3D Printers
Lulzbot TAZ 4.0
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Respects Your Freedom-certified by the FSF to run with all free software, making 3D printing more accessible and encouraging innovation.
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Supports tetherless printing, optional Dual Extruder upgrade, and exotic filaments including wood-, rubber- and stone-like materials.
- Hardware designs available to make modification and improvement easy.
Makerbot Replicator 2
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MakerWare software is proprietary, restricting freedom and stifling innovation.
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Recently announced an increasingly proprietary approach, further distancing itself from the free software community.
Routers
Linksys WRT1900AC Wireless AC Router
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PLACEHOLDER bullets that are bad.
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Angry, angry placeholder bullets.
Ebooks
Project Gutenberg
- All of the ebooks are gratis, including classics like Peter Pan and Huck Finn.
- The original purveyor of eBooks free of DRM (Digital Restrictions Management), inspiring many others.
- Enjoy the freedom to read your ebooks on any device.
Larger Laptops
Minifree GNU/Linux laptop with free boot firmware
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Comes installed with a free OS, and its Wi-Fi and 3D-accelerated graphics work with any other fully free GNU/Linux distribution.
- PLACEHOLDER RYF certification/libreboot bullet. Maybe first commercially available...?
Apple Macbook Pro
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Runs on proprietary software that restricts the user's freedoms.
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Apple's App Store uses DRM to restrict what you can do with your purchases.
- Comes crawling with spyware.
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Planned obsolescence: business model forces you to buy new devices frequently.
Smaller Laptops
Libiquity GNU/Linux laptop with free boot firmware
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Comes installed with a free OS, and its Wi-Fi and 3D-accelerated graphics work with any other fully free GNU/Linux distribution.
- PLACEHOLDER RYF certification/libreboot bullet. Maybe first commercially available...?
Apple Macbook Pro
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Runs on proprietary software that restricts the user's freedoms.
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Apple's App Store uses DRM to restrict what you can do with your purchases.
- Comes crawling with spyware.
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Planned obsolescence: business model forces you to buy new devices frequently.
Graphic Design
GIMP and Inkscape
- Free software, with thriving developer communities.
- Designed for free formats, but can also open files created in other programs.
- Wide variety of plugins grants limitless features.
- Easy to install on all major operating systems.
Photoshop and Illustrator
- Proprietary software controlled by Adobe.
- Prefers locked-down proprietary formats.
- Requires costly upgrades to stay up to date.
Operating Systems
Trisquel GNU/Linux
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FSF-endorsed completely free operating system: transparent and modifiable.
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Break the cycle of forced upgrades and planned obsolescence.
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Comes with all the software you need and an easy software manager to find more.
- Works great with the Wi-Fi adapters in this guide.
Windows
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Proprietary software that profits from controlling how you use your computer.
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Invades privacy and exposes personal data to Microsoft, the NSA, and other malicious attackers.
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Dependent on mandatory upgrades and devices that don't support older versions of Windows.
Gift Cards
iTunes Card
- DRM
on everything (except music) controls what you can do with your purchases.
- Apple claims (wrongly) that you don't actually own anything you buy from the iTunes store.
- Requires proprietary software to use, even to download DRM-free music.
Smartphone
Replicant
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Fully free software, based on Android.
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Supported devices
include both phones and tablets.
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Works on used devices, so your dollars won't go to proprietary OS companies. (All commercially
available Android devices ship with some proprietary software.)
Apple iPhone
- Comes with no shortage of spyware.
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iOS is a fully proprietary operating system, giving Apple control over the software on the devices.
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Apple uses DRM to block competing software.
More devices on h-node
To learn more about which hardware supports free software and which doesn't, explore the community-run h-node database.
Licenses
This page by the Free Software Foundation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported.
The graphics and photos used on this page have been modified by the Free Software Foundation and are licensed separately under the following terms: