It's really going to be absolutely critical that we be able to hack on and trust the hardware we use.
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@16af93 It's open as far as they can! The system-on-a-chips aren't fully open but every part MNT makes is, and the boards and form factor and etc all have open schematics
@cwebber so others could make their own parts?
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@cwebber so others could make their own parts?
@16af93 Yup! Absolutely! And many people have!
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@16af93 Yup! Absolutely! And many people have!
@cwebber any places where one can see the results of those entities?
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@16af93 Yup! Absolutely! And many people have!
@16af93 There have been cool hacks to add extra ventilation, change out input devices (mouse and keyboard), add different displays, and many other things from the community!
At one point a bunch of users decided they wanted to try some different plates for the form, and they did that without talking with MNT.
@jfred also sent me a lovely custom plate that I use on my Pocket!
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@cwebber any places where one can see the results of those entities?
@16af93 Some examples:
https://community.mnt.re/t/i-3d-printed-a-custom-lid-back-panel/1321
https://community.mnt.re/t/solving-heat-related-issues-with-custom-lid/2809/66
https://community.mnt.re/t/broken-trackball-key-tabs/3491/9
https://community.mnt.re/t/ortholinear-keyboard-kit/337/13There are a bunch of others, that was just from a quick search!
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@cwebber Sadly, without support for today's software (and yes, I'm talking about x86-64 CPUs), MNT will remain extremely niche. Don't get me wrong, I do like what they are doing. But what's the point right now if most people can't run many applications commonly used on it?
@cameron_bosch Of course, ARM is extremely popular today! But you're right that x86 is still the most popular option.
I started a thread for people to discuss options, but I don't believe it's likely we'll see an x86 option soon. https://community.mnt.re/t/x86-boards-lattepanda-mu/3931
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@Sobex The downsides for MNT, if you're looking for a drop-in replacement:
- There's no current x86 offering, if that's important to you
- You *will* have to hack it at some point probably, but it's highly hackable!
- The MNT Reform Next isn't out yet, so either you have this incredibly cute pocket computer, or you have the chonker "brutalist" (but highly hackable) original MNT Reform@cwebber Thanks for talking about this. Ironically, I was in a thread before this mess started choosing between @mntmn & #Framework:
https://fedi.copyleft.org/@bkuhn/115288857091836217Folks have been mentioning @novacustom a lot, & some have said it may be fewer proprietary blobs than MNT Next will likely need.
Do you have any thoughts on them?
I just can't survive on these X200's & T500's anymore (despite having a big stack of them).
& man will I miss track points😔
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@cwebber Thanks for talking about this. Ironically, I was in a thread before this mess started choosing between @mntmn & #Framework:
https://fedi.copyleft.org/@bkuhn/115288857091836217Folks have been mentioning @novacustom a lot, & some have said it may be fewer proprietary blobs than MNT Next will likely need.
Do you have any thoughts on them?
I just can't survive on these X200's & T500's anymore (despite having a big stack of them).
& man will I miss track points😔
@bkuhn I suspect @novacustom will resemble more of a laptop of today with less work, whereas @mntmn is a better eye to the future, but I don't know much about @novacustom
If you can handle the chonk factor (which given you've run a lot of old thinkpads, you probably can), @mntmn's probably a better fit for your goals once the Reform Next comes out, but it's not there yet, and you might be disappointed with lack of suspend at current functionality
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@bkuhn I suspect @novacustom will resemble more of a laptop of today with less work, whereas @mntmn is a better eye to the future, but I don't know much about @novacustom
If you can handle the chonk factor (which given you've run a lot of old thinkpads, you probably can), @mntmn's probably a better fit for your goals once the Reform Next comes out, but it's not there yet, and you might be disappointed with lack of suspend at current functionality
@bkuhn The other thing is, how attached are you to x86? I am guessing you would be fine running aarch64; I can't think of anything you do that's x86 specific.
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But with all that said, if there's *anywhere* that there's a market for a hack-it-yourself laptop that's highly configurable, it's the fediverse!
And the original point of this thread wasn't "this is the best value for the price point". That's not an argument I'm making.
The point I argued is that we *need* hackable hardware in order to keep participatory computing alive, and MNT's offerings are the best bet we have.
And I fully, fully believe that much is true.
@cwebber one thing though is that the hackability of the whole surrounding hardware around the SoC itself is.. kiiind of a superficial thing? most of the "computer" is inside of the SoC, the PCB and the metal/plastic shell around it aren't that interesting to "hack" imo. except for maybe making your own board to fit a SoM into a cool retro laptop you like.. but if the whole laptop is already "made to be hackable" there's kinda not much need to do anything at all?
I like MNT, of course, but I think that selling point is kind of a stretch.
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@cwebber one thing though is that the hackability of the whole surrounding hardware around the SoC itself is.. kiiind of a superficial thing? most of the "computer" is inside of the SoC, the PCB and the metal/plastic shell around it aren't that interesting to "hack" imo. except for maybe making your own board to fit a SoM into a cool retro laptop you like.. but if the whole laptop is already "made to be hackable" there's kinda not much need to do anything at all?
I like MNT, of course, but I think that selling point is kind of a stretch.
@valpackett While it's true that so much is contained on the SoC, for me personally, I have done a few repairs and upgrades to my Pocket Reform, in a way that I haven't been able to do on other laptops before.
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@16af93 There have been cool hacks to add extra ventilation, change out input devices (mouse and keyboard), add different displays, and many other things from the community!
At one point a bunch of users decided they wanted to try some different plates for the form, and they did that without talking with MNT.
@jfred also sent me a lovely custom plate that I use on my Pocket!
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@jfred @16af93 I am! I also unscrewed it from the main chassis earlier this week while investigating something and screwed it back on
(I had to unscrew two other completely different laptops for other reasons recently and the experience was absolutely f'ed by comparison, one of several reasons for this thread!)
Gli ultimi otto messaggi ricevuti dalla Federazione
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@kgw she's funnier than you probably expect, though it's frightfully dry/British wit. Pride and Prejudice is probably the one to read, if you might only read one.
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OK, but also walking the Darién Gap is not smart.
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@demofox given that he survived covid, that near miss assassination attempt, and who knows what else, well, i feel it's best not to jinx it
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RE: https://mas.to/@SmudgeTheInsultCat/115733131306942416
Everyone is talking about this. Its making me feel like it might happen soon.
But also, remember when he had covid really bad? He survived, which was pretty F'ed to be honest.
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Now we're talkin'. Manousos is not playing with these alien virus motherfuckers.
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All'inizio avevo scritto razza, ma era equivocabile (come tutto il resto in realtà)
Cosa è una razza se non una popolazione con tratti identificabili e riprodotti?
Ma poi c'è chi crede che i tratti siano davvero più importanti della popolazione, li crede dei totem da adorare, che la riproducibilità sia eterna, e che l'identificabilità sia infallibile, scolpita nella pietra e abbia un senso superiore, che non ci sia cambiamento e il cambiamento è tradimento
Per carità
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Italia, Piemonte, Torino, Piazza Castello.
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Un malato va allontanato dalla comunità
Se guarisce può tornarePuò essere che quel che guarisce è la comunità
O è la comunità il maleIndividui possono portare caratteri evoluzionistici che permettono la sopravvivenza della popolazione
Anche se questi caratteri portano all'estinzione del singolo individuo a favore della popolazione
Ma anche, individui possono portare all'estinzione della popolazione per far sopravvivere sé stessi
