds of replies along with support requests quickly steer the thread off-topic.
@Kyle_Rankin is the vpu instead of cpu for videos on epiphany/firefox already installed (if the system is up-to-date) or we must expect an update for this?
Since end of March there have been no more posts here like “I got mine”. Does this message mean this is caused by no CPUs available or what else is causing this?
I couldn’t say why people choose to post here or don’t choose to post here about when they receive their Librem 5. I wouldn’t use forum posts as a gauge to whether Librem 5s are being shipped. As the post says (and you quoted): “at the moment our pipeline is full well into May.”
You wouldn’t use this forum as a gauge (because you have better sources), but we the forum maintain here Estimate your Librem 5 shipping a list how the shipping of orders continue, related to the order date. And since end of March this list does not advance.
And in addition, I do not understand (forgive me to speak only BSE, Bad Simple English) which “pipeline is full well into May” or what you want to express with this wording.
We sent out shipping estimates based on CPU supply we had confirmed, and those estimates extended into May. Our “pipeline” is the supply of Librem 5s we prepare and ship each week.
I’ve noticed several new posters in the forum talking about having their L5 and having questions about this and that. I don’t know what their various “received” dates are, but maybe they just haven’t been added to that list yet…? Just a thought…
Well, Purism explained a lot of times that the number of shippings per time frame is their privacy and secret. One could understand this (I do not). But, what about if Purism would publish a daily meter “We are now at order date mm/dd/yyyy with shipping”? This would give all a clear picture of the own turn. My order date is October 7, 2017
If this is something you’d like to discuss with members of the forum it’s probably best to create a new topic for it, as it’s off topic. The idea behind this thread is to discuss the topics presented in the post.
That depends on whether cheese can handle raw images.
With the [selfie and main camera] drivers functional we can now get raw images from the camera sensors. The focus now shifts outside of the kernel and into “userspace” software to post-process those raw images, correct colors and brightness, and provide a default camera app.
It also depends on how well the out-of-the-box cheese app operates on the Librem 5 screen (size and scale).
I’ll certainly be keenly awaiting the default camera app, whichever it is.
I am glad to see here that there are images being received by both cameras now, even if the exact method isn’t ready for the average Librem 5 owner. Until there are actual pictures to see, we could not be fully sure that the hardware would work, the way it comes from the factory. So now it’s not a matter of “if” but “how” or “how well” the cameras will work. In my mind, the risk just dropped significantly. Figuring out the “how” part is something that Purism does well. Good job Purism.
Advances on the glorious front should be preceded by a barrage. As far as CPUs go they may be quick to evade your searches, so good hunting! The party Chairman is proud of your efforts, comrade!
