Purism, SPC is an American computer technology

social purpose corporation #REDIRECT Social purpose corporation {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...

based in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

and registered in the

state of Washington Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

. Purism manufactures the

Librem Librem is a line of computers manufactured by Purism, SPC featuring free (libre) software. The laptop line is designed to protect privacy and freedom by providing no non-free (proprietary) software in the operating system or kernel, avoiding t ...

personal computing devices with a focus on

software freedom The free software movement is a social movement with the goal of obtaining and guaranteeing certain freedoms for software users, namely the freedoms to run the software, to study the software, to modify the software, and to share copies of the s ...

computer security Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, t ...

, and

Internet privacy Internet privacy involves the right or mandate of personal privacy concerning the storing, re-purposing, provision to third parties, and displaying of information pertaining to oneself via Internet. Internet privacy is a subset of data privacy. Pr ...

. In addition to hardware, Purism also maintains

PureOS PureOS is a Linux distribution focusing on privacy and security, using the GNOME desktop environment. It is maintained by Purism for use in the company's Librem laptop computers as well as the Librem 5 smartphone. PureOS is designed to include ...

, an operating system along with Librem One, a suite of

software as a service Software as a service (SaaS ) is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. SaaS is also known as "on-demand software" and Web-based/Web-hosted software. SaaS is co ...

based on open standards.

History

Purism was founded in 2014 with the start of a crowdfunding campaign for the

15, an attempt to

manufacture Manufacturing is the creation or Production (economics), production of goods with the help of equipment, Work (human activity), labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary secto ...

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 ser ...

-based high-end laptop for

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, whi ...

with "almost no proprietary software". A second campaign funded development of a 13-inch model with hardware switches to disable the microphone and camera as a privacy feature. Kill switches were also added to the 15-inch model. The two campaigns raised from 1,042 initial backers, and production began at the end of 2015. In 2017 Purism announced its transition from a ''

build to order Build to Order (BTO: sometimes referred to as Make to Order or Made to Order (MTO)) is a production approach where products are not built until a confirmed order for products is received. Thus, the end consumer determines the time and number of ...

'' to a '' build to stock''

order fulfillment Order fulfillment (in British English: order fulfilment) is in the most general sense the complete process from point of sales inquiry to delivery of a product to the customer. Sometimes, it describes the more narrow act of distribution or the ...

model. Purism reincorporated as a

social purpose corporation #REDIRECT Social purpose corporation {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...

in February 2017 and announced the change in May.

Products

PureOS

Purism manages development of

, a free Linux distribution based on Debian. PureOS mostly ships with software from the Debian

software repository A software repository, or repo for short, is a storage location for software packages. Often a table of contents is also stored, along with metadata. A software repository is typically managed by source control or repository managers. Package ...

but has all software removed that violates Purism's guidelines and the

GNU Free System Distribution Guidelines The GNU Project () is a free software, mass collaboration project announced by Richard Stallman on September 27, 1983. Its goal is to give computer users freedom and control in their use of their computers and computing devices by collaborati ...

. PureOS was endorsed by the

Free Software Foundation The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Richard Stallman on October 4, 1985, to support the free software movement, with the organization's preference for software being distributed under copyleft ( ...

in December 2017. Librem laptops ship with PureOS by default and an optional

Qubes OS Qubes OS is a security-focused desktop Linux distribution that aims to provide security through isolation. Virtualization is performed by Xen, and user environments can be based on (with official support) Fedora or Debian, or (with communit ...

Universal Serial Bus ( USB) drive. Purism says that it is easy for Librem device owners to install alternative Linux distributions and that owners have the freedom to install any operating system that they desire.

Librem hardware

Librem has been the

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

name used by Purism for all of their

computer hardware Computer hardware includes the physical parts of a computer, such as the case, central processing unit (CPU), random access memory (RAM), monitor, mouse, keyboard, computer data storage, graphics card, sound card, speakers and motherboard. ...

products since the firm's first website in late 2014. The name is based on the French word ''libre'' for the English word ''free'' as used in the term ''logiciel libre'' for ''

free software Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, n ...

''. Purism devices feature hardware kill switches to allow users to shut off the camera,

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio waves ...

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limi ...

, and cellular or

mobile broadband modem A mobile broadband modem, also known as wireless modem or cellular modem, is a type of modem that allows a personal computer or a router to receive wireless Internet access via a mobile broadband connection instead of using telephone or cabl ...

on devices that have one (or can be purchased air gapped).

Laptops

Purism's first products were two

laptop A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...

computers. Since late 2015, they have made laptops of two sizes: Librem 13 and 15, featuring a 13 and a 15 inch screen, respectively. These products ship with Purism's own operating system, PureOS, a derivative of

Debian Debian (), also known as Debian GNU/Linux, is a Linux distribution composed of free and open-source software, developed by the community-supported Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock on August 16, 1993. The first version of De ...

GNU/Linux, and an optional

USB drive. Purism does its best to remove Intel's Management Engine from its Librem laptops, considering it a security problem. Still, it was not able to completely avoid use of proprietary BIOS firmware, earning it criticism from the

Coreboot coreboot, formerly known as LinuxBIOS, is a software project aimed at replacing proprietary firmware (BIOS or UEFI) found in most computers with a lightweight firmware designed to perform only the minimum number of tasks necessary to load and r ...

and Libreboot projects (which are working on completely free firmware, but as of 2015 had not yet achieved support of the contemporary hardware that Librem was using). Since summer 2017, new Librem laptops are shipped with coreboot as their standard BIOS, and updates are available for all older models. In July 2020, Purism announced the Librem 14, the successor of the Librem 13. The Librem 14 features a 10th generation Intel processor, and was scheduled to begin shipping in February 2021.

= Comparison of laptops

Tablet: Librem 11

Purism has proposed a

2-in-1 PC A 2-in-1 PC, also known as convertible laptop, 2-in-1 tablet, 2-in-1 laptop, 2-in-1 detachable, laplet, tabtop, laptop tablet, or simply 2-in-1, is a portable computer that has features of both tablets and laptops. Before the emergence of ''2- ...

, a convertible, hybrid, tablet-to-laptop computer: the Librem 11, sometimes termed Librem 10 or 12. It would have an 11-inch

touchscreen A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is ofte ...

in an 11.6-inch body with a detachable

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mu ...

, and an optional docking station. Development on the device began in April 2016 and was suspended in October 2018 to focus on the Librem 5 smartphone.

Smartphone: Librem 5

The Librem 5 is Purism's first

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whi ...

. They began a funding campaign on 24 August 2017, for a $599 "security and privacy focused phone". The 60-day funding campaign aimed to collect , however the goal was surpassed two weeks early and concluded with US$2,677,609.10 raised, 78% over the goal. The phone's operating system is entirely

: it comes with

pre-installed but also supports

Ubuntu Touch Ubuntu Touch is a mobile version of the Ubuntu operating system, being developed by the UBports community. Its user interface is written in Qt, and is designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers, ...

. Further, the baseband processor is separated from the CPU main bus and instead connected via a fast USB interface, thus isolated from the main CPU RAM bus. Also, the phone features hardware kill switches for the isolated baseband processor,

, camera, and microphone. The firmware for the cellular modem on the phone is proprietary. On September 24, 2019, Purism announced that the first batch of Librem 5 phones had started shipping. On December 6, 2019, Purism announced Librem 5 USA–the same phone, with Made in USA electronic fabrication.

Librem Key

The Librem Key is a hardware USB security token with many features, including integration with tamper-eviden
Heads
Firmware. Heads helps to ensure that the Librem laptop's

BIOS In computing, BIOS (, ; Basic Input/Output System, also known as the System BIOS, ROM BIOS, BIOS ROM or PC BIOS) is firmware used to provide runtime services for operating systems and programs and to perform hardware initialization during the b ...

was not altered since the last laptop boot. The Librem Key also holds a one-time password storage (3x HOTP (RFC 4226), 15 x TOTP (RFC 6238)), integrated password manager (16 entries), 40 kbit/s true random number generator, and tamper-resistant smart card. The key supports type A USB 2.0, has dimensions of , and weighs .

Librem One

Librem One is a

paid subscription The subscription business model is a business model in which a customer must pay a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a product or service. The model was pioneered by publishers of books and periodicals in the 17th century, and ...

free-software Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, no ...

social-networking suite launched April 30, 2019 to bring decentralized, privacy-respecting applications to a wider user base. The first components released were Librem Mail supporting

OpenPGP Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) is an encryption program that provides cryptographic privacy and authentication for data communication. PGP is used for signing, encrypting, and decrypting texts, e-mails, files, directories, and whole disk partiti ...

standards using a K-9-based client; Librem Tunnel based on

OpenVPN OpenVPN is a virtual private network (VPN) system that implements techniques to create secure point-to-point or site-to-site connections in routed or bridged configurations and remote access facilities. It implements both client and server app ...

; Librem Social microblogging using

Mastodon A mastodon ( 'breast' + 'tooth') is any proboscidean belonging to the extinct genus ''Mammut'' (family Mammutidae). Mastodons inhabited North and Central America during the late Miocene or late Pliocene up to their extinction at the end of the ...

server and Tusky-based client software federated via the

ActivityPub ActivityPub is an open, decentralized social networking protocol based on Pump.io's ActivityPump protocol. It provides a client/server API for creating, updating, and deleting content, as well as a federated server-to-server API for delive ...

protocol, and Librem Chat using Element software federated via

Matrix Matrix most commonly refers to: * ''The Matrix'' (franchise), an American media franchise ** '' The Matrix'', a 1999 science-fiction action film ** "The Matrix", a fictional setting, a virtual reality environment, within ''The Matrix'' (franchi ...

and

XMPP Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP, originally named Jabber) is an open communication protocol designed for instant messaging (IM), presence information, and contact list maintenance. Based on XML (Extensible Markup Language), i ...

References

External links

* {{Official website, puri.sm
Purism
on Odysee.com
Purism
on

.social 2014 establishments in California American brands Computer companies established in 2014 Computer companies of the United States Computer hardware companies Consumer electronics brands Electronics companies established in 2014 Free culture movement Home computer hardware companies Linux Manufacturing companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Mobile phone manufacturers Netbook manufacturers Online retailers of the United States Open-source hardware Technology companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area