News from the @FreeBSDFoundation
"A frequent request from the #FreeBSD community and fan base is a curated list of laptops validated to run FreeBSD out of the box. To this end, we've recently begun discussions with one of our favorite laptop companies, Framework
Stay tuned!" (Edited out Puter from the bird site)
@frameworkcomputer @FreeBSDFoundation
funny how non-profit organizations like freebsd's endorse venture capitalists like framework's. the "modularity" in the framework is a good step in hardware design, but what good does it do if it's just proprietary and closed hardware? how is it useful when it's centralized like any other manufacturer? oh, and i forgot the proprietary UEFI firmware on the non-chromebook models and non-removable batteries. the MNT Reform is a lot more promising.
@patrizia technically the battery is "removable", in the same way the battery in every new iPhone or Samsung is removable.
batteries in older laptops just slid in and off you went. this one requires you to remove the top chassis and a couple of screws. look at older laptops' and fairphone's design for true "removable" batteries.
if you thought that they solder the battery to the mobo. i don't think any company does that, i have never even seen a soldered CMOS battery.
@yunori @patrizia I would argue that the framework battery is removable as is needed. It’s:
1. Easily removable
2. Fully supported (ie removing and replacing the battery is fully supported)
3. Has an OEM replacement affordably available.
Building a hard shell around the battery so it can slide in like it's 2002 isn't really needed with modern battery tech. Being a party pooper when a company works with open source communities isn’t helping anyone.
Why would you ever need to make a hard shell around the battery and complicated system to make it slide into place which will make a heavier and bulkier laptop, when the battery is easily replaceable if broken and the laptop is chargeable with basically any standard compliant usb C power bank?
there's a cost for modularity and accessibility ofc, that's hardware design 101. i am not gonna repeat myself as i have already explained why such batteries are shit design. you are repeating the same shit apple says about "making the phone thinner". at some point there's no point in going thinner, but that's another story for another day. the power bank trick won't work, at least efficiently, as you would need a beefy one with the proper wattage.
Yeah there is a cost to modularity that they pay for every part that makes sense to pay it for, for examplw the IO. If there was any reason to have a battery that is replaceable without opening the laptop that is not solved by other means better I am open to hearing it, but the argument "it's different then it's used to be so I don't like it" doesn't make sense.
As a user with a framework laptop and an external power bank I can say it works like a charm.
What is better?
- a battery that is way bigger then it needs to be, proprietary, can only be used for one specific purpose, oddly shaped, very expensive and made by just one company
- a standard battery you can buy from any vendor that can charge the laptop more than once and also charge other devices at the same time and can be charged outside the laptop.
I don't see any reason why one would want the first option even without the fact that batteries had to be smaller capacity to fit
@gloopsies power banks aren't standard batteries nor are they better. these 2 simply serve 2 different purposes. most people don't have a powerbank that can power a laptop, cuz they mostly buy a 35W one for their phone or their buds. now they have to invest in a new one and abandon the old one.
>made by just one company
that's a problem with intellectual property. a flaw in framework's licenses.
usb c as a universal port for all io is, like aforementioned, irrelevant to a removable battery
35W battery is more than enough to power a framework. And if you don't think that nobody is going to buy an external power bank why do you think someone would buy a more expensive battery that only works for a single laptop and nothing else?
If framework was to create the perfect battery that you want they would for sure open-source it like everything else they made, but why do you think anyone but them would make a battery for one laptop made by very little known niche company?
Framework 
Yunori
Patrizia
Caitlin
Gloopsies