Zorin vs Purism hardware controllable kill switches

Hardware
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hi all, the big reason I bought several purism hardwares is to get the kill switch feature:
“Our unique hardware kill switches to physically disconnect the camera and mic (including the headphone jack mic) or wireless and Bluetooth” Purism– Librem 14

My hardware is quite old, and perhaps dying. So I’m at another choice point. I never really used the linux for anything ‘real’, having not enough time to switch etc etc.

Just now I found the Zorin OS , https://zorin.com/ , and it installs great on another old hardware laptop I have. That one was a win10 / hp 360.

If I rewrite my purism laptop / phone with the matching laptop/ phone versions of Zorin os, will the hardware kill switches still work ?

Or would they work if I add a package to them ?
I have some admin experience but it was quite some time ago and I’m extremely rusty, despite having fond devops memories.

//Update:
Also I would like to keep either coreboot or PureBoot , but I’m not sure if install from ISO USB would keep that.

Reference to another post I read: PureOS Crimson (Debian 12) on Librem 15 / Librem 13 (x86-64) - Software / PureOS - Purism community

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Yes, they are hardware kill switches, which works regardless of what OS you use. From my understanding it is similar to plugging and unplugging a USB device.

I am not that familiar with coreboot and pureboot, so I will let others answer that one.

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That really is a question that you should put to Zorin. However in general Pureboot would be doubtful unless someone has tried it with that distro and found it to work.

Also note that you can always install a distro to an external drive for test purposes i.e. to see whether it boots. You may waste some of your time if it doesn’t boot and you can’t get it working but at least your original install is untouched.

Very questionable! My comments above are strictly limited to the laptop - and I suspect the previous reply is likely referring to a laptop only.

I mean technically yeah the hardware kill switches on the Librem 5 phone will work just fine with any distro because they are hardware switches but the distro does have to actually work on the phone.

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For the Librem 14, it will depend if it has the Intel AX200 or not:

If it has this Wi-Fi/Bluetooth card, use PureBoot (Basic), otherwise use Coreboot + SeaBIOS.

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ty for the info! My librem 14 is well before Nov. 2023, so it’s the older one.

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I tried to make two of you listing the ‘solve’ but it didn’t let me. Ty for your quick reply. I will try it out.

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Interesting that Zorin OS charges for their “pro” version, but it says that it is a Linux system. Is this a flagrant violation of the GPL?

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Why would this be a violation of the GPL? Charging for software is part of the Free/Libre principals.

Free software can be commercial

“Free software” does not mean “noncommercial.” On the contrary, a free program must be available for commercial use, commercial development, and commercial distribution. This policy is of fundamental importance—without this, free software could not achieve its aims.
[…]
A free program must offer the four freedoms to any would-be user that obtains a copy of the software, who has complied thus far with the conditions of the free license covering the software in any previous distribution of it.

The source code for Zorin OS as well as their patches are publicly available so they are complying with the GPL to provide source code to those that ask for it.

Depending on how the premium desktop layouts are licensed, they may have to provide source code to those that request it, however, this does not mean that it has to be publicly available to everyone – only to those that have paid for it.

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I understand that “Free Software” does not have exactly the same meaning as “software that is available without paying anything.” When we talk about Free Software, free refers to freedom, not price.

However, it does appear that Zorin is potentially in violation of the GPL. For all the recipients of the software, Free Software must respect the four freedoms, including freedom 2, “the freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor.”

The FAQ section for Zorin Pro OS seems to explain restrictions on freedom 2, which, if I understand correctly, would be a violation of the terms of the GPL, a license that Zorin OS would need to honor because Zorin OS is based on Linux and Linux is licensed under the GPL:

Can I install my copy of Zorin OS Pro on multiple computers?
You can install a copy of Zorin OS Pro on multiple computers for personal use. However, sharing your personal copy of Zorin OS Pro with other parties is not permitted.
For use in a business or organization, you will need to purchase a copy of Zorin OS Pro for each computer you intend to use it on. To do so, please press the “Download” button on this page, enter your email address, and click the Edit link beside “Quantity” in the pricing table of the checkout.

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