First commit!

The wonderful beginnings of a new blog powered by Haunt!

1 files changed, 68 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/posts/2013-09-22-liberating-a-thinkpad-x220.skr b/posts/2013-09-22-liberating-a-thinkpad-x220.skr
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a527482
--- /dev/null
+++ b/posts/2013-09-22-liberating-a-thinkpad-x220.skr
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+(post
+ :title "Liberating a Thinkpad X220"
+ :date (make-date* 2013 09 22)
+ :tags '("thinkpad" "free software" "wsu")
+ :summary "I bought a used Thinkpad X220 and made it more free
+software friendly."
+
+ (p [I had been looking for a suitable replacement to my old, slow
+Compaq laptop that I purchased during my freshman year of college when
+I had very little money.  What I liked about my old laptop was that it
+played well with free software.  I had no trouble getting all of my
+hardware to work out-of-the-box with fully free GNU/Linux
+distributions such as Trisquel, and I wanted any future laptops of
+mine to play nicely, too.])
+
+ (p [I have heard much praise for Thinkpads over the years.  Solid
+build quality, utilitarian design, and cheap to buy used.  However,
+upon further reading, I realized that most newer Thinkpads require
+nonfree software in order to the drive the Intel wireless chip.
+Furthermore, there was DRM present in the BIOS that would prevent the
+installation of PCIe wireless chips that weren't in the whitelist.])
+
+ (p [This really bummed me out, but I bought a Thinkpad anyway.  I
+found a great deal on a used X220 on ebay for $400.  In order to
+liberate it, I had to make a small deal with the devil: Use the
+pre-installed Windows 7 to flash a hacked BIOS that removes the
+whitelist.  I could only find the needed BIOS as a Windows executable,
+so I didn't have much choice.  This process left me hoping that
+coreboot gains wider adoption.])
+
+ (p [Once I had verified that I didn't brick my Thinkpad, I installed
+the new wireless card.  I purchased a Wireless N, half-height, mini
+PCIe card from
+,(anchor [Thinkpenguin]
+         "https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/penguin-wireless-n-half-height-mini-pcie-card").
+It uses an Atheros chipset and is free software compatible.  I met
+Chris, the owner of Thinkpenguin, at this year's Northeast GNU/Linux
+Fest at Harvard.  He is doing some great work and I wanted to support
+his business.  It was nice to buy from someone who could assure me
+that the hardware I purchased is fully supported on a libre GNU/Linux
+distribution.])
+
+ (p [Now that my Thinkpad was free (sans BIOS, of course), it was time
+for the final touch.  I replaced the hard drive with a 128GB SSD and
+installed Debian testing.  It takes roughly 9 seconds to get from GRUB
+to the GDM login screen.  It feels very nice to have a device that
+boots so quickly.])
+
+ (p [Now that everything had been installed and configured, I was able
+to start hacking and get a feel for things.  The keyboard is the
+nicest I've ever used on a laptop.  The
+,(anchor [TrackPoint] "http://xkcd.com/243/")
+is quite a nice way to move around once you get used to it.  The
+ThinkLight is pretty neat when you're in a dark area.  The battery
+life is extremely impressive.  I don't know exactly how long it lasts
+yet but I never have to charge it while I am using it.  I was lucky if
+I got 2 hours of battery life out of my old laptop, which caused me to
+be constantly tethered to an AC adapter.  The screen is matte, which
+is awesome because it's very difficult to use a laptop outdoors when
+the screen is glossy.  1366x768 is not an ideal resolution (16:9 be
+damned), but I can live with it on a 12.5\" screen.  Last but not
+least, I honestly like the aesthetics.  A lot of people are enamored
+with the brushed aluminum designs by that fruit company, but I love
+the flat black, functional design of the Thinkpad.])
+
+ (p [I hope to really break this thing in over the weekend at the
+,(anchor [GNU 30th Anniversary] "https://www.gnu.org/gnu30/")
+hackathon. :\)]))