Top 5 things we'd all love to see from System76

Posted: 2009-08-21

We already love System76 for being truly dedicated to open source and offering Ubuntu exclusively on their entire lineup, so naturally we simply must ask for more! I have five simple, but big requests:

  1. Coreboot
    This is probably the hardest to offer, and so i'm willing to wait the longest for this, but nobody has yet been able to offer machines with Coreboot pre-installed. An open source BIOS is the largest obstacle to overcome in offering a computer with entirely open source software, and if System76 can pull that off, i'd never be able to let myself recommend buying from anyone else. LinuxBIOS was one of the top ideas ever on Dell's IdeaStorm, but if they won't offer it, System76 can! Besides, who of us would actually like Dell at all if not for their Ubuntu offering? 
  2. A Tablet
    The new netbook looks great, but still a tablet would be an incredible addition to the lineup. Currently, the only tablets available with Ubuntu pre-installed are un/re-branded machines which knocks the price up, and although the CrunchPad looks sweet, something from System76 with Ubuntu would be even sweeter! Tablets are a great thing to show off which not only promotes Ubuntu but also kills the myth that Linux does not love tablets. It does.
  3. A Media Center
    This idea has the a ton of profit potential for System76 if done properly. I'm talking about the concept of a TVPC like the Neuros Link which sold out so quickly they had to disable new purchases (still can't place new orders at the time of this post) and put the pending ones on backorder. Since most everyone is already paying for internet, there is no reason why you shouldn't kill your purely evil cable subscription. The internet after all, is the largest video library in existence, and if the focus is on streaming media, a hard drive isn't even necessary (the Neuros boots the OS from a flash drive). All that's needed is a slick looking set-top box with all the necessary inputs and outputs for a home media center PC, the minimum hardware needed for HD video, which all-in-all is pretty damn cheap, a wireless keyboard/mouse and remote control, higher hardware options for gamers, an HDD option, and some special software (Moovida media center, Miro video player, and maybe enable special compiz effects for kicks), and that's it! It's all marketing from there, and i think a lot of people would be interested.
  4. AMD/ATI Options
    Many of you may oppose this, and many of you will support it, but the simple fact is this: just like anyone else, there are Linux users who prefer Intel, and those who, like myself, prefer AMD. Some of us only care about what works best, while others value which is more open source friendly. You can argue about those things endlessly, but regardless, we do want to have a choice. 
  5. More Community Marketing
    Com'on, it's free advertising for you guys! We should all be eager to help out System76 as it's one of the best ways to spread Ubuntu, but they could really make it a lot easier for us. The 76er program should be expanded from just LoCos to individuals and no longer require an account. More materials should be posted on the wiki or the Spread Ubuntu site for anyone to print out and distribute. Remember, we love you, so help us to help you!
To add to the incentive for System76 to give us these options, i hereby promise that when they make these available, i will buy them. If you're in agreement, make the same promise in the comments! If someone from System76 stumbles across this, feel free to send me a laptop to use in the meantime since i just graduated high school and could really use one.