Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
What’s the story behind System76?
System76 started ten years ago with a goal to make high-quality computers born to run Linux, and that respected the user. The name is based off of the year of U.S. independence, 1776, reinforcing the idea of freedom. It has since grown immensely, now shipping laptops, desktops and servers all over the world, with a great team supporting them.
System76 focuses extensively on ensuring its hardware works seamlessly for users and the whole experience feels cohesive. We work to build a complete product, down to little touches like the super key featuring the Ubuntu logo vs the Windows key you see shipping on Linux laptops from other vendors.
What made System76 even consider selling hardware with Linux, and why Ubuntu?
GNU/Linux and the open source community deserved a high-quality manufacturer. And we believed that the benefits of Linux and the tools it offered were under-served. We also felt that with a strong company and customer support team backing Linux and promoting the open source tools available, we could empower the masses to become the creators of their environment rather than simply consumers. Most importantly, Linux would receive the attention and focus on hardware/software support that it deserved.
Red Hat and SUSE were tested, but weren’t adopted due to various factors. A distribution called “Yoper” was almost adopted, but ultimately passed over due to a lack of commercial support. Finally, Ubuntu was selected, although it was decided over the course of a few months. The community, OEM support as necessary, accessibility for non-techies, and the consistent user experience the distro provided, were, ultimately, the deciding factors.
Carl has a more detailed blog post about the beginning of the company: http://carlrichell.com/post/2611107120/how-system76-began
Does System76 have any plans to offer Linux alternatives such as Mint? Or, better still, let people choose a distro while buying.
Having a variety of Linux distros for users to choose from was a feature that the founders investigated exhaustively. In the end, they realized that the best way to spread Linux (and FOSS), was to eliminate any potential for decision overload that could occur with requiring new Linux-users to choose among all the different distros.
It was ultimately important for System76 to deliver a positive, holistic experience that would represent the open source community in the best possible light. In order to do this successfully, we deduced that one distribution needed to be chosen in order to thoroughly conduct proper firmware testing, support and compatibility for a truly seamless experience.
Still, the distro debate is ongoing, and very passionate. Even within our own office, each member of the staff has their own flavor of choice. For System76, our end goal is to empower the maker movement with the highest quality hardware, manage firmware and compatibility testing so that users don’t have to, and grow the network of Linux supporters by introducing everyday users to the power of open source software.
Having said that, we are looking at providing all the documentation that is generated whilst we are working on hardware support, device drivers, etc., to our customers and fans. Currently, testing every distro would stretch us too thin. With that documentation, the communities around these different distros could help test compatibility and support. That would allow us to provide a list of distributions that we know are well supported on our hardware. Once that is in place, who knows?
Does System76 intend to open a European/non-US shop(s) in the near future?
We don't have any “shops” at the moment, our only physical location that we have is our office here in Denver. This is largely because our machines are custom built to order online and don't warrant a physical location. However, we do ship all over the world and will continue to do so, you can see specifically where we ship here: https://system76.com/shipping
Or even sell System76 hardware through online retailers such as Amazon?
Selling our products through other retailers, either online or brick-and-mortar, may be a possibility. But we like ensuring the experience is a positive one, and upon buying a machine you have an account with a dashboard that allows you to talk to our team about your device. This is a really powerful tool, that facilitates conversation with our staff, and really makes what has become a real differentiator between us and other OEMs. I would be worried about losing that strong relationship and trust with our customers by inserting a third party there.
For folks outside of the US looking to buy System76, what are the implications with regards to warranties, returns, etc?
If we ship there (see question about shipping above), then you get the same shake as anyone else who orders. We have many customers outside of the U.S., all over the world in fact. We work very hard to provide the same level of service and support to them as our U.S. customers. We are very proud of all the places we’ve sent System76 devices to, and hope to continue to grow to be able to serve customers in even more places in the years to come.
If you want to see if we ship to your country, check out https://system76.com/shipping
Do you have a team who are always working on the support documentation?
What a great question, and well timed too! In the past we have worked hard on providing documentation through many avenues to our customers. But, as of late, we have undertaken a really fantastic project that will not only serve our customers, but everyone in the Linux community.
We have been working on http://support.system76.com - which features a number of tutorials, support docs, and articles that I think are great resources. We’re still at the beginning of this initiative, but these docs are open source and you can contribute to them on GitHub, simply by clicking the “Edit on GitHub” button, whilst viewing the article. Also, anyone can create an article, so we are looking for other contributors. We would like for this to be a great support resource for all Linux users, not specifically just System76 customers.
Is there a way to chat with System76 tech/reps via the site rather than a phone number?
Yes! You can live chat with us through the website at: https://system76.com/contact
Any plans to make 13” laptops for us travellers?
Both Carl and myself (Ryan) are big fans of this form-factor. Right now I use the 14” Lemur and am in love with it. It is light, powerful, and a really great machine - worthy to tag-along with any traveller (I travel quite a lot between Denver, Kansas City, and various conferences). I would recommend this to someone who wants an awesome travel companion today.
What about docking stations? Not a USB one, but a proper one like Dell/Lenovo do.
We are doing extensive testing of USB docking stations for those who already have machines and want to use one. As for the future, we are working on this and I imagine we will have more to say on that front as our next generation of products is announced. We are very aware that many of our customers want this. We hear you, and we are working to make it happen.
Does System76 have any plans to make mini-PCs that could be used for TV or desktop use?
How mini are we talking? The Meerkat is a very small PC that I use at home for an HTPC (to stream over stuff from my Plex server, as well as online content). It can be mounted to the back of a monitor or a television with relative ease.
If you are looking for a desktop that uses the least space possible, go for our all-in-one Sable. It is beautiful, and requires only the space needed for most monitors. In fact, even Mark Shuttleworth has commented on the beauty of the Sable before.
What about a phone? Would System76 be interested in making an Ubuntu phone?
What an interesting question (grin). We have looked at the possibility of making a phone and weighed doing this a number of times since the Ubuntu touch/phone/personal project was announced. We would certainly like to make a phone, but are watching and waiting for the platform to be mature enough to provide a stable and positive experience for our customers.
Is there anything in the System76 pipeline that you can tell us about?
We definitely have some amazing products in our pipeline, but unfortunately we can’t talk about them in detail (yet)! Our R&D department has been producing some really awesome stuff in our new “secret lab”. The end of the year through 2017 should serve to be a very exciting time for everyone who shares our desire for great devices running open source software. So I would ask everyone reading this to pay attention to what we’re doing and follow us online!
Twitter: @system76
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+system76
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/system76
Thank you for taking the time to answer these readers’ questions.