There are a lot of librem5 topic in these days, so i wanna open a topic to talk about a next purism product(s) you whould like to buy
i’ll start with 4 products i’d like to see
1
A small size powerfull (like ryzen 2600) open hardware desktop
A desktop with no binary blob in every part of it, with an integrate vga with no blob (like vivante) with fullhd hdmi/dp output, at this point i think the system could be a power9/10 or arm if there is a powerfull arm that not require binary blobs, in a micro-atx or mini-itx form factor.
I whould prefear a mobo+ivga+cpu+heatsynk combo than a complete system, because i like to chose the other component from the market according my preference
2
An affordable arm laptop ofc completly blob free
I dunno if the im8x is powerfull enough to make a laptop or if there is another powerfull and open arm solution, but if pine64 could make a pinebook at 200$ i think we could have a more powerfull and blobfree laptop (something like 11-13") from purism for 600$
3
A pcie blob free gpu 1080p 60hz with 3d acceleration, not for play games but for have a smooth experience with programs or DE (like gnome) who require hw acceleration
4
A blob free ssd, or just a kind of project like libreboot but for ssd, to replace their closed firmware
intel hd can do 1080p@60, although it seems hard to go up to 4k@60.
I personally want a powerful gpu for heavy 3D or general purpose calculation. NVIDIA sucks, AMD could be buggy(yes they always are, even(or esp?) on windows), but we need a powerful gpu like them.
blobs or binary blobs are closed source code, and is important to avoid because it’s a kind of black box you don’t know what it does and could be malicious, like intel me or ami bios
Noone outside of the manufacturer can fix the software if there are problems. You are at the mercy of the manufacturer for how long it takes to fix even serious problems. So potentially, once the manufacturer abandons that model, noone can fix the software if there are problems. Period.
You may be missing out on undocumented capability i.e. unable to use the full functionality of the hardware.
Purism could make a i.MX 8 QuadMax laptop, which would be awesome, but it will probably cost significantly more than $600. I suspect that the i.MX 8 QuadMax will suck too much energy for a tablet, but the i.MX 8M Quad (or mini if you don’t need good video out) is a possibility.
The problem with trying to make a Wi-Fi router is that I don’t know if Purism can do it for a cheap enough price.
you can use the L5 as a portable 3G/4G wifi router if you install some stuff on it. simply tether the celular-data connection through the wifi.
it would be interested to see how we can do the same with the ethernet connection (requires an rj45 on an external dock in convergeance-like mode … probably)
Purism was planning a tablet before the Librem 5. They put it on hold to focus on the phone, but want to return to it once the phone is released and through some growing pains. I am 99% confident we will get the tablet eventually.
a phone with ordinary phone keyboard (like old good feature phones), but with good hardware inside and a free software.
I hate touchscreens (pecking the screen with greasy fingers? No feedback from the input device? Gosh…) and believe that it is not necessary to give up the keyboard in favor of touch screen, if you want to have a good hardware inside the phone. This approach just needs more elaboration from UX perspective. Some fruits here are low-hanging, e.g. adding WiFi module to the keyboarded phone should not be so hard.
The real problem in the current market of keyboarded phones is that there are few models which have some good hardware stuff inside (WiFi, GPS, good camera, etc.), but they are completely proprietary (without any possibility to install/remove/tune the software), and the OOB software is a complete crap, making good hardware useless (the real example - a browser, which both does not allow ignoring the certificates it does not trust to by default, and have no means to install new root CA certs. This makes surfing effectively useless despite the fact that it is possible from hardware perspective).
Thanks mini for your post, i knew these project, i could say viking is a good company for what they are doing, but the hardware is old i.e. sata 2 will be maxed at 200-300 mb/s pcie is at rev 2, and pay more than 1k for a refurbished system is not really a deal to me, btw you have to rely on an external gpu to run this system, and all ext gpu are closed, for these reasons i so not take this system in my wishlist
emoa68 looks to me like a scam, afaik this project is alive from some years and no one received the product, and anyway is really a low powerfull system
about the gpu, that’s an interesting project, i hope in the next interaction because this one aim to reach 720p @ 25hz and is not a good, i read a devs reply to that and he wrote the main issue are money, so they had to lower the specific, anyway this is a great project, but still far away to be there and to be usable, i think 1080p @60hz is the minimun target these days, and we are talking about a pice of hw that will no see the light before the next 2-3-5 years
the openssd seems like a dead project, there is no news from a while sadly
librecmc is nice i like it
for the ram afaik do not run firmware, is it right?
As I like to have a 1 for all device and I like to travel with it I allready hv a detailed idea what i would like to have (So forgive me the long text). And since purism seems to have managed to get convergence to work and I like their open-source and design style it would be superawesome to have one like the following from purism:
3 in 1 device (phone/tablet/laptop) featuring:
phone (librem 5; +keyboard like the n900 + radio sender/receiver (FM))
tablet: basically just a 11-12" 3:2 screen with no other hw. put the phone into a slot at the rear site and you have a tablet. the slot at the rear site should hold the phone so save that you can handle the screen and the phone as one device (not just connect them with a cable). let the front camera of the phone peak out (or have a hole in the tablet so one can use the phones front camera as the front camera of the tablet. Beside the phone one can attach 1-3 batteries of different sizes. The batteries have their own housing and attach to the rear side of the tablet with hooks that snap them into place. That way the tablet gets less bulky the fewer batteries one attaches and gives you longer battery life the more batterys you attach. A little battery to usb adapter that is stored inside the housing of the tablet and can be taken out gives you the option to use the batteries as powerbanks for the phone (leave tablet section at home and just take the phone + battery + adapter for a hike).
A foot stand enables you to place the tablet on the table upright.
The screen should be bright enough be be read in daylight an be able to be dimmed very much. Also it should be non-glare
A must have for me: One should be able to write on the tablet with a passive pen. (compare toshiba z20t (see link above). The pen is stored in the tablet.
A alternative “tablet” would feature a e-paper screen.
Laptop:
Just attach a keyboard to the tablet and make it a full featured laptop/convertible. The keyboard also holds the tablet (like lenovo helix or toshiba z20t). Not just a flappy keyboardattachment like lenovo x1 tablet that makes it nearly impossible to use the device as a laptop on your lap! The laptop should be able to be opened until a angle of 180deg.
The batteries that attach to the tablet also can be attached to the keyboard.
The keyboard section of the keyboard (the keys) should be able to be switched. So on can offer different keyboard layouts. Some keyboard layouts have big keys (but less). Some keyboard layouts have small keys (but additional keys). (I personally liked the small keys of the Asus Eeepc as is means much less moving of your hands/fingers). Some keyboards maybe even have a V-layout of the keys to be more ergonomic. Of course the option for a pointing stick with 3 dedicated mouse buttons must not me missing!
Last but not least the keyboard should be able to be connected to the phone/tablet via blue-tooth.
Well. Thats it. My dream-device.
Too much text? Sry. I just tend to know what I want when it comes to my gear (heaving toshiba z20t-c as laptop/tablet-convertible right now; hoping issues with gnu-linux are solved in debian 10)
Librem 11/12 Tablet
Convertible with a detachable keyboard like they had in the promo images. Fanless and preferably 12 inch (I might actually prefer 11 inch? ) at a 16:10 or 3:2 ratio. I think it would be cool if it was ARM based as long as it’s not too underpowered. I guess they could probably reuse some of the Librem 5 design and components if they go that way. An optional active stylus. The same removable Wireless and Baseband cards used in the Librem 5.
Librem 5 Dock
It has been mentioned before but a laptop shell/dock for the Librem 5 like Razer’s Project Linda. I know there is NexDock, but it’s just not the same having the phone hang off the side…
Librem Reader
An e-reader with a roughly 8-10 inch E-Ink (or CLEARink if I dare to dream) screen. Some decent specs would be nice so it could be used as a web browser, etc. Audio with a 3.5mm headphone jack. Also with an optional stylus to use as a sketching canvas and for notes etc.
Librem 5 Compact
As small as possible considering the restraints.
Librem Modem Router
With a removable/replaceable modem. Could be sold as just a Wireless Router or even just a Wired Router (if the WiFi was also removable) with the option of choosing WiFi and a modem in the shop.
Librem Light
A minimal compact e-ink phone as @dc3p suggested here.
I would buy a purism laptop with an eraser mouse. A way to physically disable the touch touchpad would be nice too. I run Linux on thinkpads because the alternative hardware configurations just aren’t as good.
(heaving toshiba z20t-c as laptop/tablet-convertible right now; hoping issues with gnu-linux are solved in debian 10)
) at a 16:10 or 3:2 ratio. I think it would be cool if it was ARM based as long as it’s not too underpowered. I guess they could probably reuse some of the Librem 5 design and components if they go that way. An optional active stylus. The same removable Wireless and Baseband cards used in the Librem 5.