Purism Announces Launch of Its Librem 16 Laptop...

?? doesn’t seem like there’s any change on The Purism Freedom Roadmap – Purism involved ??

2 Likes

Not only has it not advanced, it has regressed. Purism even not ship GnuLinux(Lnx Libre), but Linux which TAINT all the system as ubuntu, archlinux, steamos, linuxmint does.

Full shame of course.
We can not be BLOBY thanks to linux, opensource free-bug-fix.

Debian belongs to the GNU System, and GPure and GTrisquel must defend and protect Debian from villains like Ubuntu, Fedora, and SteamOS.

1 Like

Does anyone know if both slots are populated on the Base model to get 16G dram and 500G nvme? If not, a post-purchase upgrade might be more economical…

Thanks,

Dave

On second thought, I don’t think it’s wise to try to match an installed memory card.

Thanks for the feedback. This has nothing to do with an investor request. We decided to feature some marking to differentiate the configs. Only “Plus” and “Max” configs have that extra config marking. “Base” and “Custom” just show “Librem 16”.

Also, that marking is pretty small and remains quite discrete. The back of the lid remains blank so you have to be in front of the laptop to see it.

I understand some people prefer the clean look of the device with no branding and we could actually setup a checkbox with the “Custom” config where one would request no marking.

4 Likes

Maybe so but in any case you are not the only one to ask this: The unborn Librem 16 (now born) - #29 by Stefan_E

Made the news: Purism launches supersized 16-inch laptop for buyers who put privacy before price

4 Likes

Linux mass media, particularly podcasts, seem to hate on Purism – especially the Librem 5. They have :poop: for brains.

El Reg gave a pretty fair review of the L16. :raising_hands: Goal!

1 Like

You are suggesting I come back for an obsolete product and service offering from Purism:

  1. No Qubes OS testing, instead I receive PureOS Crimson, based on Debian Bookworm, EOL since June 10th, 2026.
  2. The Librem Key used for anti-interdiction is still based on the Nitrokey Pro 2, which is both discontinued hardware and firmware.

Purism is still catching up to the past like usual, and I am not willing to wait around until they take security even remotely seriously, but we can still negotiate a deal. There is no longer any significant representation of Purism on the Qubes OS Forum, not even from @fsflover, so here is my suggestion:

  1. @jonathon.hall tests Qubes OS R4.3.1 with the Librem 16.
  2. @jonathon.hall creates an HCL report in the #user-support:hcl-reports category on the Qubes OS Forum for the Librem 16.

This is the expected minimum viable pathway assuming no one else in the Purism community contributes to Qubes OS testing. Whether the Librem Key is updated or not during any part of this process is considered another stretch goal for Purism to defer for another several years.

3 Likes

This new Librem computer featuring at least PBT than ABS on keyboard? i also wanted mechanical.

Big chonky unbreakable hinges, cherry reds or blues, really would like a toughbook like water resistant chassis option, maybe even solder a water loop parallel to the heat pipes when we need maximum desktop CPU and GPU performance from a mobile device. No reason for many of us to go light and thin when an indestructible zombie smasher is what we really want, I feel like fulfilling the otherwise unavailable dreams of the hardest-core of tech users is what Purism is for. Considering the price nowadays why not offer a carbon fiber and milled titanium option for all phones, tablets, and most laptops? Go out on a limb; hard security, tough design, unique all function design that looks cool too; give us something truly cyberpunk.

3 Likes

Good for more libre hardware I think.

At the very least, it is not clear from the article whether there is “more libre hardware”. It does not seem to be disclosed what proprietary software blobs are required for it to function despite the following pledge in the Articles of Association, which are linked to in the publication.

(1) provide purchasers of the product, in writing, with strong evidence that a free version of the part with equivalent specifications is not available and that developing a free version of such would not be feasible at that point in time;

I have some reasonable assumptions about that from previous Purism products and explanations, but invoking assumptions in customers does not mean complying with the pledge, especially with respect to new customers who might make decisions based on the publication and product specifications alone.

2 Likes

I once had a training book on System-V. Still trying to get my head wrapped around that.

1 Like