They don't include an ethernet port on the machines because there is no compatible hardware they can install on their devices which can be operated within Linux without requiring use of a firmware blob. As a Purism Librem 15v3 owner, I'm not quite as hardcore as Purism themselves are, so I am willing to use firmware blobs for specific devices. So instead of PureOS I run Arch. I have also replaced the 100% libre Atheros wifi hardware with an Intel module because the Atheros module had les than great performance (plus doesn't support 802.11ac). As for ethernet, I have a USB3/Ethernet dongle that I use for that purpose. Having said all that, I have used Purism's update to completely disable Intel ME on my laptop and everything is working without a hitch. I don't trust Intel ME. I'm willing to trust tiny firmware blobs for specific devices in specific cases. I'm not willing to trust an entirely seperate and unauditable system that operates independently and secretly. No sir. IME is a cancer (and PSP by extension) on modern day computing.

To those that claim that you can disable and remove Intel ME on other laptops, so this really isn't a big deal or particularly notable. You are telling half truths. For older hardware that is certainly true. For Skylake level hardware there are no other devices that that had have or currently can have the Intel ME removed/neutralized/disabled. me_cleaner doesn't support Skylake level systems yet. In fact the Purism update process makes use of a forked version of the me_cleaner which contains changes Purism has made to accomodate their Skylake hardware. They plan on switching back to me_cleaner once all of their patches are accepted in the upstream project.

But hey, don't take my word for it. Cruise the blogs and forums on Purism's website if you want to learn more. Don't take my word for it. Don't take anybody's word for it. Especially not Intels much less AMDs.

Frankly your response only serves to show me just how far the standard for discourse here at Slashdot has fallen. I remember the days when Slashdot was a reliable community of Linux users. The fact we've got users here now that actually get their panties in a bunch over me taking a pot shot at Windows 8 is a sign of the times I suppose. What a sad, sad sign it is however.

The hardware has changed in some way. There are numerous discussions on the patches required to deal with the changes. There is also an arch thread that covers it and links to all of the pertinent details:

https://bbs.archlinux.org/view...

For starters - they haven't broken my SSL. Secondly, Superfish was only installed on non-Thinkpad machines. So in a sense I have voted with my wallet by buying a machine that was guaranteed to not have Superfish installed by default rather than purchasing a cheaper and ultimately less well built model that likely would've had it installed.

As for obvious distaste for Arch users, you are kidding right?

It's called a trackpoint.

...and it rocks. Seriously. I've got Arch Linux loaded on this thing and it screams. The keyboard kicks ass. The trackpad is easily the best I've ever seen on a PC laptop. Picked mine up for a reasonable price with a 10% off coupon (I5, 8 gigs, 128 gig SSD which I upgraded to 512 gig on my own later in an effort to avoid the extortion like upgrade prices Lenovo charges on their site) for around $1100. I'm getting between about six and eight hours of battery life in Linux at the moment.

It's a sweet piece of hardware. Superfish? Who gives a fuck? I didn't even boot the M.2 SSD the thing came with. I immediately opened up the laptop and changed out the SSD as my first order of business. Buying a laptop this nice just to run Windows 8.x probably just means you are some kind of moron. Do yourselves a favor and move onto a better operating system.

Still while it is a great Linux laptop - it's not perfect - yet. The Trackpoint buttons dont work quite right in Linux yet but numerous patches (libinput, xorg synaptics driver and the kernel) are making their way into source trees everywhere. So for now it's a trackpad only experience as the trackpoint is useless without working hardware buttons.

In any event I couldn't be more pleased with this purchase.

All or nothing? Nearly every part of systemd beyond the minimal PID 1 functionality can be switched out with replacement components. Linux users are supposed to be more intelligent, though if that's the case why is it that so many of them seem to have shoved their head up their ass in regards to systemd? Almost every piece of information in the original post is 100% inaccurate and yet nobody is calling the author out on it.

...because Windows is such a well loved brand!

This guy created Citrix? Sounds like they'll need to build a whole new nastier level of hell to accommodate him. Citrix is one of the worst products ever made. Years later and it's still clearly nothing more than a nasty hack. Give me a Citrix box and I'll give you back a p0wned box. As for OS/2, well that just makes me sad.