Re: A challenge for community to go beyond what's already rule

[Fosshost]

Hi

Thought it may be helpful at this stage for me to give my 2 cents. I run a 
project called fosshost.org and our service has been designed with those in 
mind from underrepresented groups across society. This means where individuals 
do not have the funds or means to be able to purchase hardware, we can provide 
it to them virtually, at no cost. Clearly this still requires some kind of 
device to “connect” and “manage” the service we provision, but I believe it is 
less of an ask. One use case could simply be that they have a very old device 
with a poor and outdated spec but it’s still strong enough to connect to a 
remote system. Won’t apply in every case but it’s one of the things we are 
doing here at fosshost.org and we are growing! 

Kind regards

Thomas
Founder and CEO
Fosshost.org


> On 20 Nov 2020, at 15:08, thiago@softwarelivre.net.br wrote:
> 
>    Hey there!
> 
>   Although I do support this kind of initiative (of new Libreboot laptop
>   stores), and I am a supporter of libreboot / coreboot as well as Free
>   Libre / Open Source Hardware, I would like to ask you all here:
> 
>   Couldn't we have more popular prices? What do we have to do to boost
>   more popular projects?
> 
>   I mean, it's awesome the new store, but after opening it, I felt the
>   same disappointment from before. I still wait for more popular & fair
>   options. Who can & will pay for a retro with such prices? I can't, so
>   seeing such stores feels like a distant dream.
> 
>   I am from a foreign country, with its money devalued in comparison to
>   your currencies. These prices are for rich gringos, for your own people
>   and not for a broader community. I will never have the chance to get a
>   Librebooted ThinkPad from any of the sellers I know (and I would like
>   to support you) simply because it becomes too expensive. I bet there
>   are lots of young (or older) free software/hardware enthusiasts fom the
>   UK that can't pay for these laptops, and no relativisms can make such
>   prices seem fair.
> 
>   The community, I guess, lacks very much options for getting popular
>   Librebooted ThinkPads. How to help expanding free software and hardware
>   in scenarios like this? These prices are over, so we will never support
>   your stores because we can't. We can just try to do it ourselves,
>   paying fair prices getting used pieces (just as yours) from people that
>   doesn't know that there are companies selling it for much more because
>   it is "libreboot".
> 
>   Even when it comes to offering the service of installing Libreboot or
>   whatever, I just see obscene prices. I buy a compatible ThinkPad with
>   less than you (several stores) want to charge just for the service.
> 
>   Where are we going? Do we want to make things more popular and make the
>   whole strong, or do we want a small community of FSF members and
>   Librebooted laptop owners?!
> 
>   Best regards,
> 
>   Thiago
> 
>   05:59, November 20, 2020, "Leah Rowe via libreplanet-discuss"
>   <libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org>:
> 
>     Hi everyone!
>     I forgot to link this on the libreplanet list, but my company
>     selling
>     FSF-endorsed Libreboot laptops with Trisquel came back online on 10
>     November 2020. It's me Leah Rowe, Libreboot founder. I simply
>     renamed
>     the store.
>     Check it out!
>     [1]https://retrofreedom.com/
>     As some may know, the company was offline for a while when it ran
>     into
>     supply issues earlier in the year - and then covid happened. I made
>     a
>     series of fundamental changes to the way the company operates, which
>     you
>     can read about here (in addition to backstory on the period of
>     hiatus
>     that preceded the re-launch):
>     [2]https://retrofreedom.com/company-relaunched/
>     I use profits from sales to provide funding to Libreboot, as I've
>     done
>     for many years. Some of the proceeds are also donated to the FSF,
>     every
>     year.
>     I've already been in touch with RMS, and he posted a link to it
>     recently
>     on stallman.org
>     I have also contacted the FSF, asking them to re-endorse my laptops.
>     Previously the domain name was minifree.org but has been re-branded
>     and
>     redirects to retrofreedom.com now. FSF removed the site from their
>     RYF
>     page when it went offline earlier this year.
>     So far sales are good! I've been shipping laptops to people non-stop
>     since the company re-launched. I made sure to be fully prepared for
>     the
>     re-launch. Got a big shipping out today in fact.
>     At the time of this email, the company is well-stocked. I make sure
>     machines are packed ready to ship before sale these days, rather
>     than
>     assembling to order like I use to; this means I've simplified the
>     options on the website, to make the company easier to operate and
>     ensure
>     that shipments are quick.
>     I'm currently building up huge stock for December. I'm well-stocked
>     for
>     the rest of November. My supplier has managed to source around 100
>     laptops for me, for me to sell in December, and probably those will
>     also
>     last into the first half of January aswell. I will have those 100
>     soon
>     and will make sure to have them all ready for December. It's a
>     mixture
>     of X200 and T400 laptops, plus a few X200 Tablets (the tablet
>     version is
>     really hard to find)
>     Anyway yes, just thought I'd drop this here.
>     Happy hacking!
>     --
>     Leah Rowe,
>     Company director.
>     And now, a song:
>     [3]https://blog.vimuser.org/free-firmware-song.html
>     Minifree Ltd, trading as RetroFreedom,
>     Registered in England, No. 9361826,
>     VAT No. GB202190462, Registered Office:
>     19 Hilton Road, Canvey Island, Essex SS8 9QA, UK
> 
>     _______________________________________________
>     libreplanet-discuss mailing list
>     [4]libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
>     [5]https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discus
>     s
> 
>   Thiago José Bezerra Cavalcanti
>   Antropólogo, Mestre em Sociologia
>   Doutorando Interdisciplinar (Humanidades e Sociais) - HCTE/UFRJ
>   SysAdm+dev GNU/Linux&*BSD
>   Bio&CV: https://thiago.softwarelivre.net.br
> 
> References
> 
>   1. https://retrofreedom.com/
>   2. https://retrofreedom.com/company-relaunched/
>   3. https://blog.vimuser.org/free-firmware-song.html
>   4. mailto:libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
>   5. https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss
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