If (information on) legacy hardware is still important to free/libre software
users, I'd like to summarize something, but mainly about legacy ThinkPads.
I haven't used many computing devices other than ThinkPads, and have been
troubled by the whitelist restrictions for many years. Yet there are some
manufacturers (or at least part of their product lines) don't impose
restrictions on WLAN cards.
For example, I once tried Dell Latitude and Alienware series, as well as
Samsung 9-series. They seem don't have whitelist restrictions, so I could
install ath9k cards on them. Please note that some ultra-portable notebooks,
like Samsung 9-series Haswell models, use integrated WLAN cards (i.e.,
soldered on the board) so that you can't possibly replace them. I once found
a Samsung 910S3G (Haswell ULV but without Boot Guard, on-board Atheros
AR9565). Its integrated WLAN is a free/libre one, but too weak (single
antenna, single band). I didn't purchased it but selected 900X3D with
IvyBridge ULV and replaceable WLAN card.
BTW, one major weakness of my Samsung 900X3D (and other IvyBridge 9-series)
is that it uses HM75 chipset and therefore doesn't have native USB3.0. This
causes certain compatibility issues with USB booting. Relatively few USB 3.0
flash media are bootable on it. Some of them may even cause POST fail.
