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15 Devices (Including 6 Laptops) Awarded FSF's 'Respects Your Freedom' Certification (fsf.org)
This week the Free Software Foundation awarded its coveted 'Respects Your Freedom' certification to 15 products -- more than doubling the number of certified products (from 12 to 27) since the program began in 2012.
An anonymous reader writes:
The non-profit FSF certified six different laptops, two docking stations, three WiFi USB adapters and two internal WiFi devices, a mainboard, and their first-ever certified Bluetooth device, the TET-BT4 USB adapter.
The products are all from Technoethical (formerly Tehnoetic), a Romania-based company who previously had just one mini wireless USB adapter on their list of FSF-certified products. "In 2014 we started selling hardware compatible with fully free systems in order to fund the free software activism work that we've been doing with our foundation," said Technoethical founder, Tiberiu C. Turbureanu. "Since then, we worked hard to build a hardware catalog that allows free software users to choose what best fits their computing needs, while also helping with the funding of different free software projects."
"We are excited that Technoethical has brought out such an impressive collection of hardware whose associated software respects user freedom," said the FSF's executive director, John Sullivan. "RYF certification continues to gain speed and momentum, thanks to companies like them."
"We are excited that Technoethical has brought out such an impressive collection of hardware whose associated software respects user freedom," said the FSF's executive director, John Sullivan. "RYF certification continues to gain speed and momentum, thanks to companies like them."
Unless you have time to examine lots of source code and create your own distribution of Linux, you're at the mercy of the developers who create and distribute the software you use. Those developers generally don't care about the best interests of users. If they did, they would not make changes such as systemd that harm users. They wouldn't remove proprietary software such as video drivers from their distributions in favor of inferior open source alternatives that lack performance. They would place users ahead of their petty arguments that often lead to projects being forked. Of course, open source isn't actually about freedom. It's designed as propaganda to promote an agenda against commercial software companies that don't release their source code and give products away for free. But open source isn't practically about freedom because you either have to choose small distributions with very limited manpower to provide software updates or are at the mercy of large distributions like Ubuntu, RHEL, and Debian. In reality, open source really doesn't give users any more freedom than closed source software. However, because you're not giving the developers your money, they really don't care about users. Freedom my ass.
I don't think the author knows what this word means. The fact that only 15 devices were awarded an award that you get simply by meeting some criteria shows that the certification is not coveted at all. Quite the opposite, it shows that by-n-large people don't give a crap about it.
All products from technoethical so it reads more like an ad.
Product placements like this "story" would be more effective if they included a coupon.
#DeleteChrome
The laptops are refurbished lenovo's. Overpriced, outdated crap. I am all for Free Software, but this is just getting pathetic.
T400, T500, X200, etc...
They're reselling refurbished Lenovos from 2010. This is hardly going to represent a device most people would want to own or invest in.
When you put it to sleep, it has to be in a coffin filled with dirt from Transylvania.
Lenovo boss " Hey guys we have this outdated pieces of shit in the warehouse, should we ship them to the dump or do you think you can offload them somehow?" middle manager "why don't we get them certified with FSF, maybe someone will be confused and think they are usefull devices and pay a premium for them. Lenovo Boss "fuck yeah, bonus for you."
Too bad the laptop is ugly and the keyboard arrangement is utter crap. Control key goes in the bottom left, and I don't need a fucking 'fn' key.
Coveted by people who value computing in freedom, and not evaluating only by convenience and price as most computer users are taught to do. This is another example of the division between a free software activist and an open source enthusiast as the FSF pointed out years ago in a couple of essays (older essay, newer essay).
/. is mostly filled (since years ago) by open source enthusiasts—business-first commenters for whom software freedom is never celebrated for its own sake (sometimes even chastising software freedom should someone dare to bring it up), and where any discussion of software freedom is begrudgingly tolerated only on stories where software freedom is the only way to avoid the calamity described in the story. Otherwise, evaluations come down to convenience and price with virtually no acknowledgement for how things got to be how they are.SaaS, pro-DRM are the focus (even while virtually every DRM story is about how customers are being treated badly with DRM) with discussions focusing on tinkering at the edges (DRM scheme X is not as painful as DRM scheme Y) which tacitly accepts that DRM is right and proper, and plenty of excuse-making for those in power over computer users. It's sad for those who remember that /. conversations used to be far more insightful. Fortunately there are plenty of other tech discussions around these days and /. loses its relevance as /. has long come off as just another corporate so-called "journalism" repeater site with pointers to readily-available press releases. Interesting like watching a trainwreck, but sad knowing it was better and could be better again if more people were interested in mature discussions without belittling.
Digital Citizen
I'll freely admit that this is tinfoil hat paranoia but Libreboot or not, there is no way I'm ever trusting a Levnovo computer after that stunt they pulled with installing software from the BIOS, even on clean installs.
I wonder if there's a link to FSF's deliberation, not just their endorsement.
One specific thing I wonder is whether these laptops are old enough to avoid linking Intel's FSP into Libreboot: https://firmwaresecurity.com/tag/intel-fsp/
All newer Intel CPUs require an Intel-signed blob at boot, so there's no way to build a verified boot chain that removes Intel's key from the chain of trust. It's an even more general problem for people who care about security than FSF's concern about source code because an attacker could replace the FSP without breaking the verified boot. If FSP came after the non-updateable firmware then even if it were a blob its signature could be checked under an open regime, so at least we are certain the same blob is in every machine, something that gives spy agencies pause more so than targeted attacks which can't be captured by honeypots.
It's just hard to swallow how far behind these machines are technically. Why can't we get a major manufacturer behind us so we can get modern components? I can sacrifice a lot of things—even the slow, dual-core CPU doesn't bother me too much—but 8 GB of RAM is is simply not doable for me. Also the low resolution of all the displays is disappointing. Is there any reason that a manufacturer couldn't take one of these models that support LibreBoot and install a new, high-res LCD panel into them? That would be better than nothing!
re: https://store.vikings.net/libr... not to mention the overpriced cpus vikings is trying to hoc on your "freedom" https://www.newegg.com/Product... lol