Lemote unveils world’s first netbook powered entirely by FOSS

According to a MIPS press release, the company is set to demo an 8″ netbook powered by free software. According to Lemote, who manufactures the Yeelong8089, the Android machine is completely closed-source free.

From the BIOS out, everything preloaded on the 8089 is completely free and open source. The result: a low-cost,  lightweight, and compact netbook that should be extremely hacker-friendly. According to Lemote, this is the word’s first computer to ship with entirely free software.

Hardware-wise, the system sports an 800Mhz Longsoon processor, 1024×600 8.9″ display, 3 USB 2.0 ports, and SD card reader. Additional configuration options include 512MB or 1GB DDR2 memory, 2GB/8GB SSD or a 160GB HDD, webcam, and a USB wifi adapter. There’s even an internal USB connection for expansion.

via ZD Net

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Posted on Tuesday, January 5th, 2010, 1:30 pm by Lee
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  • Since the software is FOSS, one is only paying for the hardware. This should keep the price down.
  • Michael
    When society is so Brand conscious and practice Brand loyalty, how do you expect me to buy something called Lemote?

    What about support? If something gets spoilt, I would be very concerned about the after sales and stability of the company.
  • lccurtis1
    Michael I agree. Not only would I not buy this, can you imagine what junk software you would have on this? Yes I know you can format the drive and install whatever you like, that theory is good for us techies but not for the average user. Besides haven't the marketing gurus at Lemote figured that the sweet spot for netbooks is at least 10" inches?
  • Discerning Inidividual
    If I wanted a netbook with junk software, I would purchase one with Windows on it. That way, I would get an OS that doesn't even respect my right to own it (which means I can modify, reinstall, redistribute, and recopy it however and whenever I wish), lots of trial bloatware, poor security, performance bottlenecks, and blue screens of death. If I'm really lucky, the BIOS on such a netbook may even prevent me from booting another OS.

    That this netbook is for a niche market is already understood by all. It's mainly a netbook for technically proficient free software advocates, not just your average, apathetic, mediocre computer user, the boon of Microsoft and Apple and their massive profits.

    I do agree with you about the screen size issue, though.
  • Junk software? Have you bought a computer where there isn't any junk software? I have a notebook computer with trial Microsoft Office software plus other software that I would not use but received anyway. Most computers come preloaded with software; most of which is never used by the owner.
  • Society
    We expect you to not be such a baby.
  • Michael
    We expect you to not be a pariah
  • Discerning Individual
    It's sad that so many people expect to be dictated how to dress, act, eat, worship, etc., but it's even sadder when that person is so open and shameless about the fact that he is a proud member of the Sheeple.
  • Ah, not quite - at least, not likely -
    If that machine got mentioned on the mips.com news, then it most likely uses
    the mips rom bootloader, Yamon - - and Yamon is not FOSS.
    It is subject to a "do not re-distribute" clause in the sources.
  • turn_self_off
    so the questions are, price and availability?
  • MonkeyKing1969
    I was a little lite on the lingo, so I had to look FOSS up...

    Free and Open Source Software, also F/OSS or FLOSS (free/libre/open source software)
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