> > . >> > > If it's not difficult for you, can you recommend specific models that are > of the same quality and build level as the MacBook, or maybe even better? > Price > doesn't matter. > > >
I presume you are asking about which computer one might buy? I will say some things, and hope someone more knowledgeable will come along and correct me. I own a 2009 MBP, and using Qubes on it was problematic. True it is older hardware and a different firmware than today. Once I was speaking with person in a computer store, who is much more knowledgeable than myself. We both agreed we loved Apple, its OS X, its method of doing support and we did not like it was way more expensive than other computers. He said he would never buy another Apple. Price versus Security he would use Linux on a Windows type machine for better Security;. Also one of the reasons Apple always "just Works," is that they are control freaks. They want to limit the way their computer is used. Although in 20010 when I called them after my MBP would not start after trying to use Linux, they never laughed. They still had some of the original Apple mystique of people should be allowed to modify the device, a crafty kind of hobby. Today the Apple OS is used to keep all of ones personal files, media in sync across all of ones Apple devices. Phones, Ipads, Computers, multiple family members. Feels to me like a huge Security hole. and Syncing is another one of those innovations that is like constant update. It presumes I have an always available high speed network to accomplish all that Syncing, Cloud activity. But I don't use the later Mac OS. I thought I would come on here, and suggest alternative computers, and let others tell me why I am wrong. and I probably am. One the Qubes WebSite there are a list of computers which has been tried for Qubes, and any things which do not work for any model. You have probably seen it. First of all, My Opinion. Qubes users seem to gravitate towards using laptops on the thought that if one has a fixed Internet Connection, that is less secure. An ISP can completely capture the internet connection. Kinda like AOL. American On Line used to be an Internet provider where one logged into AOL, which watched everything the individual did, and passed that through to the internet. There is a Hardware Compatibility List: Well, security says you should not use links I send you. So I will not send you fewer links. Qubes webpage has a list of Certified Hardware, which is computers they have approved to be used with Qubes. Actually an older laptop, which has been modified. They have two different suppliers, one is in Europe, the other in Canada. The computer that has been modified is a Lenovo X-230. I know that the Insurgo model, in Canada is very generous in describing all the modifications they have made to get it to be Certified. I have tried to emulate those changes to an X-230. I have not gotten there yet. There is yet another thing. The Lenovo X230, if you have one in that stuff you described, it is easy to remove and replace the drive. I bought two 128 GB SSD's for this at twenty something dollars each (oh I am in US) and therefore I can easily use different fully installed versions of Linux. To use Pure Linux on a Lenovo X230, one would need to install a driver for WiFi. Easy for an experienced Linux user with an ethernet connection. Since there is some possibility you might have a Lenovo X230, I would warn you of some of the ways things it would be easy to do that would be wrong, I did them. To detail my experience. I bought an Lenovo X-230 Core I5, 4 GB RAM online for about US $228.00. I could not afford the Core I7. I paid another hundred for 16 GB RAM. Now my mistakes: I upgraded the BIOS/EFI to the highest level. Why it was a mistake. The Lenovo X230 RAM comes with the Intel Management Engine security hazard. That is, Intel Management Engine on the main processor had its own modem so Intel can install new Firmware instructions. Someone said that no one has ever seen Intel try to reprogram the basic instructions. One of the modifications made by Insurgo version of the Certified Hardware is to install CoreBoot in place of the standard Intel stuff. Lenovo further complicated my issues with their BIOS/EFI upgrade. Which is best explained in the documentation for the jailbreak. 1vyrain If the jail break is installed, one can use other batteries (for some functions) besides an official Lenovo Battery, and one can use a different WiFI than the one that comes installed by Lenovo. Insurgo changes to a different open source WiFi Wireless Adapter. The one supplied by Lenovo also has a driver inside the Intel Management Engine. Meaning if one does not use a Wireless adapter that is one of the ones already inside the Intel Management Engine, it can not phone home to the Mothership for new instructions. When I did a standard upgrade of the BIOS/EFI, Lenovo encrypted the firmware, so they did not intend for me to change it. 1vyrain The Jail Break can not be run on my Lenovo X-230. I thought I would warn you before you did what I did. As someone pointed out, If I put USB Wireless Adapter in, and make sure I do not let the internal Lenovo WiFi connect, It can still not phone home to the Mothership. The more sophisticated thing to do is to install Skulls, which involves opening the computer, using wires to re program the main chip. and possibly bricking the MOBO. Which it appears some have done, and no one has offered to help them. The jail break might do the same. It is because of those difficulties, and some more, that what is being sold as a Certified Qubes Computer is likely a fair price. There is company in the US that manufactures computers, and phone meant for privacy enthusiasts. https://puri.sm/ or as they say, never trust the link, so search for Pure, Librem. They offer later Intel Chips, but with Core Boot. You need to read a bunch of what they have fixed, changed for a privacy computer built from the component selection up. Their OS is a version of Debian, or one can install Qubes, (or pay them to install Qubes). I thought I might say something about Dell computers. Two things. Dell ventilation for heat reduction is on the bottom of the computer. If one sits a dell on a blanket, after awhile. Yes overheating. Dell makes two different styles of computers. One for the general public, and another, higher quality, for businesses. Business laptops are quite good. I know a guy who had a computer shop and used to make a living selling older, new battery installed versions of the business laptops for three hundred. Economy got him. Plus kids love computers with lots of color and brand new, business computers are usually black. Said none of the ones he sold came back as defective. For one thing. Business people are not children and take care of computers. Dell makes an XPS Developers Edition, that comes with Ubuntu. This is a higher quality business class computer, and since Ubuntu comes on it, I would guess nearly any Linux would work. I mistakenly bought an Alienware instead of an XPS. (Dell owns Alienware). But I have had great experiences with Alienware Support. I am guessing all of Dell Support is similar. I would again buy Dell Support to the point where the price goes drastically up. Most of the reasons I needed to use Alienware support was because of something I did. Like, I needed a new battery for my first Alienware from them. The support of the battery replacement had gone out a year before, but I had a charging issue with a battery early on (actually I messed up the percentage of charge on the battery using Linux, and Windows couldn't fix the percentage of charge. I am guessing a re-install of Windows would have fixed that. but I did not realize that.) Still I had month or two of the two year Alienware Warranty on the rest of the computer. I offered to buy a new battery, they did not have new batteries. But they offered to replace my 2013 14 inch Alienware (based on a 2012 design) with a refurbished 2016 with the 2016 Intel processor, Skylake. and so on. At the end of my 2016 model support, I had white spots on the screen. As part of their support, they had me ship it in. They replaced the screen Video Card, and the outside of the computer, can back looking brand new. The battery behaves like it is a new battery, although, once again, they did not offer a battery for this model for sale. I am guessing they had bunch of new or newish parts laying in bins that were never going to be used, as everyone else has bought new computers. Maybe they felt sorry for my being on Social Security (Old age pension) and could not afford a new something. Still Alienware Support required I use Windows to utilize their support. Alienware firmware does not refuse to boot Linux, but the Alienware Firmware is dovetailed to Windows for a lot of things like colored lights on keyboard. Alienware BIOS/EFI is closely dovetailed to Windows. So never buy Alienware. But I believe that the XPS Developers edition would have excellent support. If we could just get them to put in only FOSS hardware, and use Core Boot rather than the proprietary firmware EFI/BIOS. But how can we trust a big company not to be influenced by a governments security services. Sorry if I babbled on too much. Try not to feel offended if I spoke about things you know a lot about. I can't know what it is you, or don't know. So I presume the lowest level. No Offense meant. I will wait for more knowledgeable people to tell me where I am wrong, I often am. and we have a lot of experienced people here. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "qubes-users" group. 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