FAQ¶
For Beginners¶
What is FLOSS?¶
FLOSS stands for Free/Libre Open Source Software and is software with its source code available to the public and allowed to be modified, improved or whatever else users feel like doing do it. It grants you freedom.
What is GNU/Linux?¶
A “Linux” operating system, properly described as GNU/Linux, is an operating system based upon the Linux kernel. The Linux kernel was created by Linus Torvalds initially for his own use during his years in college. It was used with the GNU operating system. GNU, created by Richard Stallman, is the entire operating system, minus the kernel. So, when people say “Linux operating system” they should be saying “GNU/Linux operating system”, or even a “GNU operating system”.
Both Torvalds and Stallman released their software to the world for free.
What is the difference between free and libre?¶
English language more often uses word “free” to describe something that is gratis – while it is true that all the software in FLOSS is gratis, it is not mandatory to be like that. The important part of FLOSS is that is has the liberty to be examined, learn about it, modify it to your needs without any restriction of copyright license which forbids you to use it as you want.
Often said it is “free as in freedom.”
Is GNU/Linux for hackers, programmers and developers? Must I be a computer expert to use PureOS or a Librem?¶
No, not at all. There are many people that do in fact use GNU/Linux to program and develop applications for various operating systems (not just for Linux) but GNU/Linux is easily used by many people of all levels of computing skill.
PureOS is designed to be user friendly by utilizing one of the most popular desktop environments available called Gnome 3. Gnome 3 works well with both touch and traditional mouse and keyboard user inputs to allow for easy use. The Librem has well known traditional ports and utilizes off the shelf parts for easy replacement if something needs replacement.
I still have favorite programs from my Windows/Mac computer. Can I still use them?¶
It depends. No Windows applications will run natively on PureOS. However, some Windows applications can be run with an application called Wine. Check on the availability of your program. Applications designed for Apple products can not run on a GNU/Linux based machine such as a Librem.
Additionally, you can also run Windows or Apple operating systems within our virtual box application, Boxes, which would allow you to run the applications that you need.
Please also note that Windows based programs run as non-free source/proprietary code and Purism can not offer a guarantee that your Librem will continue to be secure if you choose to install. We do not recommend doing this for your own privacy and security but you are welcome to as the Librem is your machine.
I’ve heard that I have to type in complicated commands to use Linux in something called a terminal.¶
You don’t have to. There is also a “terminal” in Windows, Apple and Google machines as well but like those operating systems, complicated command lines are going away in favor of graphic user interface (GUI) focus. PureOS does have a terminal just like all Linux distributions but it is not needed in many situations for newer users.
I’m used to using an Android phone and a Windows desktop. Will this computer work the same as what I’m used to?¶
All operating systems have their differences when comparing, for instance, a mobile operating system like Android to a computer focused one like Windows. Apple has differences from Windows as well. However, each operating system allows you to do the same or similar things - it may just be a different button to push or icon to click.
Web browsers, applications and file managers will all work in PureOS/Librem in ways that you are used to on other devices. They may look a little different than what you’re used to, but they will get you to the same place.
Do you have an app store?¶
Yes! Our operating system, PureOS, has an app store called “Software” where many different applications are available giving you many additional gaming, productivity, video, graphics, and office choices. Click here to learn how to install software using the Software application.
Can I watch Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and Amazon Prime Video?¶
Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime distribute content with restrictive DRM technologies that Purism does not support natively through PureBrowser. However, there are other browsers that you are free to install if you choose to.
YouTube has HTML5 support and will play without additional input.
Librem Phone¶
How easy will it be for me to switch from Android or iOS to the Librem 5?¶
We welcome you to read this guide.
Can I transfer my photos, files, downloads from Android or iOS to the Librem 5?¶
Yes, you will be able to use the phone as a storage device, that can show up on your computer by just plugging in the USB cable and viewing the folders. This will allow you to import or export files, photos, documents, with ease. With the Librem 5 there is no proprietary software that locks your files into proprietary formats, allowing easy sharing of the content you want to share.
Will I be able to communicate from my Librem 5 to other phones?¶
Yes, you will be able to make regular unencrypted phone calls to any phone number. You will also be able to communicate securely by using the phone dialing application and messaging application, that can run on the Librem 5 phone, Android based phones, and iOS based phones, and any computing device.
Will communicating from my Librem 5 to other phones compromise my privacy or security?¶
The Librem 5 will be the most secure when communicating with another Librem 5 phone, communicating via an encrypted app on a Librem 5 to an Android or iOS encrypted app is the second best option available.
Will my existing SIM card work? What countries and networks will be supported?¶
Please refer to the Librem 5’s supported networks.
Will I be able to use emergency services (e.g. 911 or 999)?¶
The Librem 5 will work with most carriers using the 3G/4G data+voice modem Carriers provide technological support for dialing emergency services.
Are all hardware components running completely free software with source code available?¶
Based on our testing: the CPU, GPU, Bootloader and all software will run free software. We are still evaluating and testing the WiFi and Bluetooth chips and their firmware. The mobile baseband will most likely use ROM loaded firmware, but a free software kernel driver. We intend to invest time and money toward freeing any non-free firmware.
Can I connect the Librem phone to a monitor/keyboard/mouse?¶
Yes, the Librem phones support DP-alt-mode. Using a USB-C adapter which supports DisplayPort or HDMI out and at least two spare USB ports, you can connect a monitor, wired keyboard and mouse at the same time to your Librem Phone. Depending on the adapter, the Librem phone may be simultaneously charged.
Can the Librem phones run Windows, iOS, or OS/2…?¶
Not likely, and we will not expend resources to test this.
Will the phone receive updates after launch?¶
Yes. All hardware Purism releases gets regular security and performance updates within PureOS.
Will Twitter, Fandango, My Bank, etc. work on a Librem phone?¶
Yes, any web based app will work through the browser. Over time, these sites will either use progressive web applications, or could have a native app.
What apps will be available?¶
PureOS on Librem 5 already has a lot of apps, as almost everything that can run on a desktop computer can be run on Librem 5 as well. However, just a number of them are really usable on a phone sized screen. Check PureOS wiki pages to see:
The lists are constantly updated as more and more software is being adapted to scale nicely on phone.
Will I be able to open Word or Excel documents sent via email?¶
At delivery we do not plan to support the reader or renderer for these proprietary formats, but this is a top priority to solve after product delivery.
Will the Librem phone run coreboot and have the Intel ME neutralized?¶
No. The Librem 5 is not Intel-based; it is based on an i.MX 8M chipset, so neither coreboot nor the Intel Management Engine are used. The chipset will be completely free software without any binaries whatsoever.
Why don’t you build a free UI ontop of Sailfish OS? Or resurrect Firefox OS? Or insert-name-here?¶
We want to promote a pure and unified stack, not have a separate mobile OS with proprietary bits or a completely different middleware stack. We want to support the community efforts of GNOME, KDE and UBPorts, and allow for any GNU+Linux to work out-of-the-box providing mainline improvements that work not just on mobile but across the device spectrum. The Librem phone is a new approach to use a regular Linux system and adopt it to mobile use-cases instead of creating a completely new system. We do not create a walled garden, instead we tear down these walls, creating an open utopia. A fully standards-based freedom-oriented system, based on Debian and many other upstream projects, has never been done before; we will be the first to seriously attempt this.
You can also learn more about our position on GNOME and KDE further below in this FAQ.
Will you be running GNOME, Plasma, or your own custom UI?¶
We will be working with GNOME/GTK, KDE/Plasma and Ubuntu Touch communities, and have partnered with the foundations behind them for the middleware layer. PureOS currently is GNOME-based and look forward to working with GNOME as an upstream as well as GNOME’s OS and design-centric development model; however we will also test, support, and develop with KDE and the KDE community, and of course we will support Qt for application development.
Learn more about the rationale behind this approach:
Will the phone have a fingerprint reader, or other biometric access?¶
No, the Librem 5 will not be shipped with any biometric hardware. Single access via biometrics does not prevent access to your phone the same way a security code or lock does. The US Supreme Court has alluded to biometric access not protecting you the same way that a security code from memory (a security code) does. You can say “no” to a passphrase, or security code, but you cannot say “no” to biometric (physical) information). If future models of the Librem phone do include biometric hardware, we will be double-locking it with a security code to have the best possible security story for users.
To learn more about why biometric access is not good you can read NYT: Fingerprint security.
Will the Librem phone have dual SIM capability?¶
Possibly. We are investigating implementation in a future model of the Librem phones.
Will the Librem phone have NFC technology?¶
The first model of the phone (v1)—no. We wanted to have a metal case and that is already a challenge with the three other antenna systems that we have to support: Cellular, WiFi/BT and GNSS. NFC Antennas, likewise wireless charging, are pretty large. Last but not least, they add another radio emitter which can cause additional EMC interference. This was left to be solved in the future models.
Will the phone support 5G networks?¶
4G modem support is only officailly supported at this time, but we are evaluating options for 5G modems. Librem phones use a m.2 slot for the baseband module, so there is potential for “upgrade” (with an additional antennae upgrade).
Ordering¶
What does “pre-order” mean?¶
Pre-ordering means you are funding research and development of a product which is not available/manufactured yet. By pre-ordering a product, you accept the following:
This carries a certain risk that shipping will be delayed. We provide best effort estimates but there are a lot of external factors, unpredicted situations (like COVID-19 for example) that we cannot predict.
This carries a possibility that specs will be changed by the time product enters productions phase.
You cannot withdraw funds once you invest/pre-order. Review our Policies.
Can I get a refund on my Librem 5 campaign order?¶
There was some confusion related to our Librem 5 refund policy; this FAQ should help clarify.
Purism had an overwhelmingly successful crowdfunding campaign raising well over the $1.5M goal within days after launching. Like most campaigns, we continued to offer the opportunity to invest in the Librem 5, PureOS, and the creation of an alternative to Android/iOS from our website all while releasing our dev kit, early versions of the phone, and through the five iterations toward mass production. The purpose of the campaign and all pre-mass-production funds was to invest in free software for the benefit of the general public aligned with Purism’s Social Purpose, and we did that. The phone was a possible (but not a guaranteed) reward for participation in the campaign before holding stock.
A small amount of early supporters assumed our previously published regular in-stock product refund policy applies to them. While we disagree with this position because the entire intent of early backing is to fund the research and development with the goal of product delivery, we do understand the source of the confusion and in a few instances agreed to honor a the refund requests which were approved by us in the past. Any refunds hurt the forward momentum of the project. Since then, we changed our refund policy for the Librem 5 project and our general product refund policy and do not accept any new refund requests. Refunds are not applicable to crowdfunding campaigns nor pre-orders related to them and therefore we view them as a rare exception. All the money raised during those campaigns was invested into component hardware to manufacture the phones and into free software development and the Linux ecosystem that we have developed and released, which is currently available for all and is widely used by the Linux community.
We cannot withdraw money from the fully released software that has been published. This means that any Librem 5 refund requests that we have previously approved, will be funded by our other business in the future.
As we currently have all liquid funds allocated to physical assets and to hardware we are unable to process any remaining previously approved refund requests at this time. However, we do offer two alternative options to those early supporters who requested refunds that we made the exception to approve:
The Librem 5 phone, running PureOS (with all the latest investments and enhancements) which they have backed and we are now delivering.
A store credit equal to the amount of their investment + 20% courtesy increase which allows an exchange for any other product at shop.puri.sm.
We have your phone, and we will ship all the phones to those who have confirmed their mailing address, with the store credit available to the rest.
We would like to apologize for any inconsistent messaging or any confusion around our refund practices.
Crowdfunding innovations are an immense challenge and Purism has consistently delivered on revolutionary inventions, and we appreciate everyone who supports us. We will keep delivering products which are available to all and we firmly stand behind our values. We exist to fulfill our mission to create hardware, software, and services that respect people’s privacy, security, and freedom. We sincerely thank everyone who shares this journey with us.
Technical & Advanced¶
What is the difference between Libreboot and my Librem’s coreboot firmware?¶
Libreboot is a downstream distribution (or fork) of coreboot which does not allow non-free binaries (“blobs”), and only supports a small number of devices, the vast majority of which are over 10 years old. Libreboot also does not remain synchronized with coreboot; its most recent release is from mid-2016, whereas coreboot is updated regularly.
Our coreboot firmware still has some blobs, as all modern Intel-based systems require them, but our our goal is to ship devices with blob-free coreboot (see Freedom roadmap. Since our devices are already working with completely free software, blob-free coreboot firmware would allow us to achieve FSF RYF certification for Librem laptops.
Our coreboot currently contains the following blobs:
DONE: video initialization blob (VBIOS)
memory/silicon initialization blob (FSP) — there are some rumors Intel might release source code for this, so our work on this is currently on hold.
CPU microcode updates — microcode updates are uploaded to the CPU at boot time, which patch the built-in microcode and disables buggy parts of the CPU to improve reliability. In the past, these updates were handled by the operating system kernel, but on all recent Intel systems the system firmware is required to perform this task (though it can still be updated by the kernel after the fact).
Intel Management Engine (ME) firmware — we disable and effectively neutralize this blob by removing most of its code and setting flags to disable the ME coprocessor at boot time.
How much is your coreboot fork different from the mainline code?¶
Most of our changes have been upstreamed and merged. There is very little difference and it’s only the most recent patches that we haven’t yet pushed.
Does Qubes OS run on Librem hardware?¶
If you would like to try Qubes OS, you may purchase the installer on a USB flash drive. This option is an installer only, not a LiveUSB, and is only recommended for advanced users with strong technical knowledge. Most users should stick with our default operating system, PureOS.
We also now offer Qubes OS pre-installed on our Librem devices. It will not run on Librem smartphones. Qubes OS requires virtualization on the CPU and there is no port for ARM architectures.
While we support Qubes on our hardware, please direct all general-purpose support questions pertaining to Qubes OS.
What are your plans for tamper-proofing the Librem 5?¶
We hope to have a version of PureBoot available for the Librem 5 for users who want to verify it with a Librem Key. We cannot commit to it being available at launch but it is a goal.