Bonum Certa Men Certa

Purism's Problems Purely Boil Down to Trust and False Promises

PureOS sounds promising, just like OpenMoko, but we all want (and likely expect) to see results

Business silhouette



Summary: A promising, potentially exciting, freedom-respecting set of products would be easier to talk about than actually deliver; we take a look at what goes on at Purism

THIS is a particularly difficult subject for me to write about, having spent a number of years cheering for Librem (in its various forms or form factors) and by extension its parent company, Purism, whose goals I believe to be well-intentioned. They're a sort of privacy-first, freedom-at-the-forefront company (freedom as in Software Freedom as well as hardware freedom -- to the limited extent presently possible).



Lately I have been reading negative things about Purism. I also received messages and mail about it. I am committed to Software Freedom, but I am also deeply committed to truth, so let's put right there on the table the knowns, unknowns, and what's in desperate need of verification. Because transparency is needed for true trust; otherwise it's fantasy. Here in Techrights we're as transparent as possible with IRC logs that serve to reveal operations (behind the scenes too). We're balancing privacy and transparency, e.g. in the name of source protection. We redact some things, usually to protect identities only. But those who lurk in IRC (or read our logs) can get a pretty good idea of what's going on.

"Many companies operate at a loss and/or have massive debt. They don't like to talk about those things."Purism is different. The company isn't always upfront. Sometimes it's not even honest and some would say "misleading". I'd like to believe they're not intentionally misleading people, but over the past month there was more evidence to that effect. Are they dishonest for "the greater good"? I don't know. Some companies pretend to do better than they really do, hoping for a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy effect -- inertia built atop an illusion. I get that. I don't respect that, but I totally get that. It's quite common and many large companies -- including Microsoft -- do this. Many companies operate at a loss and/or have massive debt. They don't like to talk about those things. It might scare away those who subsidise/invest in them. Sometimes they're bank(er)s, sometimes they're so-called 'angels', sometimes they're the public or prospective buyers who raise funds for projects/products.

One person asked me yesterday: "Have you heard anything about Purism? Or Librem? Being a complete and utter failure/scam?"

"Well," she said, "from what I heard..."

She shared some discussions about this and even new memes. Moments ago someone pointed out to me this recent article that I had read days ago. It's titled "The Sad Saga of Purism and the Librem 5" and there are 3 parts to it.

“Their laptop campaign had over 65% return rate, I heard closer to 70%.”
      --Anonymous
"And no comments from @purism to that," I was told, so "seems like a really sad story to me."

Going back to that first person, "2 years ago," she said, "over 1.5 million -- I heard close to 2.5... was raised."

"But they cannot deliver on the units," she added.

"Their laptop campaign had over 65% return rate, I heard closer to 70%."

"When employees went to San Diego to the fulfillment center, they noted all the concerns - return rate, quality, etc. They wanted to work with Weaver for improvement. He would not meet F2F from what I heard but online. During that session, he went around to see what concerns people had. Quickly, 5 were fired. Another quit within a week or so."

But apparently it gets yet worse. This is the part which is mostly speculative. "From what I heard," she said, "Purism money is now going to Forbes and social media campaigns without the transparency of what is really happening. Phoronix is one of their media outlets."

I can believe the part about Forbes, knowing how they're manipulated. But I'm not sure about Phoronix.

"Media manipulation is possible," I responded, "but I won't vouch for it. Michael Larabel isn't perfect, I often wonder what he does with hardware shipped to him (among other things), but there's no evidence they pay him or are in cahoots, so that seems unfair. Please dig further with your contacts. Eventually I will write about this."

“When employees went to San Diego to the fulfillment center, they noted all the concerns - return rate, quality, etc.”
      --Anonymous
For the sake of accuracy let's just assume -- at least for now -- that Phoronix covers Purism stuff because Phoronix readers care about it. That seems a lot more plausible to me

"As we already are pretty certain," she said, that "Forbes takes money - I mean, just even looking at the content Forbes puts out about certain tech is telling. Phoronix was a question, but is looking more and more like a media outlet that takes money too based on the Purism story."

Phoronix recently did a story that's actually an interview with Purism folks. But nothing suggested that it was promotional. Nothing that I could see.

"I believe Purism is starting other services/campaigns in hopes to raise enough to fulfill those previous orders," she continued, "but it didn't work out... (social media, tablet)

"That's all the info I have on this."

From what I can gather, Purism is struggling. Also, at this stage, workers are leaving (or get fired). This is not good.

Is there something malicious going on? Probably not, but people who fund-raised for this company are being left in the dark and it's not fair to them.

The subject line of the above message was, "purism - where's the hw?" [hardware] which to me says it all.

To me at least. There's a story behind it. It's an old story.

Half a decade (probably less) ago they said they'd ship a review unit for me to write about (just on loan, for me to pass on to the next person once done). I'd never buy their overpriced laptops, but they wanted me to assess. It's them who suggested this to me; they had approached me. But it soon became apparent that they were inconsistent, unorganised, and unprofessional.

Did they ever ship?

No.

Never.

Just wasted my time.

Again and again.

Then the person was removed. The person who spoke to me. The one who approached me. The one who wasted my time.

Always excuses. Hardly any apologies.

“From what I heard Purism money is now going to Forbes and social media campaigns without the transparency of what is really happening.”
      --Anonymous
I posted online about that (at the time). Repeatedly even. It was a sort of warning. They seemed a tad suspicious to me. Trust was eroded and ever since then I never looked at them the same way. But the press carried on, then the FSF (endorsement), not to mention fund-raising for Librem 5.

At one point they said they'd connect me for an interview (to publish on my site) with the founder of Qubes OS. Did that ever happen? No.

You bet! Another round of false promises; a total waste of time.

So, in summary I view them as bad on communications, big on promises, never delivering anything. Anything. Later they make up a bunch of excuses.

And going back to the question, "where's the hw?"

I wondered that many years ago, almost 5 years ago. I've lost count.

The dreams they put forth are dreams. KDE, GNOME.... on a small device. Nice, but will that be delivered? I heard they scattered around some units recently. Then I heard about technical issues. Now I hear about staff leaving.

Deep inside I hope they succeed, but I remain sceptical based on my personal experience.

Purism needs to speak out and be frank about what's happening. I've been nothing but courteous towards them (I didn't even name the person who let me down; maybe she quit, maybe she got fired), but courtesy should be a two-way street/bridge. The very fact that a project about "freedom" does not even offer "openness" is not compatible with the spirit upon which it managed to raise millions of dollars in funds, thanks in part to endorsements/promotions from FSF, GNOME, KDE and so on. Not to mention volunteer writers like myself who have mentioned them over a thousand times over the years.

Moments ago figosdev told me: "ive always been neutral/curious about these guys, particularly with the fsf endorsement. im very curious what oliva thinks.

“I believe Purism is starting other services/campaigns in hopes to raise enough to fulfill those previous orders...”
      --Anonymous
"but with all thats happened to people trying to create real freedom lately, is it possible this is another attack, rather than a real revelation? (i dont know how i can prove im neutral, this is just my reaction.)"

Tom Grz wrote: "I’ve always been suspicious, primarily because their products are high-priced, and if they really wanted to make a difference they should move down the population curve. Also, the president is a jerk."

Some memes do target the president's personality; I don't know him personally. There's a link there to a talk from him. "Todd Weaver has more to say about himself than the advertised subject matter," Grz added later.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Twitter (X) is Dying, Now It's Just Like a Mafia-Type Operation of the Man Who Does Nazi Salutes in Public
a form of extortion
The Price of Exposing Corruption in Poland (and Elsewhere)
It's easier to participate in corruption than to merely do the right thing and oppose it
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part IX: Minimum Wages For You (Experienced Scientist), Alicante/EU Paydays For Me (Unproductive, Corrupt Official)
Does UPRP maladministration extend to the false belief that qualified and experienced scientists can play the role of circus clowns?
"The Liberating Power of Simply Telling People the Truth."
'polite' bullying
Who Imitates Who? Plagiarist as Client (From Microsoft), 'Plagiarism' at the Law Firm?
let's revisit the subject
 
Links 13/06/2025: US Reduces Nonessential Staff at Baghdad Embassy Ahead of Strikes in Iran, Invasion of California Debated
Links for the day
X11 is Free Software
Whether you agree (e.g. on politics) with the person/s forking it doesn't matter
The More Time Passes, the Better Our Advice on Social Control Media Seems
At the end of the day, any platform you do not control yourself is working for someone else
UK High Court Blasts Brett Wilson LLP for Misusing "GDPR" After Failed Efforts to Censor Critics Using 'Libel' Claims
No wonder this firm is rapidly shrinking
Recent Blunders in Microsoft GitHub (e.g. Slop-Generated Bug Reports or GPL Violations 'as a Service') Taking Their Toll?
Put bluntly, if you still use Microsoft GitHub, then you're slave to Microsoft
American Imperialism and Microsoft Plagiarism
Techrights will therefore do what Microsoft does not want it to do: it'll write even more about Microsoft
When They Have Nothing Left to Help Advance Abusive Litigation for Microsoft People... Other Than Throwing ~500 Pages of Someone Else's Work Into a PDF
Microsoft is having a very tough year
Slopwatch and Yet More Holes in 'Secure Boot' (as Usual!), Promoted Inside Linux by the Man We Are Suing
Today's Slopwatch will be short
Gemini Links 13/06/2025: People You've Left Behind, Life Update and OS Changes
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, June 12, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, June 12, 2025
Links 12/06/2025: Portland Homeless Deaths Quadruple, COVID Cases Surge in Asia
Links for the day
EPO's Gareth Lord Asked About "Quality and Productivity" or, Put Another Way, Why the EPO Keeps Granting So Many Invalid/Illegal Patents
letter to Lord
EPO's Central Staff Committee (CSC) Scrutinises the Man Who Illegally Grants (and Forces Others to Illegally Participate in Granting) Software Patents in Europe
EPO compels examiners to break the law in the name of obeying illegal "rules" or "orders"
The Latest Rumour Says The Next (as Correctly Predicted Before) Wave of Layoffs at Microsoft is 3 Weeks Away, "Larger Than the First Wave"
Step 2
TV Licensing Used to SPAM Your Postbox, Now It Does the Same to E-mail
First they ask for your E-mail address; then they start nagging you via E-mail
The Toxic Playbook
Either you support Prince Mohammed bin Salman or you're a nazi
It's Possible That BetaNews Got Cracked, But Nobody Talks About It, The Site Contains an Outdated Old Image, No Activity
It's possible that they will never explain what happened to the site and users' accounts
Links 12/06/2025: Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson Dies
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/06/2025: Video Game Diegesis and Steam Next Fest
Links for the day
Why the Militants Have Lost Every Battle Since 2022 (When Attacking My Wife and I in Various Ways, Even Attacking Our Employers)
This takes patience, sure, but at the end most evildoers face the consequences for their actions
Our Priority is Still Tackling Software Patents and Corruption in Patent Offices
Meanwhile we got compliments on our recent articles, which means that they are effective
Politics Will Impact Software Choices
Will those systems respect users' freedom?
EPO: Neglecting Children to Promote American Monopolies by Shielding Them From European Competition
Yesterday the Central Staff Committee at the EPO spoke about another "reform" at the Office
Slopwatch: Another Day, Another Slopfest, LLM Slop Scrapers Slow Down Our Site
We too have some slop issues; this past day this site and the sister site had to answer about 2.5 million requests (not counting Gemini Protocol) and it's slowing things down for everybody
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, June 11, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Links 11/06/2025: More Vulnerabilities Found in 'Smart' Phones, China Extends Reach in the Pacific
Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/06/2025: Grain and Steam Next Fest
Links for the day
Links 11/06/2025: "Quantum" Hype From IBM, US Closer to Martial Law, and “The Nation” Celebrates Milestone
Links for the day
IBM's CEO Roasted, Sizzled and Grilled for Dumb and Inconsistent Vapourware Promises
It looks like being a chronic liar is what it takes to lead the company once synonymous with computing
IBM's Goal Is Not (and Never Was) Computer Users' Freedom
More than 1.5 decades ago I found IBM to be an "ally of convenience" because of OpenDocument Format (ODF)
Wayland Shows the IBM/Red Hat Way of Doing Things
IBM is trying to 'kill' X
GitHub is Proprietary, Controlled by Microsoft, and GPL Violation Warehouse
"IRS tax filing software [will be] released to the people as free software" ... In general this is good news
Slopfarm Catastrophe
Seems like BetaNews (or BetaNoise) has just suffered a major data loss and restored the site from a week-old backup
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part VIII: Illegal Working Conditions
How many people need to die for these people to get their massive salaries?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, June 10, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, June 10, 2025