I'm only using hardware that allows the Intel Management Engine to be fully disabled (e.g., ThinkPad X200, T400, etc.).
The PinePhone seems nice, but its firmware cannot be freed to the same extent as that of one of the older ThinkPads.
The reason why is because I want to escape from non-free software.
Or a raccoon with a machine gun
Exactly, we all need to be together on this. This is fucking crazy.
Not only that, a cop will probably pull you over for driving too normal.
Merica' fuck yeah!
I appreciate the advice. My boss told me today not to ask again about upgrading the desktop and was visibly angry. I'm planning to email him saying I have a preconfigured Windows 10 replacement ready, but I haven't touched the current setup as per his instructions. If the current computer breaks, we can swap it quickly. Is this a good approach?
Should I start searching now or wait until I get my Network+? I have my A+ right now, but I'm probably not going to get my Network+ until 3 months later. I have 3 months on the job here so far, I'm 20 years old and get paid $55k/year.
Thanks for your advice. Just to clarify, this is about replacing a desktop, not a laptop. My boss got really angry and explicitly told me not to ask again, but I feel I need to get this in writing for my own protection. This job pays well for my age, and I am worried about getting fired, but I also know this is a matter of when, not if, a security issue will occur.
I'm planning on bringing up a 9020 Optiplex with Coreboot and TianoCore installed. I have already installed Coreboot on some of the other systems and made sure the chip is locked down. I have a fresh Windows 10 installed on it using our volume license USB. The 9020 is pretty standard at our location. It's $50, but I'll just do it for my job's sake. This employee has been asking for a new computer for ~~2~~ 8 months, and he really needs it.
No, not just open, free it entirely. License the code under a GPL license.
I just fixed it, thank you for the heads up!
You can encrypt your /boot partition with Argon2, which allows you to have a fully encrypted disk. You can check the integrity of your kernel at boot via Libreboot GRUB using GPG. Not as much spyware as you get with modern day computers. I know there is still proprietary ECs, microcode, etc. but we should all be trying to minimize proprietary software as much as possible.
It's pretty messed up that schools enforce those things onto kids. Chromebooks, while cheap, invade the hell out of your privacy and are extremely restrictive. We should be teaching kids GNU/Linux, not ChromeOS... I honestly feel sorry for the future of free software. Students aren't taught ethics, freedom, or privacy at ALL. I was in school, (graduated two years ago), and it seemed that every teacher adapted the "you don't have privacy" motto. Absolutely terrible. Buy the kids a Dell Latitude E6400 and put Libreboot/Trisquel with KDE on it. Let them live and help each other out with issues. It would be super heart warming to see schools adapt something like this instead.
(I understand the convenience issues, but we should start adapting, its crazy that Gen Z barely know anything about computers)