Framework CEO's favorite Linux Distro | Q&A with Nirav Patel

[@jfolz]

o7 sir, we appreciate your sacrifice, taking one for the team.

[@scheimong]

Yeah. Being forced back onto Windows after experiencing the taste of freedom is a fate I wouldn't wish on my worst enemies.

[@GSBarlev]

Windows isn't bad. The Windows 11 UI reminds me of Ubuntu Unity, and thanks to WSL, it's pretty easy to run all your favorite applications. (in case it wasn't obvious, this comment was made with a generous heaping of salt)

[@jfolz]

@@GSBarlev you had me in the first part.

[@Splarkszter]

It's fine as long as it isn't a daily drive :)

[@anshumaanmishra3748]

@@scheimong So true -openSUSE Tumbleweed KDE loving victim

[@AQDuck]

Framework went from "we don't officially support or recommend Linux but we won't make it difficult for you" to "LINUX OUR PRECIOUS!" real quick

[@JessicaFEREM]

That's probably because the people passionate about upgradable and modular computers are also into modular and Open source software.

[@NotEmiliaNatsuki]

I guess that explains why my brightness keys started working out of nowhere.

[@SomeNerd361]

@@JessicaFEREM also an opportunity as windows is going down the AI drain

[@Jono997]

​@@SomeNerd361Amen to that. I would jump ship in a heartbeat if I could (unfortunately, a lot of stuff I need on a day to day basis has no alternatives and doesn't play nice with wine yet)

[@SomeNerd361]

@@Jono997 I'm in a similar boat, While I could *technically* do everything I need to do without whine and proton handles the non-essential things I'd like to do. Everyone around me wouldn't be able to make the switch so here I am, stuck on Windows.

[@Nintron]

Arch mentions? 0 NixOS mentions? 1 Based

[@furinick]

Archbros is it over?

[@Splarkszter]

IT'S SO OVER 😭😭😭

[@chriss3404]

I use arch btw

[@FlafyDev]

NIXOS!!!!

[@RamkrishanYT]

Smart enough to run arch on a Blackberry but not enough to use a stable distro

[@heroclix0rz]

His favorite boat is the Ship of Theseus

[@s0me1newithhand7s]

NixOS mentioned. peace founded.

[@aman9das]

😇

[@atemoc]

NixOS gang

[@GSBarlev]

Framework must be a pretty rad place to work, if employees have enough downtime to configure their NixOS setups! 😝 Just kidding. I love the idea of Nix and plan on switching at least one of my daily drivers to it once y'all stabilize the API and update the documentation accordingly.

[@noisetide]

Nix-chan yay! 😳

[@c2vi_dev]

NixOS gang

[@one_step_sideways]

Notice how he never mentioned Arch and didn't say it was his favourite distro. This is because, unlike all Arch users, he is employed

[@no_name4796]

Probably even has a wife. I can already hear arch users running to their computers to type "man wife" just to find out they have none

[@joyantonio4554]

😂

[@one_step_sideways]

@@no_name4796 No, they'll type "which wife", and not because they're want to know that, but to find her location

[@Promestein]

As an unemployed arch user, i can confirm you are right.

[@TruthDoesNotExist]

archinstall

[@noahflare6825]

FrameWork needs to win Enterprise/Goverment customers. That would help accelerate the growth of the brand

[@cameronbosch1213]

Given Apple seems to have no interest in meeting IT departments policies of data retention (with soldered SSDs) and many Windows OEMs, even Lenovo with their ThinkPads, becoming less and less repair friendly, I think Framework could actually become a serious contender with their 13.5 inch laptops if they can push it as such and promote the easy of repair and maintenance compared to modern Dell & HP laptops.

[@gasun1274]

Also schools

[@ItsHatlolOfficial]

Nope, no company is gonna waste billable hours on faffing around with repairs. No company over 100 deployments will even bother reparing enterprise devices. It just not worth the money for them.

[@rethardotv5874]

My employer started equipping sales reps with 13inch frameworks, fingers crossed.

[@PahLume]

They just need to add smart card support and that may happen.

[@godminnette2]

Been running NixOS on my framework and loving it!

[@StaffyDoo]

Embrace the flake! ❄️🖖✊

[@coolhandle572]

Did you have to do any special configuration? What DE/WM are you using?

[@godminnette2]

@@coolhandle572 just gnome. I literally just sat down to start experimenting with Wayland when I saw this notification, lol.

[@discocat2500]

Same ❤.

[@william1106]

​@@coolhandle572hyprland / i3 is great :)

[@平和-v1z]

Nirav, if you're reading this: Thank you so much for saving the tech industry. Also: *I'm desperate for a Framework Phone*

[@xlion]

Already done by fairphone

[@MrGamelover23]

​@@xlionOnly available in Europe, so automatically worthless.

[@AbteilungsleiterinBeiAntifaEV]

​@@xlionnah framework laptops aren't trash

[@平和-v1z]

@@xlion Yeah, but with too many disadvantages. There is no headphone jack, it is way too large, the chipset is draining the phone's battery, because it's actually for IoT devices, but I know why they had to do that.

[@cookie_space]

​@@xlionfairphone is not compatible over multiple generation and they do drop the availability of parts after a while. Their vision is not the same as the framework one. Not to mention all the other sacrifices you make with that phone.

[@stoicfloor]

I'm running NixOS on my framework. Never been happier. Best laptop purchase ever!

[@wtfdocsub]

I love that this company is so in tune with the community.

[@dorfen6507]

The fact that everyone in the company are such huge f***ing nerd using Linux, that they need to sacrifice one of them to at least make sure Windows work is hilarious to me.

[@rohithkumarbandari]

You got it wrong. Everyone in the company are ultra f***ing giga chads and they had to sacrifice one of them to mainstream bleak, horrible windows experience so that average tech illiterate windows user can have good experience. He took one for the team. Respect to him.

[@MadafakinRio]

@@rohithkumarbandari go see a doctor.

[@rohithkumarbandari]

@@MadafakinRio go see a psychiatrist.

[@rohithkumarbandari]

@@MadafakinRio go see a psychiatrist.

[@fedfer]

NixOS mentioned, I am in disbelief, I have reached pure ecstasy

[@derockx]

didn't expect NixOS to be mentioned

[@SentientMuffin]

Yeah, seriously! How often do we hear laptop companies not only being so into Linux support but mentioning NixOS as an example? That’s legit awesome.

[@vimjoyer]

NixOS is the best 💪💪💪

[@Bvngee]

NixOSJoyer

[@c2vi_dev]

absolutely

[@richtigmann1]

NIXOS MENTIONED 🗣🗣🗣‼‼‎ 🔥

[@fedfer]

NixOS legend

[@gusslx]

NixOSjoyer spotted lesgoooo

[@TheMotivatorG]

love the idea of this company

[@crazystupidgamer]

God, its just a blast to see people passionate about their craft talking about it. It shows me how much the creators care about the products they want me to use. Traditional marketing doesn't do it for me.

[@mateowoetam]

I'm glad Fedora 40 was added to the list of officially supported distros, this opens up the door to a lot of Fedora based distros to also work just as well.

[@lionelt.9124]

Bazzite is a good one.

[@mateowoetam]

@@lionelt.9124 I prefer Secureblue

[@michelfug]

I wish these questions were read out loud for accessibility reasons (or watching KZbin while doing chores reasons 😅)

[@asmoto755]

Agree 100%. I was making dinner and thought to myself "Nice answers, but what were the qustions?"

[@leoscock]

+1 And possibly use a better microphone and/or turn down the background music. Excellent video btw from the makers of my next linux laptop!

[@garrettrinquest1605]

Same here

[@MikoKnight]

Let the distro wars begin.

[@mathman0569]

lol there are very few wrong distros to use, but people can't agree on what the "best" is.

[@mathman0569]

though for beginners, there are many more "wrong" options for them. Like generally no arch based, no rollers, and nothing weird due to lack of docs.

[@cameronbosch1213]

​@mathman0569 Mainly Manjaro is the main "bad distro". And to some degree Ubuntu, although not as bad as Manjaro.

[@crazystupidgamer]

Anything that works for you is a good distro. Personally, I find ubuntu based distros and Fedora and it's derivatives easy to use, that also let me play around.

[@mathman0569]

@@cameronbosch1213 Yeah, Manjaro is the main one, there are others, like don't use redstar, don't use anything that doesn't get updates, if you're on an LTS distro it's best if it's the most recent LTS from the LTS distro, like don't be using debian 10 on desktop right now, that's old.

[@lanceislateagain]

Just a few things I'd add to get it absolutely perfect: - Optional touch screen and 360 degree hinges - Haptic touchpad - Better speakers

[@aravindpallippara1577]

Need that Goldilocks 13inch touchscreen with 360 hinge thats solid or at least repairable before I jump in With a hopefully oled display will be my media device and personal laptop (already have a PC, steam deck and a work macbook)

[@Deinorius]

For me the only thing missing is a TrackPoint feature like on ThinkPads. And similar direction keys like on those. Then it would be perfect. OK, better speakers would be nice too.

[@_mrsahem_]

@@Deinorius I can imagine them really expanding their keyboard layouts in future. I would like an rgb one for the 13 inch tbh

[@Deinorius]

@@_mrsahem_ With their flexibility it has to be.

[@computerfan1079]

I really like these videos. They strike a great balance between well-produced and geniune/honest. Great work!

[@thefanboy3285]

One thing that's so wholesome is the fact that people are SOOO fond of Framework computers that they are giving free advice in the comments section of their video, and Framework listen to them. I am eagerly waiting for the day I can have the money and occasion to order one of your products over the seas.

[@DannyMexen9]

Like S76, I foresee Framework releasing their own Linux distro - Theseus.

[@tntblast500]

That would be a perfect name

[@Ryan-ct3rv]

I don't think they need to tbh. I think most framework owners running Linux already have a preferred distro

[@bublybublybubly]

Decided to go with Manjaro on my Framework 16. Aside from a few bleeding edge kernel bugs like delayed WiFi on boot, its been rock solid! It instantly became my favorite laptop that I've ever used. The display is just amazing. There's something I can't explain about the way the colors look that I just love.

[@aratof18]

i just ordered a factory seconds last week, I can't wait to have it in my hands. thanks so much for the reassuring info on using Linux

[@cnoberachus]

Shipping to Denmark would make the device even more perfect! :P

[@OLBastholm]

I’m pretty sure they’ve already announced that

[@cnoberich]

​@@OLBastholmReally? I recently wrote to the framework support and they said it's currently not on their map. That was some time last week, or maybe two weeks ago. So if you know more, I would be really happy to know as well. And so would be framework, since I've got a ton of money to burn. 😂

[@OLBastholm]

@@cnoberich That's strange. It was apparently in the launch post for the new Laptop 13 on their website: "These are available in all 14 countries we’re currently in, and we’ll be launching in Sweden, Finland, and Denmark this June."

[@cnoberich]

@@OLBastholm Alright, thanks for letting me know, I'll definitely check again soon. Have a great day :)

[@romulino]

For a company NIX is just gold, imagine everyone running the same OS config and sharing day to day feedback and improvements to make it better.

[@user-pk6fk5ns1s]

TIMESTAMPS: Question One - What distro are you using right now?: 0:09 Question Two - Do you have a favorite distro? 0:55 Question Three - Why did you start using Linux? 1:28 Question Four - What's your favorite Framework product? 2:02 Question Five - What was an unexpected engineering challenge the team faced during this launch? 2:56

[@Blue_Blaze72]

Very cool interview! It was nice to see Nirav's insight on some things. Though I have to say the ending felt a bit off since it was just a blank screen with some music (that gets cut off ultimately).

[@Winnetou17]

Any chance you'll do another live battery life test, like you did about one year ago with 13th gen vs 12th gen ? I'm actually curious how far your Meteor Lake implementation can go. I'm also curious if on Linux (I know that Windows a kind of a lost cause) maybe with some manual tuning, if you can have actual, working instances where you do only use those 2 LP E-cores. Like when watching a video. Theoretically that should provide great battery life, but I haven't seen people testing specifically for that (that is, trying to have the laptop run only on the 2 LP E-cores, but without simply turning the other cores off in the BIOS).

[@harshnj]

Hey @Framework! When you guys are coming here in India?

[@RtkGpt]

wah too

[@lokedotsh]

please come to india. We need framework laptops here!

[@NoNo-wj8oh]

The fact that your employee base is skewed towards Linux is amazing. This gives me so much hope!

[@Merlijn39]

How is the feel of the keyboard of the laptop compared to Thinkpad (both old and new)?

[@starrwulfe]

I got my Framework 16 running on NixOS, Ubuntu 24.04 and Win 11 (virtualized coz I’m a MSFT employee and need to dogfood stuff too) Love this computer! BTW, and I get the new image sensor for my FW16?

[@JuanesChiwirosky]

I love this format, very natural and real

[@Krishnajha20101]

Please launch in India. This can be a great laptop for students.

[@one_step_sideways]

@@Krishnajha20101 So much for the "we are CEO saar" meme, with how they still haven't launched in India and have no plans to in the near future

[@illikkal]

These laptops are costly.

[@morgan40654]

I'm someone who needs a laptop for school and uses external dock and monitors at home, finding a good webcam is practically impossible to the point it's cheaper to find a iPhone X and basically convert it to a webcam. If you could bring that new laptop web-cam to an external web-cam at the right price that would be huge. Especially if the price can be put in the $100-$150ish range.

[@MrGamelover23]

Hey, that's a really good idea. You should consider posting it on the forum so that it gets some traction.

[@Deinorius]

Well, you would only need an adapter for USB and then you could print an enclosure. Drivers may work the same way or it might not need that much to work.

[@ciretdatsnesie]

Using debian on my framework 13 with no issues, I think desktop debian has come a long way in terms of ease of use and solid out of the box configuration, I'd definitely recommend it to those who are not into Ubuntu's push towards the snap format

[@klfjoat]

I just looked on the Marketplace, and the new Webcam module says it will be compatible with Framework 16! 🎉 Man, I love this company! ❤

[@EduardoBattaglia]

I have a Framework 13 AMD and I love it! One issue: will you ever do that the backlight of the keyboard go off after a few seconds? That would be awesome! I hope you read this! Cheers!

[@svenstubes]

I love your company and ethos. I have no need for a laptop but wish i could support you.

[@GSBarlev]

Same! I did buy my Steam Deck's 2TB 2230 from them just to show my support, but I don't see needing a personal laptop at any point in the near future.

[@MrGamelover23]

​@@GSBarlevThat's actually quite brilliant you were able to do that.

[@slizgi86]

I hope Framework will go in the near future with ARM and Qualcomm series, and somehow with CAMM2 memory modules instead of memory on chip, if it is even possible to have Qualcomm produce a chip without memory on a chip - but I think it is possible. I guess that the new camera module is no longer connected to the PC via USB 2.0 as it usually does in laptops but rather 3.something, to be able to sent that data from big sensor to the chip?

[@okman9684]

Please ship to more countries. Still framework unavailable in many countries. Also give us some hints about any ARM laptop if its on pipeline

[@legojenn]

I have been running Mint since I bought my Framework 13 in April. I took the SSD out of my HP laptop and it has been running ever since. Don't change.

[@NurturesWrath]

i hope Framework opens shop in South East Asia

[@Empty_Vima]

hello from NixOS users... ;)

[@terminallyonline5296]

Thanks for taking that hit! At least there's WSL2 which is also a good thing to have someone on the team using Windows for.

[@altosack]

I primarily use Linux, but now, after 24 years of not using Windows, I have one MacOS machine. From using WSL2 once on a friend’s machine and hearing many accolades, I would really like to have an equivalent on MacOS. And no, Mac Terminal, even fortified with MacPorts or Homebrew is not the same.

[@pengie_]

The NixOS mention has sold me even more

[@kabochaVA]

Very good interview! I wonder if there will ever be Framework laptops powered by ARM, or even Risc-V processors?

[@vikaspoddar001]

Will framework come to india ???

[@technomatic6285]

Are there any plans of Framework coming to India?

[@mmatania]

India launch??

[@SirVellen]

Can you please try Pop!Os? They wrote driver for graphics card switching between discrete and integrated and some changes like native steam support in os. I'm using pop as my work OS for development

[@IcyyDicy]

Could the team please consider improving the audio of these videos? It makes the videos seem ""cheaper"" than what they truly are... ❤

[@FineWine-v4.0]

Will it be available in Asia soon ?

[@duldulatori]

I can't pre order from website :( Website declines my both cards (valid)

[@Prince_of_all_Saiyans]

Hey Nirav...! When r u guys coming to India ? I swear that the Frameworks Laptops will be worshipped like anything....!! 🙌🔥

[@somewhereinthemiddle3050]

Any chance of a Snapdragon X Elite based system as a _stopgap_ for RISC-V?

[@magicmanchloe]

I’m waiting for famework to switch to camm2 and use the extra space provided by not having the so-dimm slots to add a second ssd slot so I can dual boot more easily

[@abelgerli]

Actually support and try NixOS. Und the most stable windows version always runs in a virtual machine.

[@techofebd]

The Nix package manager BTW!

[@Babarisdead]

Came for the distro, stayed for the song Ryan James Carr - Mr Maniac

[@ultraprimez]

Mr. Patel when will we see framework laptops in India ?

[@enderpirate9887]

The only thing I need now is a touchscreen! Bonus points if you can make a 2in1 chassis!

[@maxmouse3]

Ubuntu is great, even though I no longer use it , my 13" is running Fedora :D Great machines! Keep it up with the good work! FW 13" AMD is my favorite laptop of all time

[@shib5267]

I think it's time to start shipping with linux preinstalled

[@rvmiv_]

This is something that I'm still not 100% sold on, everyone has their distro preferences so unless they make a massive drop down menu they have to choose what they ship to people And even if they did have that drop down menu how do you explain to someone new to Linux what the differences are?

[@cameronbosch1213]

​@@rvmiv_ They could ship it with Bazzite or Bluefin, two community supported atomic distros based on Fedora, or Fedora itself. Personally, I wouldn't ship Ubuntu because of their heavy reliance on snaps and their recent instability.

[@GSBarlev]

@@rvmiv_ This. I don't care if it shipped it with my own personal favorite distro (elementaryOS), first thing I'd do is still wipe and re-partition, because I always keep my data on a separate partition from my system files.

[@daimarstein]

@@rvmiv_ Simple, only offer options with the officially supported distros (Ubuntu and Fedora) and keep the same offer with no OS pre-installed for those that want something else.

[@naturalcauses1695]

Very few actually use linux, youre all just very noisy

[@jakewynn]

why is the volume always so low on fw videos? just me?

[@rvmiv_]

Loving Bazzite on the 16

[@RealGigaMind]

When in India ?

[@finnderp9977]

Does Framework also do CAD desing on Linux? If yes, which software?

[@Shadsix]

1. I'd like to see framework patterned with SUPERNOTE (ereaders) 2. I'd like to see a framework touchscreen. 3. I'd like to see a Microsoft surface style framework PC I'm not concerned about thickness, and I like the thin magnetic flap keyboards. 4. A framework phone would be awesome. Maybe 1 flagship high grade every 3 years? Thanks if you consider any of this.

[@H-RutherfordHill]

You were using an i386 PC in 2003, 2004?!

[@mglsj]

Do you have any plans for a Snapdragon X series powered framework?

[@niauwu]

Is there a full height size arrow key?

[@garrettrinquest1605]

Still waiting on an OLED display option

[@Wastedarmor]

Dear @Framework community team, could you send the Track of this Video? It sounds amazing. Also Nirav, goes without saying, greatest guy ever. I hope we find more of him in this world.

[@xlion]

yt-dlp

[@pocketlint82]

Since divinci resolve is on Linux and I'm buying one to do video editing, I might try out Linux for the first time. Maybe I'll get a big ssd to have windows as a backup

[@frankhuurman3955]

DaVinci Resolve didn't really work well for me on Ubuntu 22.04 with a Ryzen 4800U (Vega 8 iGPU), but perhaps the support on a FW laptop is better :)

[@JerryWoo96]

I'm still waiting for framework 16 to ship to Singapore.

[@CodeAsm]

Are you using WSL2 on that Windows install ? 😉😊 Framework is awesome. Im an Arch user btw, and dualbooting for now (for a few, very few things that just runs better under windows).

[@Mojo_DK]

Some companies like System76, Slimbook, NovaCustom etc. try to disable Intel ME or AMD PSP as well as possible. Will you offer something similar in the future (at least make it optional) ?

[@Mojo_DK]

Dasharo coreboot would be awesome

[@HululusLabs]

Will we see an ARM machine anytime soon?

[@IvoPavlik]

We need to

[@lost-prototype]

Haptic touchpads, more (black!!) chassis options, pen input and touch screens.... CAMM RAM. Do a competitor to the Minisforum V3 :)

[@frankhuurman3955]

A greyish look like the Lenovo Yoga Slim laptops with a bit of an aluminum shiny FW logo on the back would be the dream. Current chassis color is a bit cheap looking.

[@revemb4653]

Need the option to have UWUbuntu pre installed

[@naguam-postowl1067]

I like company using their own products with Linux when officially supported. Lenovo sells thinkpad with “Linux support” and more than one year later still have big problems with power management (now fixed but took 1+ year) and screen psr flickering. Clearly showed a lack of QA before release and they shouldn’t have advertised Linux support that way. Thanks Framework, might be my next laptop (the amd one was released just after I bought my thinkpad, I am sad now)

[@Mojo_DK]

I am an openSUSE Tumbleweed user :D

[@vanish3408]

Is there any chance for an ARM Framework in the future?

[@shaneboo1531]

FRAMEWORK IN MALAYSIA !!!

[@aziz9488]

this please 🥲

[@MuhdAkmalyoyoman90]

Please ship to Malaysia

[@user-28qhfk65]

Pls

[@geetsaran24]

We need framework in INDIA!!!

[@conceptrat]

What CEO have you seen sitting in their Dev lair? Props to that ❤

[@Mojo_DK]

Once there is coreboot (or something similar) support, I will get a Framework laptop.

[@ivovass195]

Thanks for the webcam situation explanation. I hope to make my next laptop to be framework, but not until mine 2015 acer can't be saved any more and I can afford and its available in my region

[@night_h4nter]

nixos mentioned!

[@guillaumelagrange9878]

Can we have a mate black framework one day? 😢

[@sonickrnd]

Aren't body measures available? I mean, you can probably print one and make it mate\glossy\any way you like it?

[@jm56585]

@@sonickrnd you can't really get good rigidity with 3d printed parts though, so you'd have to CNC it and that'd be really expensive. I also don't think they have the entire CAD model of the body available (correct me if im wrong pls)

[@lilijoy5243]

NixOS gang here!

[@peterboil4064]

If they keyboards only would have a trackpoint, then this would be something for me. I'd buy three of those!

[@soumyabratapaul8151]

Unfortunate that we cant get this in India. We need this here!

[@Boo-ki7vr]

When will it be release to the nordic countries?

[@shravankashyap9437]

Hope you guys sell in India soon 😁, can't wait

[@one_step_sideways]

I don't think he wants to

[@vaisakh_km]

:( i don't think... i was wait for it since linus mentioned it...

[@shravankashyap9437]

@@vaisakh_km I know they actually can sell it in India they manufacture the laptops in Taiwan I think so it wouldn't be hard to ship it to here guess it will be expensive since we have such high import taxes and the Indian govt wants electronics to be manufactured here , I feel if framework did a model with the motherboard running like an intel n100 or similar low cost model it will sell like hot cakes .

[@evilleader1991]

indians too poor, enjoy chromebooks.