Librem

Last updated
Librem
All librem devices-2021-header.png
Developer Purism
ManufacturerPurism
Type Laptop/Netbook, Desktop, Smartphone, Server
Release date2014 (2014)
Operating system PureOS, QubesOS
CPU Intel Core
Graphics Intel HD Graphics
Marketing target Computer security purpose
Website puri.sm

Librem is a line of computers manufactured by Purism, SPC featuring free (libre) software. [1] [2] The laptop line is designed to protect privacy and freedom by providing no non-free (proprietary) software in the operating system or kernel, [3] [4] [5] [6] avoiding the Intel Active Management Technology, [7] and gradually freeing and securing firmware. [8] [9] Librem laptops feature hardware kill switches for the microphone, webcam, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. [1] [2]

Contents

Models

Laptops

Librem 13, Librem 15 and Librem 14

In 2014, Purism launched a crowdfunding campaign on Crowd Supply to fund the creation and production of the Librem 15 laptop, [10] conceived as a modern alternative to existing open-source hardware laptops, all of which used older hardware. [11] [12] [13] The 15 in the name refers to its 15-inch screen size. The campaign succeeded after extending the original campaign, [14] and the laptops were shipped to backers. [15] In a second revision of the laptop, hardware kill switches for the camera, microphone, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth were added.

After the successful launch of the Librem 15, Purism created another campaign on Crowd Supply for a 13-inch laptop called the Librem 13, [16] which also came with hardware kill switches similar to those on the Librem 15v2. [17] The campaign was again successful and the laptops were shipped to customers. [18]

Purism announced in December 2016 that it would start shipping from inventory rather than building to order with the new batches of Librem 15 and 13. [19]

As of January 2023, Purism has one laptop model in production, the Librem 14 (version 1, US$1,370 [20] ).

Comparison of laptops

Librem model Coreboot version CPU Intel ME ReleaseMax RAM (GB)
15 v1 [21] Intel Core i7 5557UEnabledJuly 201532
13 v1 [22] 4.21 (2023) [23] Intel Core i5 5200UEnabledSeptember 201516
15 v2 [24] 4.21 (2023) [25] Intel Core i7-5557UEnabledSeptember 201532
13 v2 [26] 4.21 (2023) [27] Intel Core i5 6200UDisabledJune 14, 201716
15 v3 [26] 4.21 (2023) [28] Intel Core i7 6500UDisabledJune 28, 201732
13 v3 [29] 4.6 (2017) [30] Intel Core i7 6500UDisabledOctober 201716
15 v44.21 (2023) [31] Intel Core i7 7500UDisabled [32] January 201932
13 v4 [33] 4.21 (2023) [34] Intel Core i7 7500UDisabled [32] January 201916
14 v1 [35] 4.21 (2023) [36] Intel Core i7 10710UDisabled (but not "neutralized") [37] [ unreliable source ]early Q4 202064

Librem Mini

The Librem Mini is a small form factor desktop computer, [38] which began shipping in June 2020. [39]

Librem model Coreboot version CPU Intel ME ReleaseMax RAM (GB)
Mini V14.21 (2023) [40] Intel Core i7-8565UDisabled (but not "neutralized") [37] [ unreliable source ]March 2020 [41] 64
Mini V24.21 (2023) [40] Intel Core i7-10510UDisabled (but not "neutralized") [37] [ unreliable source ]November 2020 [42] [43] 64

Librem 5

Phosh, the GNOME mobile shell that runs on the Librem 5. Phosh, the GNOME mobile shell, developed by Purism and GNOME (2018-05).jpg
Phosh, the GNOME mobile shell that runs on the Librem 5.

On August 24, 2017, Purism started a crowdfunding campaign for the Librem 5, a smartphone aimed to run 100% free software, which would "[focus] on security by design and privacy protection by default". Purism claimed that the phone would become "the world's first ever IP-native mobile handset, using end-to-end encrypted decentralized communication." [44] Purism cooperated with KDE and GNOME in its development of Librem 5. [45]

Security features of the Librem 5 include separation of the CPU from the baseband processor, [46] which, according to Linux Magazine , makes the Librem 5 unique in comparison to other mobile phones. [45] The Librem 5 also features hardware kill switches for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth communication and the phone's camera, microphone, and baseband processor. [47]

The default operating system for the Librem 5 is Purism's PureOS, a Debian derivative. The operating system uses a new user interface called Phosh, based on Wayland, wlroots, GTK and GNOME middleware. [48] It is planned that Phosh/Plasma Mobile, [45] Ubuntu Touch, [49] and postmarketOS can also be installed on the phone.

The release of the Librem 5 has been postponed several times. In September 2018, Purism announced that the launch date of Librem 5 would be moved from January to April 2019, because of two hardware bugs and the holiday season in Europe and North America. [50] The Librem 5's DevKits for software developers were shipped in December 2018. The launch date was later postponed to the third quarter because of the necessity of further CPU tests. [51] and on September 24, 2019, Purism announced that the first batch of Librem 5 phones had started shipping. [52] The finished version of the Librem 5, known as "Evergreen", was finally shipped on November 18, 2020. [53]

Librem Server

The Librem server is a rack mounted server, released to the public in December 2019. [54]

Librem Key

Announced on 20 September 2018, the Librem Key is a hardware USB security token with multiple features, including integration with a tamper-evident Heads BIOS, that ensures a Librem laptop Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) was not maliciously altered since the last laptop launch. [55] Also a one-time password storage with 3x HMAC-based One-time Password algorithm (HOTP) (RFC 4226) and 15 x Time-based One-time Password algorithm (TOTP) (RFC 6238) and an integrated password manager (16 entries), 40 kbit/s true random number generator, and a tamper-resistant smart card. The key supports type A USB 2.0, has dimensions of 48 x 19 x 7 mm, and weights 6 g. [56]

Operating system

Initially planning to preload its Librem laptops with the Trisquel operating system, [57] Purism eventually moved off the Trisquel platform to rebase onto Debian for the 2.0 release of its PureOS Linux operating system. [58] As an alternative to PureOS, Librem laptops are purchasable with Qubes OS preinstalled. [59] In December 2017 the Free Software Foundation added PureOS to its list of endorsed GNU/Linux distributions. [60] [61]

BIOS

In 2015, Purism began research to port the Librem 13 to coreboot [62] [63] [64] but the effort was initially stalled. By the end of the year, a coreboot developer completed an initial port of the Librem 13 and submitted it for review. [65] In December 2016, hardware enablement developer Youness Alaoui joined Purism and was tasked to complete the coreboot port for the original Librem 13 and prepare a port for the second revision of the device. [66] Since summer 2017, new Librem laptops are shipped with coreboot as their standard BIOS, and updates are available for all older models. [67]

Purism calls a collection of below mentioned six components, involved in the boot process, as PureBoot: [68]

  1. Neutralized and Disabled Intel Management Engine.
  2. The coreboot.
  3. A Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip.
  4. Heads, which tamper-evident features to detect when the BIOS or important boot files have been modified.
  5. Librem Key, Purism's USB security token
  6. Multi-factor authentication that unlocks disk encryption using the Librem Key

PureBoot protects the users from various attacks like theft, BIOS Malware and Kernel Rootkits, vulnerabilities and malicious code in the Intel Management Engine and interdiction. [68]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Firmware</span> Low-level computer software

In computing, firmware is software that provides low-level control of computing device hardware. For a relatively simple device, firmware may perform all control, monitoring and data manipulation functionality. For a more complex device, firmware may provide relatively low-level control as well as hardware abstraction services to higher-level software such as an operating system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UEFI</span> Operating system and firmware specification

Unified Extensible Firmware Interface is a specification that defines the architecture of the platform firmware used for booting the computer hardware and its interface for interaction with the operating system. Examples of firmware that implement the specification are AMI Aptio, Phoenix SecureCore, TianoCore EDK II, InsydeH2O. UEFI replaces the BIOS which was present in the boot ROM of all personal computers that are IBM PC compatible, although it can provide backwards compatibility with the BIOS using CSM booting. Intel developed the original Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) specification. Some of the EFI's practices and data formats mirror those of Microsoft Windows. In 2005, UEFI deprecated EFI 1.10.

coreboot Open-source computer firmware

coreboot, formerly known as LinuxBIOS, is a software project aimed at replacing proprietary firmware found in most computers with a lightweight firmware designed to perform only the minimum number of tasks necessary to load and run a modern 32-bit or 64-bit operating system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comparison of open-source wireless drivers</span>

Wireless network cards for computers require control software to make them function. This is a list of the status of some open-source drivers for 802.11 wireless network cards.

In the context of free and open-source software, proprietary software only available as a binary executable is referred to as a blob or binary blob. The term usually refers to a device driver module loaded into the kernel of an open-source operating system, and is sometimes also applied to code running outside the kernel, such as system firmware images, microcode updates, or userland programs. The term blob was first used in database management systems to describe a collection of binary data stored as a single entity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intel Active Management Technology</span> Out-of-band management platform by Intel

Intel Active Management Technology (AMT) is hardware and firmware for remote out-of-band management of select business computers, running on the Intel Management Engine, a microprocessor subsystem not exposed to the user, intended for monitoring, maintenance, updating, and repairing systems. Out-of-band (OOB) or hardware-based management is different from software-based management and software management agents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SeaBIOS</span> Open-source implementation of x86 BIOS

SeaBIOS is an open-source implementation of an x86 BIOS, serving as a freely available firmware for x86 systems. Aiming for compatibility, it supports standard BIOS features and calling interfaces that are implemented by a typical proprietary x86 BIOS. SeaBIOS can either run on bare hardware as a coreboot payload, or can be used directly in emulators such as QEMU and Bochs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intel Management Engine</span> Autonomous computer subsystem

The Intel Management Engine (ME), also known as the Intel Manageability Engine, is an autonomous subsystem that has been incorporated in virtually all of Intel's processor chipsets since 2008. It is located in the Platform Controller Hub of modern Intel motherboards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GNOME Software</span> GNOME application manager

GNOME Software is a utility for installing applications and updates on Linux. It is part of the GNOME Core Applications, and was introduced in GNOME 3.10.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Purism (company)</span> Computer manufacturer focusing on software freedom

Purism, SPC is an American computer technology corporation based in San Francisco, California and registered in the state of Washington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anbox</span> Free and open-source compatibility layer that aims to allow mobile applications and mobile games

Anbox is a discontinued free and open-source compatibility layer that aims to allow mobile applications and mobile games developed for Android to run on Linux distributions. Canonical introduced Anbox Cloud, for running Android applications in a cloud environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PureOS</span> Linux distribution

PureOS is a Linux distribution focusing on privacy and security, using the GNOME or KDE Plasma desktop environment. It is maintained by Purism for use in the company's Librem laptop computers as well as the Librem 5 smartphone.

postmarketOS Free and open-source operating system for smartphones, based on Alpine Linux

postmarketOS is an operating system primarily for smartphones, based on the Alpine Linux distribution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LinuxBoot</span> Free software firmware project

LinuxBoot is a free software project aimed at replacing most of the Driver Execution Environment (DXE) modules in Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) firmware with the Linux kernel. LinuxBoot must run on top of hardware initialisation software in order to start. This can be the Pre-EFI Initialization (PEI) part of UEFI, coreboot, or U-Boot. It can boot Linux through the kexec syscall, but is also able to boot Windows with a different method.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fractal (software)</span> Messaging and collaboration software for GNOME based on the Matrix protocol

Fractal is an instant messaging client and collaboration software for the GNOME desktop based on the Matrix protocol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phosh</span> Graphical interface for mobile devices

Phosh is a graphical user interface designed for mobile and touch-based devices and developed by Purism. It is the default shell used on several mobile Linux operating systems including PureOS, Mobian, and Fedora Phosh. It is also an option on postmarketOS, Manjaro, and openSUSE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Librem 5</span> Linux based 2020 Smartphone

The Librem 5 is a smartphone manufactured by Purism that is part of their Librem line of products. The phone is designed with the goal of using free software whenever possible, and includes PureOS, a Linux operating system, by default. As of 2021, it is the only smartphone recommended by the Free Software Foundation. Like other Librem products, the Librem 5 focuses on privacy and freedom, and includes features like hardware kill switches, and easily-replaceable components. Its name, with a numerical "5", refers to its screen size, and not a release version. After an announcement on 24 August 2017, the distribution of developer kits and limited pre-release models occurred throughout 2019 and most of 2020. The first mass-production version of the Librem 5 was shipped on 18 November 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PinePhone</span> Smartphone with Linux-based mobile operating system

The PinePhone is a smartphone developed by Hong Kong-based computer manufacturer Pine64, intended to allow the user to have full control over the device. Measures to ensure this are: running mainline Linux-based mobile operating systems, assembling the phone with screws, and simplifying the disassembly for repairs and upgrades. LTE, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and both cameras can be physically switched off. The PinePhone ships with the Manjaro Linux operating system using the Plasma Mobile graphic interface, although other distributions can be installed by users.

The scope for this page is that used for list of open-source mobile phones.

References

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  48. ↑ "Phosh". developer.puri.sm.
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  52. ↑ PurismBeautiful; Secure; Laptops, Privacy-Respecting; Phones (2019-09-24). "First Librem 5 Smartphones are Shipping". Purism. Retrieved 2019-10-20.{{cite web}}: |first3= has generic name (help)
  53. ↑ Hamner, David (November 18, 2020). "Librem 5 Mass Production Phone Has Begun Shipping" (Press release). Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  54. ↑ "Librem Server". Purism. 17 December 2019. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  55. ↑ "Introducing the Librem Key". Purism. 20 September 2018. Retrieved 2018-10-25.
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