An Open Source Notebook? Yes, Please!

I totally want one!

Geek – By: Lee Mathews – “Supporters of software freedom and open source have plenty of choices when it comes to apps. When it comes to hardware? Not so much. The Librem 15 laptop is hoping to change that.

Like the clunky old netbook that Richard Stallman bangs on, the Librem 15 is all about FOSS. It’s a beast of a machine that features a quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, Nvidia GT840M graphics, and a 15-inch 1080p display. Purism, the company behind the Librem 15, plans to ship a customized version of Trisquel Linux (one of the few distros that gets a thumbs up from the FSF). The Librem 15 certainly looks good. It’s relatively slim at 22mm and not too heavy, weighing in at 4.4 pounds — comparable to similar systems from OEMs like Asus and Dell.

This laptop would eat the last FSF-certified machine we wrote about for lunch. It’s also a huge step up from the DIY Novena, though it’s worth noting that the Novena is genuinely totally free: hardware, firmware, software. That’s why it runs an underpowered Freescale CPU instead of a ballsy Intel Core chip.

A totally free gaming laptop is an interesting — albeit slightly conflicted — device. Even if founder Todd Weaver and Purism manage to get Intel to free up all their closed binary blobs, the games you would likely want to play on a machine like this probably aren’t FOSS.

There’s an ever-growing list of good, free, open source games out there. There are more titles coming to Steam for Linux all the time, too, but the $1,400 Librem 15 is open hardware that wants desperately to play in the closed-source world of PC gaming. It’s a steep hill to climb, to be sure.

Still, if you’re committed to the FOSS movement, the Librem 15 could be the horse you want to back. Companies like Purism can’t achieve their goals without funding, so head on over to Crowd Supply and pledge if you’d to help them succeed.”

If you want one, order it here: Crowd Supply – Librem 15 Laptop