Libreboot replaces firmware for some decade-old server machines lacking a ME (although noisy, they work quite well as a desktop).
The amount of money that Intel gets off these chips can't be significant because they are currently over two years old anyways (Q3'15).
That one can maybe fix a hardware backdoor in Intel chips does not make buying them any better. Intel does not get my money but should instead get clear-worded, sanctioned letter from the authorities. I think they should be banned from trading and selling their backdoored stuff. I will not buy even old products of them. They messed up big time and don't even explain themselves.
So you are obviously right that proof of concept of fully FLOSS ARM phone doesn't directly translate to x86.
But it does show that they know how and want to build fully FLOSS systems. Whether they don't quite succeed 100% with the x86 system (as the management engine is still in my computer, albeit isolated and disabled), they have been making great strides in getting close to %100 and I am willing to reward them for that.
Regarding the morality of buying Intel chips, I do share the reluctance to support Intel. I hadn't bought a new Intel computer or CPU since 2007 with Core2Duo for that reason. But sometimes morality decision can't be made in a binary all or nothing manner. In this case I am aware of the damage done by purchasing an x86 system, but it makes up for in being able to have a productive labtop which I can more effectively work to make FLOSS applications with.
Depends on the kind of Mac you buy. I can only comment on their mobile offerings:
- Best supported are the current MacBook Airs. Everything except the Webcam should work out-of-the-box. The webcam needs the out-of-tree bcwc_pcie driver (https://github.com/patjak/bcwc_pcie)).
- The Retina MacBooks need some manual work before being usable (e.g. need to compile out-of-tree keyboard & touchpad driver (https://github.com/cb22/macbook12-spi-driver)), but should work fine as well.
- The MacBook Pros before October 2016 are also quite good supported, the support for newer ones is still quite incomplete (check out https://github.com/Dunedan/mbp-2016-linux for details), although it's possible to use them as daily driver if you're aware of the limitations.
All of the Macs I have require binary firmware blobs for WiFi, for the open source driver to work. And even in that case none of them can do even 802.11n. I have to use the proprietary WiFi driver to get 802.11n or 802.11ac. And yes each model varies in this regard, which makes it something of a Choose Your Own Adventure book.
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Techno...
Not innocuous, but probably less dangerous.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12584880 and others might have details on WiFi and such
I really wonder why the GPU situation is such a huge mess. Very few are supported by free drivers and the closed drivers are, besides being closed, often of very low quality. Is patent law holding this situation stable? Isn't patent law there to promote advance? I feel it isn't working.
I do care, a lot. I have decided to avoid Intel (and AMD) hardware like the pest. I will not buy any Core iSpyOnYou or AMD equivalent anymore. I'm an advocate of economic and judicial sanctions from the political level against Intel (and AMD). I tell people around me about the problems and explain how it is an issue of privacy, security, national sovereignty, and market power abuse.
I'm looking for a desktop computer for my day to day use that comes without compromised hardware. The Raspberry Pi 3 works quite well, but doesnt work without non-free software. I successfully installed Debian onto my A20-OLinuXino-MICRO, but the GUI doesn't start. I'm looking for Hardware without Intel Hardware, without non-free software, mainline Linux support and preferable Debian compatible. The OpenPower system by raptor engineering is simply too expensive. I cannot afford it. Any ideas?