Every backer got an email asking about their preferred batch, but only the very early backers who would have qualified to get Birch, Chestnut, or Dogwood batches, but chose to wait until Evergreen, are the group we are referring to in the post.
If you are a very early backer you will get confirmation starting next week when we contact you to ask for updated shipping information.
Yes! 
But that’s quite a low bar for 2020… 
Thanks for the clarification! It would be great, if you could let us know what ‘very early’ means in terms of order date - to avoid many from chewing their fingernails over the weekend 
Did you get an email in respect of actually receiving “Birch, Chestnut, or Dogwood” but choose Evergreen instead? If “yes” then I would guess that you are a very early backer.
I think the bottom line is that there is mostly no way to know what batch you were qualified for and where you are in the queue. So patience is a virtue.
hopefully our experience with the L5 after receiving it will be similar to this > https://lbry.tv/@Luke:7/2-years-of-autistic-dotfiles-tweaking:f
I preordered 2017-10-14 and was not offered an early batch.
At that time, less than 2500 orders had been placed.
I guess they might ship somewhere between 500 and 2000 this year. We’ll see 
With the emphasis being on production, will those who receive their phones in early 2021 have software that is updated? Or will product development stop until the backlog is caught up? If I receive my phone in early 2021, is it likely to have a working camera?
My biggest concern is that the phones may be shipped in batches, with feedback time built-in in between batches so the product can be perfected as quickly as is possible. Quick perfection of the product does not mean getting the phones quickly. It means that (for example) maybe the product is near perfect within two years instead of five years, because more development iterations occur with delays between batches for time built-in for customers to discover and report flaws.
There was some discussion in a Matrix chatroom. One person who ordered on August 29, 2017 was already not offered a spot in early batches. The Wayback Machine doesn’t have snapshots of that date, but the number of pre-orders on August 28 was 158, and on August 31, it was 245.
So 245 is an upper bound on the number of phones in pre-Evergreen batches. I would say it is more likely 175 +/- 25. So for all practical purposes, no one should assume they are an early backer, or at least not a very early backer.
I was offered a spot in Birch (by my estimates, I was somewhere between order number 70 and order number 100), but opted to wait until Evergreen. I am away from my home address until November 22, and then I will probably be away for Thanksgiving, but I will be happy to start posting pictures and videos when I receive my Librem 5.
From what I have gathered, the software and hardware teams are separate. Software will continue to develop all throughout the shipping process, so yes, the longer it takes you to get one, the more fully functional it will be out of the box.
You just described the Aspen-Evergreen process.
I feared as much… kind of like a recursive acronym. Somewhere after several levels, you get your phone… eventually.
According to backers comments on this forum and the matrix chat, even those who have preordered in September 2017 are not prequalified for early batches.
You can estimate your rank using the Wayback machine: http://web.archive.org/web/20181020113629/https://shop.puri.sm/shop/librem-5/
Kinda, but the levels get (I believe significantly) shorter and simpler each time. All will be well.
If it helps, the way I choose to view it is to see that A) there’s no evidence the phone won’t be delivered and lots of evidence that it will, and B) I can not affect (nor effect) its arrival, so I’ll focus my attention and/or worries elsewhere. Stressing about something one has no control over is an excellent way to be miserable.
For Wayback machine snapshots taken prior to 20th October 2018, use the old shop URL:
https://web.archive.org/web/20170824132138/https://puri.sm/shop/librem-5/
I see a snapshot for Tue, 29 Aug 2017 05:53:18 GMT, which shows 173 phonesworth of backers. (166 just for the phone, 2 for the 24-inch monitor bundle and 5 for the 30-inch monitor bundle).
Very true. However one does not have to be stressed. I am personally just curious how it all goes.
If you have ordered the Librem 5 and subsequently changed your mind and are seeking a refund, you should email Purism directly.
However I believe that they have previously stated that you are eligible for a refund once you are at the front of the queue - so it would depend on when you ordered.
Also, I see that you are cross-posting. Most fora consider that to be bad form. Please continue any discussion of this in the other topic that you created.
Can I get a refund on my phone pre-order?
Per our policy, we can not provide refund for orders that are in the pre-order status.
Now that we have placed the “Evergreen” batch order, your funds are locked into that order. We can’t refund those funds until the phone goes from “pre-order” to “shipping now” status. Once the phone (final, mass production build batch) pre-orders start shipping and we reach your order in the queue , we will refund the full amount you paid, unless you change your mind.
Yes, I found out about this thread after I had created my post. I appreciate your opinion, but I didn’t ask for it
That is strange, I don’t remember this refund policy back when I ordered over a year ago now.
I thought it was refund at any time guarantee??