Re: Best laptop for programming?
 

So, if I understand correctly this gang reflashes the Thinkpad bios with Libreboot and preinstalls a linux distro for you, and for that they are charging triple price for a 2nd hand device...?

nice...not! :D

Now what I wonder is; Why would you trust the goons to do it right and really respect your privacy? I mean they have ample opportunity to inject anything they like in the bootloader or the OS.

And given the fact that people who they advertise to; the ones who'd like to keep their privacy and security probably do have something valuable to hide... it must be a real temptation to pull a quiet one with them! :eek:

Re: Best laptop for programming?
 

@juiceme, a "Ministry of Freedom" is not an actual ministry :D

Re: Best laptop for programming?
 

Yes.
But I suspect you have a wrong impression of what "reflashing the BIOS" means in this case. It's not just your regular BIOS update, but involves actually hacking the hardware. [1]
I'm not sure if it's worth the money (as in: takes a professional electronics technician living in England the working time to justify the price based on a fair local hourly wage), but since I neither have the skills nor the equipment to do that on my own, I'd rather pay someone else to do it than to screw it up myself.

That's true.
The point is, that unless you check the code, compile and flash it on your own you have to trust someone. Now tell me, would you rather trust Lenovo to give you a proprietary BIOS without backdoors, or some tinkerer who flashes a FLOSS BIOS and who is recommended by the developers of said FLOSS BIOS?


[1] https://libreboot.org/docs/install/x200_external.html

Re: Best laptop for programming?
 

Anything that requires somebody doing stuff for living is costly. However when doing something for myself I rather try and learn it than rely on professional help.
And actually, if you read the documents carefully you'll notice you only need SPI flashing hardware if you mess up flashing or have a locked device... otherwice it seems to be possible to flash most laptops with the SW method!

Ohh, and so lovely, they also have guide for T60's!! https://libreboot.org/docs/install/#flashrom_lenovobios

I'll have to see if I can do that, I have never tried to flash an alternate bootloader before. :eek:


Point taken; Lenovo is not really a fair player and model corporate citizen; they have been caught pants down injecting malware in the devices they peddle.
However that case was in the consumer devices and I kind-of believe their commecial-grade iron is safer. (and if there'd be something funny in the T60/61 BIOS'es it should have been found out by now...)

Re: Best laptop for programming?
 

Does that include buying hardware that you only need for that task?

Which I neither own nor know how to operate.

Actually there are only 4 laptop models on the software flashing list while there are also 4 laptops exclusively on the hardware flashing list.
This does not match my interpretation of "most".
Minifree only sells pre-installed laptops from the hardware-only list btw.

Re: Best laptop for programming?
 

Heh, actually it does. I frequently find myself obtaining tools that I end up using fairly rarely.... or even making such tools myself.
One such tool actually is a SPI programming interface that I made something like over 5 years back; we used it to "rescue" locked IBM T30/T40/T41 models which were top-of-the-2nd-hand line then :D
And it is not related to electronics/programming tools, just as well I seem to gather woodworking tools, metalworking tools, miscellanous crafts tools, you name it...


That's a lousy excuse and you know it :D
You can pretty much learn anything you put your mind on for long enough time; it is more about intensity, interest and willpower rather than any quality you're born with.


True, but luckily the most ubiquous and generally nice devices do appear on the SW-only list.
And reflashing the devices that require HW intervention is a no-brainer too.

It is a pity I have not looked into this for such a long time; when we routinely uncorked locked IBM's there was not yet such a thing as Libreboot. We had to settle with resetting the protection bits in the NVRAM...

Re: Best laptop for programming?
 

If OP actually buying something. Plz Inform me.