Re: [Trisquel-users] What main problems, if any, have you found in transition to Trisquel?

[chris]

System76 doesn't care. There in it for the money. If we didn't care we would  
start selling laptops and desktops with various NVIDIA or ATI options. As it  
is we only offer one NVIDIA option on the desktop. And doing so I can  
guarantee you would bring us a ton of customers. There are a lot of gamers  
out there.

And... as I've said before it is not an all or nothing situation. There are  
common benefits regardless of your position on free software. So even if you  
insist on offering such hardware you can still avoid it where there are no  
benefits (performance, etc). Even if they didn't care about the ethical  
situation they should care about the technical situation. The non-free  
drivers/firmware are causing problems. You can actually find a ton of users  
complaining about System76's (and others) support because the systems  
literally stop working.

The thing is you can't support what isn't free. Your dependence on non-free  
software that is maintained by another company prevents it. When they  
discontinue support your stuck in a hard position. It may not be reasonable  
for you to have to maintain something indefinitely. However it isn't right to  
use parts that essentially ensure that customers will have to upgrade at a  
later date.

It might not be designed to fail or designed to be end-of-life'd although  
that is the effect. Particularly on GNU/Linux where the development model  
relies on freedom. Anything less a problem.

I'll be the first to say I don't object to the “higher” prices. There are  
good reasons for it. Better quality hardware as an example. Additionally  
other examples exist. Generally don't see many of the configuration options  
(like Matte screens and such) on low end machines for instance. You'll see  
these once you climb up to the business class machines which are quite a bit  
more expensive. So higher priced hardware with lower specs is not really an  
issue if you compare it to other systems within the same class. Unfortunately  
try explaining that to your average “techy”. There are also other things  
people making such statements don't consider. For instance a laptop with a  
1.5” thickness is going to be cheaper than something with a .8”  
thickness.