1mo ago

Are PC Hardware Companies Slowly Driving Technology into Restricted Closed Ecosystems?

www.scottrlarson.com Are PC Hardware Companies Slowly Driving Technology into Restricted Closed Ecosystems?

I am a Computer Hardware professional. I started working with computer technology in the early eighties. I have seen the evolution of technology starting with closed platforms like the game console era and then the move toward open platforms like the Home Computer Golden Age. In the last 5 or 10 yea...

You're viewing a single thread.

83 comments

I'd make an argument for the opposite if we're talking about the general field. The major OEMs are going head first into enshittification, while other companies are building for more open ecosystems.
For anyone looking for a list of manufacturers intentionally trying to make their hardware more compatible with open ecosystems:
Framework
System76
ASRock
Minisforum
Slimbook (they make the KDE branded laptop)
MNT
GL.iNet (routers only so far)
Penguin
Supermicro
Star Labs
Pine
Clevo
I'm sure there are others, but these are the ones that are deliberately building intentionally FOR mass compatibility, unlike HP, Dell, Lenovo, ASUS...etc.
This is not to say there aren't some models from the major manufacturer product lines that aren't widely compatible, but their main focus is not those products.
- Hmmmmm, I'll go with Clevo. Because I'm from Cleveland, and it's called Clevo. It's like the PC brand that was too drunk to spell Cleveland. Which is pretty on brand for this city.
  
  They'll get an upvote just for that explanation 😂
  Framework is honestly the best thing on the market right now though, gotta say.
  
  I had a rebranded clevo back in 2009. It worked great for a few years before the dedicated gpu died. It was a sleek design (especially for the time) too.
  
  System76s' (at least used to) use rebranded Clevo laptops with their own flashed motherboard firmware. I've replaced parts on mine with direct Clevo spare parts.
  
  @LostMyMind @justanotherperson that's a clevo comment
  
  It’s one of those Chinese brands with nonsensical names
  
  Unlike most, though, Clevo has been around for decades and many, many other brands rebrand and sell their laptops. If you've ever owned a laptop made by a semi-local manufacturer, it's probably a rebranded Clevo.
  What that says about the quality though, I don't know. My laptops have all been non-Clevo-rebrands. But they're an established company at least.
- My read into this is that Pine is so good it's listed twice.
  
  Oops. Fixed.
- Tuxedo Computers from Germany also make PCs specifically for Linux (you can run Windows if you really have to).
  
  Waiting for my InfinityFlex!
- What are ASRock doing?
  
  ASRock servers, minipcs and mitx industrial boards are highly compatible with Linux, and it's intentional. Sometimes trailing chipset versions just to stay that way.
  
  Interesting; I've associated them with just making cheap boards. Is that changing?
  
  Lol. They are one of the few manufacturers that have made consistently solid products and components for decades. Feels like many have already jumped over to being terrible.
  
  They used to make zanier products (the stuff with ULI chipsets and CPU upgrade slots) back in the 2000s when they were a lowend brand competing with ECS. The feature set between boards is less diverse these days.
  
  Less diverse?
  
  Well, the example I gave above-- in the early Socket 754/939 days, ASRock sold a bunch of boards with an extra slot that would take a daughterboard that contained a Socket AM2 and DDR2 slots which would theoretically allow a significant upgrade on the "same" mainboard. Not sure anyone ever bought it, since it cost as much as a new mainboard.
  The most famous example of this style of weirdness was the ECS PF88, which could be equipped with a Socket 939, LGA775, or a Pentium M depending on daughtercard choices.
  But there was also some novel features-- motherboards with tube amplifiers on board (AOpen AX4B-533), a few generations of "instant boot mini-Linux environments", and some more sophisticated debug tools (I recall some firms trying small LCD displays and voice prompts to replace 7-segment POST code displays-- considering a 128x32 all-points-addressable OLED costs like $1 in quantity of 1, why are those not standard when the motherboard costs $300+?!)
  
  This reminds me of how I often assume a lesser known brand is a "small player" in a given industry, only to later find out that they provide parts and/or services to all of the well known brands. Kinda like Mitsubishi in the 80's. Their parts and tech were in everything but their name was mostly associated with cheap electronics and small cars.
  
  I think one of the computers in my basement is an ASRock board, and it's the flimsiest board I've ever had. Like the USB ports are really flexible.
  
  Chill situation
  
  Bang for bucks, ASRock is really good. I bought a mobo when the first gen of Ryzen came out and it is still rocking today. It supports up to Matisse series cpu. I paid like, 70-80 bucks back then. I had a lot of value out of it.
  It is still living inside a home server and will be soon repurposed into an arcade cabinet.
  
  I think my home server build will eventually be based on a used Asrock industrial mainboard. I’ve heard nothing but good feedback.
  I remember them being a bit of a small upstart company years ago when I started paying attention to computer stuff.
  
  They've been around since the 00s
  
  Absolutely, but at least for the type of builds I was looking at, which were all gaming machines, Asrock kind of seemed like the more unpredictable budget option.
  
  Not at all. They have entire lines of gaming boards and GPUs.
  
  They do now. The commenter was using past tense.
  
  Oooh, didnt know asrock made minipcs, im gonna have to look into that!
  
  The firmware they use is closed source though
  
  Lol. 99% of all hardware manufactured uses closed source BIOS. It's not a concern.
- I can say I'll never buy another lenovo product again.
  My laptop is, of course, broken at both hinges due to ridiculously thin and cheap plastic.
  This is inexcusable and only exists to make a few rich people a bit richer.
  
  Very sad to see the downfall of a once great brand... old Lenovos will easily outlast any new Lenovo.
  
  Well, the rootkits were the last straw for me, a decade ago. Used to buy Lenovo religiously.
- I’ll take a star labs laptop thank you
- Thank you for the list. We have a tendency to criticize bad actors, but we forget that it's important to promote the ones going the right direction.
- I want the pine products but every time I see the reviews it seems like they are not the greatest at the more common tasks.
  At some point I want to get an MST if/when my system76 dies. But it's a easy to repair so it will probably be a while.
  
  If you're looking for a general purpose device, go Framework. Look at their Refurb store. Very reasonable.
  
  These brands selling their own refurbished products is great news.
  It gives you the ability to still support them while not creating directly more e-waste and benefitting from a cheaper price.
  
  Thanks but a friend of mine had bad experiences with it. Something to do with the power and hinges. Lots of costly repairs on the first year or so.
  Hopefully they fixed the issue.
  
  Never had an issue. What was your friend's problem?
  
  The power adapter died pretty quick witch caused a mobo failure if I recall.

83 comments