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Hardware Linux

System76 Thelio Computer is Open Source, Linux-Powered, and Made in the USA (betanews.com) 139

Posted by msmash from the about-time dept.
System76 is ready to share specifics about its new computer. From a report: There are three models from which to choose, and all three can apparently be configured with with Intel or AMD processors. This is refreshing news, as historically, System76 machines were an Intel-only affair. AMD has been more friendly to the Linux community over recent years, so I am happy to see System76 giving that option too.

1. Thelio (Up to 32GB RAM, 24TB storage) treks through tasks with ease despite its compact footprint.
2. Thelio Major (Up to 128GB RAM, 46TB storage) boasts stellar performance, allowing maximum configurability with up to 4 GPUs to tackle the most astronomical projects.
3. Thelio Massive (Up to 768GB of ECC Memory, 86TB storage) is the epitome of performance among workstations, offering maximum throughput and accuracy for demanding computational workloads.

Pricing starts at $1099.99, but that will obviously increase based on the specs you choose. Keep in mind, however, the computer will not ship until December. Full specs in the story above. In a statement, the company said, "Thelio Systems are designed to be easily expandable, making personalizing the computer a tantalizingly easy process. Slip in drives, add memory, and upgrade graphics cards at will. Additionally, the open hardware design that Thelio is built upon allows the user to easily learn how their computer works and make modifications using this information. Customization is simple to ensure that the computer encompasses people's needs, as well as their personality."
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System76 Thelio Computer is Open Source, Linux-Powered, and Made in the USA More

System76 Thelio Computer is Open Source, Linux-Powered, and Made in the USA

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  • Go ahead, price the Oryx Pro vs. the equivalent Xeon-equipped Dell Precision.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by jellomizer ( 103300 )

      My laptop is an an Oryx Pro and I like it...
      However your argument of matching systems isn't really a good one.
      There are so many other factors that you need to account for that affect the price, some features you strongly care about others that you really don't.

      For me I was concerned about the following (in this order):
      1. Updated CPU
      2. 32 gigs of Ram
      3. Good Video Card
      4. NVMe Storage
      5. Strong Linux Compatibility
      6. 15" or larger display
      7. Modern Looking and relatively thin.

      I in essence wanted a mobile workstat

  • Do they support Linux? (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Of course, the $50 question: Do they support Linux?

  • Can I play Warcraft or other Windows games?

    That's the only reason I switched from Mac to PC 20 years ago. They both did surfing and programming and office type apps just fine.

    • ... and we all know it is illegal to keep the PC you have now for games and get a computer with a good OS for your computing needs.

      • Missing out (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        If you don't keep your hardware current you are missing out on the full glory that is Minecraft!

      • but what if as me you're computer-less at the moment. It's a valid question and I'm not versed enough in Linux to know the answer.
        • It isn't an either or scenario. If you absolutely must have Windows for games you can install both Windows and Linux and dual boot (choose which OS to boot at boot time)

        • If you don't already know Linux, it depends on if you have the time and desire to learn the differences. A Windows machine is the default "easy" choice.

          A Linux machine is going to require relearning some things, and you will probably run into hiccups along the way as you try to do stuff. This is true for any system you are unfamiliar with. There are other restrictions as well. If you *need* to be able to use specific software that isn't available for Linux, then your choice is basically made for you.

          But

          • If you don't already know Linux, it depends on if you have the time and desire to learn the differences. A Windows machine is the default "easy" choice.

            A Linux machine is going to require relearning some things, and you will probably run into hiccups along the way as you try to do stuff. This is true for any system you are unfamiliar with. There are other restrictions as well. If you *need* to be able to use specific software that isn't available for Linux, then your choice is basically made for you.

            But I would first plan out your priorities. I personally have one machine for work, and one for games, and recommend others do the same. If you have no machine at all, then prioritize the work machine, for obvious reasons. You may not be able to play the newest triple-A games with it, but there is plenty of stuff that you can play.

            i don't mind learning linux. i'm savy enough that I can get online and browser from there I can google any issues I have. I'm mostly concerned about when I have to switch back to windows for games or for work.

            • In that case, you can use either VirtualBox, or (and this is IMO the better option) use KVM. KVM is a native hypervisor to linux and is orders of magnitude more performant than VirtualBox is. The only downside is that it doesn't have a lot of the integration frills that other virtualization tools have. The simplest way to get around that is to pretend that the Windows VM is a remote machine and just RDP into it. That will give you things like shared folders, shared clipboard, etc.

              That will take care of

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by ledow ( 319597 )

      Never tried it (don't touch that game) but:

      https://linuxconfig.org/how-to... [linuxconfig.org]

      It'll never be "simple" because the games aren't made for Linux. But Steam have just released a similar "official" tool that makes Windows Steam games work on Linux and it works for several thousand games.

      Whether it works for the ones YOU want, that's another question entirely.

      • This describes a bad way to use WINE. You should always use a WINEPREFIX, or use a tool like PlayOnLinux which does this for you. Using a single global wine configuration is a good way to trash your .wine folder repeatedly.

    • From what I've read, VMWare Workstation can do a decent job on Linux with the right drivers present. Running Windows under that might be an answer. Caveat: Put the guest VM on a SSD... or put everything on an SSD. It makes a BIG difference with I/O and usability of the system, just because all the processes are not fighting for a single drive head.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by lgw ( 121541 )

        Workstation is ... not entirely useless for gaming. You'll find vastly more games that will work with SteamPlay directly on Linux, but that only helps for Steam games, no Blizzard or EA or other distribution platforms.

    • It is a PC Setup, so you can install Windows. However being a Linux based system, finding windows drivers sometimes requires some extra hunting.
      Or you can have a Wine or virtual system setup.

      This has plenty of power for gaming.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      You may have at look at Steam Proton, it's an initiative from Valve to package Wine for each game and with adequate settings or even modifications to Wine itself which are then propagated upstream.

      Warcraft itself ran easily on old vanilla Wine versions, decade ago I played much Warcraft III on LAN (the custom maps like DOTA) as it easily ran on a potato (e.g. old Intel graphics or geforce 2MX and TNT2 level). This game was an outlier, easier to get running than some native linux games.

      Me, when I get to it I

  • What exactly is open source about it? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by KalvinB ( 205500 ) on Thursday November 01, 2018 @12:00PM (#57574491) Homepage

    The design.

    Whoo. Am I supposed to get excited that I can produce cases that look just like theirs? Because that's definitely not cheap to do small run manufacturing of large parts like that.

    Even if the motherboard were open source, there is nothing that makes creating your own a practical exercise.

    And for that you pay an insane premium.

    Computers are largely build to standards which are readily available if you care to find them. Those standards allow you to design and build your own cases and not have to worry about parts fitting properly.

    There's a reason that serious open hardware stick to low power micro controllers which require far fewer components and those components are far cheaper to produce than a full featured PC. It's actually feasible to design and build your own Arduino clone. Even the RaspberryPi is really out of reach to clone if you don't have rich people money to get started.

    There is no point open sourcing things that are cost prohibitive for the average person to duplicate. And it's a good way to just go broke if someone does decide to do what you did better and cheaper. Which is not hard to do if your design is worth anything and your prices are ridiculous as we have here.

    • I'm sorry, I only saw the part where you were _complaining about something being open source_. (?!?)

      Did you have something insightful to contribute here?

      • The issue is not it being open source. The issue is pretending that it's a selling point or has any relevance to what they are selling.

        It's like slapping an "open source" license on a "hello world" program. Nobody cares.

        A hipster and their money are soon parted.

        • Yeah, so let's all whine and bitch about it. That will definitely encourage companies to have open designs in the future.

          Are you really so myopic that you can't see the bigger picture where an open source case design could be picked up by other manufacturers and become a better standard than the myriad crappy options we have today?

          Is it expensive? Yes.
          With reason? I'd argue "also yes".

          It's a good design, if you look closely. Just because you have money issues doesn't mean the rest of us can't enjoy a compan

  • It was pretty much figured out centuries ago that trade is a good thing. Otherwise we would be paying $$ for each lousy Made In the USA banana or avocado and Boeing planes would likely cost 50% more and not be so fuel-efficient.

    • I think it's more that we figured out that free markets are good things. Allowing free trade is generally good, and that freedom includes allowing people to buy from local sources if they find value in it.

  • Designed and Manufactured in Colorado (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Seriously, totally misleading title. They use shit that is not made in the US. For example; nvidia GPUs.

    To quote the source directly:
    > US-sourced wood and aluminum are formed, finished, etched, and built by artisans in our Denver, Colorado factory.

    So what is made in the US? The god damn case; which no one gives a shit about. The motherboard is most likely overseas, but they dont publish any of the spec on that, so..... sensationalized garbage.

  • Am I missing something? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Petersko ( 564140 ) on Thursday November 01, 2018 @12:18PM (#57574605)

    âoeThelio Systems are designed to be easily expandable, making personalizing the computer a tantalizingly easy process. Slip in drives, add memory, and upgrade graphics cards at will.â

    Like every Windows-based machine I have bought and built since 1995?

    • Exactly what I was going to say.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mea2214 ( 935585 )
      My guess it's for people with large computing tasks who don't want to tinker with hardware.

    • Compared to 1995, yes. Compared to a lot of the machines they make today? Expandability is now a feature. Almost the entire Apple lineup is a write-off, and as usual (unfortunateyl), other manufacturers are copying what Apple, to the point where you can no longer assume that any machine you look at is easily expandable.

    • Well these are Linux based machines, not Windows based machines. I am not threading hairs. The hardware is chosen for performance and Linux compatibility, with firmware and setting to make them very Linux friendly. Installing windows on these sometimes takes some extra effort, because some of the devices are too new for the current version of windows to auto-detect so you need to hunt for drivers to get it to work.

      Now most parts are Windows Compatible, less so are Linux compatible. If you are going to

  • Are these computers trying to trap me? I like the speaker-box theme, how do they know I like music so much.

    Have they seen the Greatest Showman? Do they know I have? And how many times?

    Step away from my personality! You can take it from my cold, dead... oh wait... that's how it works.

  • The fact that Thelio users NVIDIA graphics kills it for me. NVIDIA had been really hostile towards open source as of late. That and no mention of running OpenBSD or FreeBSD on it.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • ... treks through tasks with ease ...

    Captain Puberty: "Computer, enable speech recognition module."

    No response.

    Captain Puberty: "Computer! Enable speech recognition module, captain's orders!"

    No response.

    Captain Puberty: "Spock, load that ignorant computer system into the torpedo tube."

    No response.

    Captain Puberty: "Crew, load that ignorant computer system into the torpedo tube."

    No response.

    Captain Puberty: [still watching a High School talent competition on YouTube] "Ha ha ha! She flubbed an entire note whil

  • And the peanut gallery flips out! (Score:3)

    by Zobeid ( 314469 ) on Thursday November 01, 2018 @06:43PM (#57577698)

    I really shouldn't have even looked at the comment section. When any company tries to do something new, something different, something better, there's always a mob waiting to attack, attack, for any reason their vivid little imaginations can dream up.

    It's not really open source!
    It's not really made in the USA!
    It's not really anything new!
    It's wildly overpriced!
    etc., etc

    And they miss the big picture. These machines are far more attractive than the generic towers System76 were selling before, but not much more expensive. They appear to be thoughtfully designed and well constructed. The same company is now producing their own hardware and their own Linux distro to mate up with it, so everything should "just work". Who has done anything like this for Linux before? Who else was going to?

    Fed up with Apple, coming from the Mac world Last year I built my own Linux rig based on Ryzan and Ubuntu MATE. I did a lot of research, didn't cut any corners, used all highly reviewed components. And it performs very well when everything is working right. OK, the Ncase M1 was kind of expensive and hard to get. I had to shuffle some components around and experiment to get the temps down. And I can't sleep it, because the video output never wakes up. And there's audio corruption that comes and goes at random. And there's an annoying vibration in the case that comes and goes, and I've never quite been able to track down and fix. And the system does lock up once in a while, not often, but more often than my Mac Pro ever did. But you know I've been wrangling computers for a long time, and I can learn to live with a some quirks. How many normal, non-geekish folk would put up with all that? Why should I even have to put up with all that?

    The Thelio, by all reasoning, should be an unquestionably better machine than the one I built. I want it. I want to leave all this homebrew nonsense and constant troubleshooting behind.

  • System76 has for quite some time been hoping to make a Linux-controlled PC in the USA utilizing open source philosophy. The PC's daughterboard, Thelio Io, is a custom body controller that directions and upgrades the stream. Also if you have Error Code 0xc0000185 can easily solve by instruction mentioned in the blog https://www.acersupportnumber.... [acersupportnumber.com]

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