61: Framework Laptop 12 Meets Fedora

Framework does not have a storefront you can walk into. What they do have is a laptop you can order that arrives with Fedora already on it, and a screwdriver in the box. Michael Tunnell is the Senior Marketing Manager for Linux Marketing at Framework, and spent years covering this ecosystem at TuxDigital before joining. Noah is back this week after missing the last episode while stuck forty feet up on a scissor lift with a dead battery. We get into: Why Fedora KDE, and why the answer is a boring technical one: KDE tested best for stylus and touchscreen, and Fedora moves fast enough on the kernel for brand new silicon The 80 percent of Laptop 12 owners already running Linux, measured before any preload existed, so every one of them installed it themselves What "officially supported" means at Framework: engineering collaboration with the distro, support for the distro, and a dedicated Linux support specialist a customer can actually reach Real upstream fixes, including a CPU limiter and thermals bug on Wildcat Lake, audio modules, and screen rotation, all landed in Fedora and the kernel The expansion card system, with two of the four slots on the 12 running Thunderbolt 4 ZMK open source keyboard firmware, published CAD files, and 3D printable components What it costs a company to commit to repairability instead of planned obsolescence There is a written companion post at https://itguyeric.com/blog/fedora-ep61-framework-laptop-12/ Special Guest: Michael Tunnell. Links: Framework Laptop 12 Framework Linux support Fedora Magazine: Framework Laptop 12 Arrives with Fedora Pre-installed Framework blog: Laptop 12 now with Core Series 3 Fedora Podcast 44 with Matt Hartley Michael Tunnell TuxDigital Companion post Watch on YouTube Watch on PeerTube