System76 Thelio computer is open source, Linux-powered, and made in the USA

Beta news ^ | 1 Nov 2018 | Brian Fagioli

[DUMBGRUNT]

Computers made in America are virtually non-existent, but a little company in Denver had a dream to do just that. System76 has long been looking to make a Linux-powered computer in the USA using open source ideology. A lofty goal, which many folks didn't think would ever be achieved. Well, against all odds, today, System76 proves the haters wrong as it finally unveils its much-anticipated Thelio desktop computer. And boy, oh boy, it is beautiful.

[DUMBGRUNT]

A computer mostly MADE IN USA!

I hope they thrive.

[ASOC]

Made in the USA or Assembled in the USA of Chinese parts?

[posterchild]

From their site:
US-sourced wood and aluminum are formed, finished, etched, and built by artisans in our Denver, Colorado factory. Premium components from around the world are then assembled to your final specifications. And to offset environmental impact, every Thelio sold plants a tree with the National Forest Foundation.

It sounds like they merely make the case and then assemble the computer with foreign made motherboards, power supplies, etc. I used to do that in my dorm room. I used to do it long enough ago that some of the jameco motherboards I bought may have even been made in the USA.

[posterchild]

Also, I’ve planted trees before but that activity had no correlation with my computer assembly.

[catnipman]

$1,200 for an i5 with integrated graphics, 8GB Ram and 250GB SSD? That’s not just pricey, that’s laughably pricey.

[Revel]

As far as I can tell it does not have any front panel drive bays. In the specs there is no listing of a CD/DVD drive. So there is no optical drive and no place to install one either. This is the latest trend. It is way too soon to eliminate these features from computers. This leaves an external USB drive as being the only option. No thanks.

[BipolarBob]

You were able to breathe air, weren’t you? That was thanks to those trees to ALLOW you to assemble your computer.

[Calvin Locke]

Back in the day...the CAD department was supposed to get a new Prime Computer. Prime "messed up", and sold the system (to some one willing to pay premium, no doubt).

So, they cobbled together a system for us in the mean time with a chassis made of 2x4s. AFAIK, it worked fine.

[bigbob]

Explained

[LeoTDB69]

“$1,200 for an i5 with integrated graphics, 8GB Ram and 250GB SSD? That’s not just pricey, that’s laughably pricey.”

Don’t forget they are including the planting of a tree in the cost.

[Ignatz]

Have you priced an iMac lately?

[Dalberg-Acton]

I’m finished with Intel CPU’s. Buggy CPU that has to be slowed down to be safe and, as a bonus, the company hates my President.
AMD Ryzen on my next PC.

[TChad]

A tad pricey, but probably worth it for an individual or business that has decided to make the leap to Ubuntu, but wants to be able to call someone to help them through the hard parts.

It is impressive that System76 has created its own Linux distro, Pop! OS:

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3204910/linux/pop-os-is-a-linux-distro-from-system76.html

I think System76's advertising should emphasize their all-American tech support instead of the all-American wood used in their computer cases, but I hope the company succeeds.

[Boomer]

I just built my dream machine using their order page and it came out to $2k.

I was being conservative but also forward thinking. I’m already using Linux Mint as my daily.

My current machine does what I need it to for the foreseeable future so my dream machine will have to wait a few years.

https://system76.com/cart/configure/thelio-r1

I’d like to look at their POP OS and take it for a test drive. I’d probably install Linux Mint on it too. It just works (except I haven’t been able to get TOR to work yet).

[TChad]

I’d like to look at their POP OS and take it for a test drive.

You can download it here:

https://system76.com/pop

Best of luck with TOR. I hope it has speeded up in recent years.

[dayglored]

> I’d like to look at their POP OS and take it for a test drive.

I got one of their desktop machines a year or so ago, Wild Dog, i7 12-core, 32GB RAM, 500GB SSD. Around $1800 as I recall. Runs like a batouttahell.

Pop_OS at that time was their variant of Ubuntu 17.10, and it was good, but since then I've loaded stock Ubuntu 18.04. Nothing really against Pop, but I needed to align with the rest of the machines in my company for compatibility reasons.

[dayglored]

Linux ping!

[papertyger]

Serious question:

Everyone who advocates for Linux never mentions to us non tech heads where they get, or how they vet, the third party software.

I want a computer that works. Not one that becomes an endeavor of its own.

[PIF]

Linux you work;
Win10 works for scammers, viruses, malware, and companies that try to defeat the previous;
OS X just works for you. (new releases include T2 security chip).

[trebb]

Yep - my last Win10 box has 16GB RAM and TB Drive (Not SS but what the hey) and cost $599 with monitor.