Framework Computer
Framework Computer Inc is an American laptop manufacturer. The company positions itself as a proponent of the electronics right to repair movement, and their laptops are designed to be easy to disassemble, with replaceable parts. The company's approach has earned them praise from Louis Rossmann and Linus Sebastian, the latter having invested $225,000 into the company. In November 2021, "Time" magazine listed the Framework Laptop on their list of the 100 Best Inventions. "Fast Company" listed the Framework Laptop on their list of the Most Innovative Companies of 2022. Products. For the products repairability and upgradability , the company's website has the guide for the replacement and repair and the marketplace. Framework Laptop. In July 2021, Framework Computer started to ship their first product Framework Laptop for the US and Canada. In December 2021, Framework Computer started the pre-order for the UK, Germany and France. In February 2022, pre-ordering became available for Ireland, Austria and The Netherlands. Framework Laptop received a 10 out of 10 in iFixit's repairability score. Framework Laptop has the pre-assembled edition, and Framework Laptop DIY Edition to customize, upgrade, and assemble like a desktop. Framework Laptop DIY Edition  provides an option without a pre-installed operating system. Mainboard. In April 2022, the company open sourced their mainboard with CAD and electrical documentation, being available in their marketplace, giving away 100 mainboards to makers and developers. Embedded controller firmware. Framework Laptop is using the proprietary firmware BIOS and an open sourced embedded controller (EC) firmware, that is based on CrOS EC. In April 2021, the company mentioned "Open source firmware is well aligned to our mission of building products. We're currently focused on getting the Framework Laptop out into the world in a lower-risk path that uses  an off the shelf proprietary BIOS, but we're looking forward to replacing that with an open alternative in the future.". In January 2022, the company open sourced their EC firmware. Their initially shipped BIOS version is 3.02. The latest version is 3.07 in Windows, and the beta version in Linux. The support by the Linux Vendor Firmware Service (LVFS) with fwupd is expected. The LVFS is currently in testing state. Expansion Cards. The laptop has detachable interfaces. The company launched the Expansion Card Developer Program to opening card development, released documentation, CAD templates, and reference designs for Expansion Cards , all under open source licenses to make it easy for both hardware companies and individual makers to create new card designs. A company or individual driven projects. There are a third party company or individual driven projects. Community relations. The company has their official forum hosted on Discourse and community platform hosted on Discord. The company provided pre-release hardware to developers and maintainers at Fedora Project, elementary OS, NixOS, and Arch Linux to make the Linux experience as smooth as possible on Framework Laptop. The company provided the hardware to coreboot community. Arch Linux has Framework Laptop page on  their wiki site. Partner relations. In January 2022, Intel introduced Framework Computer as one of their partners at the tech event, CES 2022. Framework Computer mentioned that they have a communication with the Intel Linux WiFi driver team, and the Framework Laptop's WiFi and Bluetooth stability to be good starting from Linux kernel version 5.17. Support. The company supports by knowledge base articles, community forum, QR codes on the products, and inquiry form. Supported countries and regions. Framework Laptop is available for order in the US and Canada and for pre-order in the UK, Germany and France. The  company announced they will add additional countries in 2022, introducing their region selection page. In December 2021, the company announced that they chose the additional supported countries UK, Germany and France based on both the number of people who registered interest through the region selection page and on logistical complexity. In February 2022, pre-ordering became available for Ireland, Austria and The Netherlands. There are several threads about this topic on the community forum. The company recommended users waiting until the company officially launch in your region before ordering. The company commented "if an import service is used, we will  not be able to support your laptop or warranty if something goes wrong hardware-wise or assist when it comes to international customs or VATs". Linux support. In December 2021, the company released a statement asking users who are not using Ubuntu 21.04.3+ or Fedora 35 to troubleshoot with Framework's Linux community instead of contacting Framework support as no other Linux distribution has been verified by the company for hardware compatibility, mentioning that the company could troubleshoot general product usage issues on a supported OS, but could not troubleshoot OS related issues not related to the product functionality . In April 2022, the company announced their Linux compatibility page. Electronics right to repair movement. Framework Laptop was on display as part of the Waste Age: What can Design Do? exhibition displayed at the Design Museum in London from October 2021 to February 2022.