Coreboot Developer: Purism Doesn't Deliver On Libre Firmware

A Coreboot developer has confirmed fears over Purism Librem laptops not really being free nor really bringing much to the table compared to other Linux laptop vendors.

While Purism launched as a "Free/Libre Software Laptop" and they surpassed their crowdfunding goal, the laptop will not be comprised of completely free software down to the BIOS/firmware.

A Coreboot developer has written the post entitled "The truth about Purism: Why Librem is not the same as libre." In the post he explains that Purism hadn't contacted Coreboot about their plans for a fully open Linux laptop, but that regardless there will still be binary blobs with regard to the CPU initialization path and the microcontroller of the chipset that are problematic. Coreboot developer mrnuke concluded:

So at the end of the day, Librem is bringing nothing new to the market. Laptops with libre operating systems have existed for decades. The only real innovators in this area have been Google and GluGlug. Google ships partially free firmware, although insufficiently libre to be able to provide the “respect your privacy” guarantee. GluGlug can make this claim, and it ships laptops with fully libre firmware. The downside of GluGlug is that it’s an aftermarket add-on. GluGlug and Google have been in business far longer than Purism. So, what has Purism brought in that’s new and exciting and libre? Nothing.