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The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has awarded its Respects Your Freedom (RYF) certification to the Taurinus X200 laptop sold by Libiquity.
This is the first product of Libiquity to achieve RYF certification. The Taurinus X200 has the same architecture and certified software as the Libreboot X200, which was certified in January 2015. The Taurinus X200 can be purchased from Libiquity at https://shop.libiquity.com/product/taurinus-x200.
The Taurinus X200 is a refurbished and updated laptop based on the Lenovo ThinkPad X200, with all of the original low-level firmware and operating system software replaced. It runs the FSF-endorsed Trisquel GNU/Linux operating system and the free software boot system, Libreboot. Perhaps most importantly, all of Intel's Management Engine (ME) firmware and software has been removed from this laptop.
The RYF certification mark means that the product meets the FSF's standards in regard to users' freedom, control over the product, and privacy. The Taurinus X200 comes with the fast and secure Libreboot firmware and the FSF-endorsed Trisquel GNU/Linux operating system. Importantly, Intel's Management Engine (ME) firmware with its applications like AMT (remote out-of-band management/backdoor system, part of "vPro") and PAVP (audio/video DRM) have been removed from this laptop.
The laptop ships within the USA and may be purchased from the Libiquity Store.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday October 01 2015, @12:54PM
This statement puzzles me. I bought an i7 1 year ago and it has a VGA port. It's handy for projectors. So calling a 1 yr old laptop "way past legacy" because it has a VGA port seems a strange thing to say, since the latter part of your post hints that you're old enough to remember older models.
This part is perplexing, too. After all the Snowden files revealing how the NSA and other nefarious agencies are collaborating with big companies to invade your privacy and compromise your freedom and security, do you really honestly think that a FSF-certified laptop is "pathetic?" I'm not a FSF partisan and whether this laptop is safe against the aforementioned tampering remains TBD, but I salute the direction these guys are trying to take things in.
Then maybe it's worth supporting what these people are doing, to encourage them to do more of the same and enable them to eventually offer a "properly free laptop."
Washington DC delenda est.