I recently purchased a Minisforum computer from the link on the Manjaro.org website’s Products page. I did so in the hopes of supporting Manjaro, which I have used for several years, and assuming I would receive a Linux-loaded computer without paying the cost of a Windows license. When researching Minisforum, I saw evidemce of several people receiving computers preloaded with Manjaro, so this seemed reasonable. I also noted in the purchase comments that I was intending to purchase a computer with Linux, not Windows.
The computer I received, however, was loaded with Windows, and the Secure Boot configuration needed to be overridden before I could get a Manjaro USB stick to boot. When I asked Minisforum about this, here is the response I got:
We are sorry that we no longer produce the Linux edition machines.
You can try to install it yourself.
I can do that, and of course I would have reinstalled the OS anyway upon receiving it. But I am disappointed that, when intending to buy a computer that supports the open-source ecosystem, I ended up purchasing one with a Windows license. I do not know whether my purchase supported Manjaro in any way.
I think it is misleading for Manjaro to promote a computer on its Products page, under “devices with Manjaro preinstalled,” that is in fact a Windows machine. I hope you will correct this before others are misled.
The website has not represented the community for a long time.
Now it represents the company.
The promotional stuff is part of @philm’s efforts to provide independent Linux consulting and this is unsupported by forum.
I think it is great that @philm provide feedback to vendors on how to create their devices and implementing the details in the linux kernel.
Perhaps he can tell you why it has come to be. If minisforum came to the conclusion they didn’t want to support Linux as they stated - perhaps they didn’t communicate the decision or it is a very recent decision.
The partnership with Minisforum ended. We received our last payout with them in February. Back then it was not clear if all stock got sold. It seems our website didn’t reflect that fact yet.
It was an experiment with Minisforum to produce MiniPCs with Manjaro Linux pre-installed. However, due to the fact that Minisforum as a company got sold again, the new owner wasn’t keen to keep the Linux editions around. We tried to follow up with them with a newer product, but didn’t got an answer yet.
I have updated our products page to reflect our current offers with Manjaro pre-installed devices.
The UM790Pro works fine with our standard Manjaro installation medias. We sold 800+ units with Minisforum, mostly to the USA.
It would have been nice if there had been some communication about all of this. The hardworking people at the source should not have to rely on any third parties in order to find out what’s going on under their own roof, so to speak.
This is so frustrating, and it really hurts my trust in relying on Manjaro. This was my first attempt to support Manjaro’s work, which I have appreciated after several years of use, and this is the result.
Minisforum just confirmed to me today:
We don’t have a partnership with Manjaro.
@philm do you have any confirmation about the trustworthiness of Minisforum as a company and hardware producer? Have you been able to inspect their firmware?
That is likely true - if it was the previous owners - and they have no intention on continuing.
Well - the vendor apparently sold themselves to another company which then decided not to continue the Linux avenue but focus their effort on Windows OS.
That is hardly a fault of Manjaro as community but a a business decision elsewhere in the world.
I tried - in a very small capacity back in 2019-20 to import Yepo 13" laptops and distribute them to the community and hoped to provide some funding for the community project.
I had to give in - it was not feasible - and I didn’t try to make a living - whomever bought minisforum - they want to see money - and very few vendors are successful providing Linux as OS.
but not overall. usually they offer them with ubuntu and nothing else and often only for some specific models while you can run in deep trouble with some other models. okay tuxedo might be a little bit different but there are a lot of topics here in the forum from the past that tuxedo’s support on linux isn’t great.
minisforum isn’t the worst one. there are a lot of other brands in this business of mini-pc’s like geekom,gmktech,aoostar,acemagic and so forth that delivered their computers with infected windows-os in the past. the main problem with this brands is that they are just the distributors of this systems but are buying the models from different and several small vendors and reselling them under their brand. usually these products get in the hands from different shops until they got shipped and it happened several times that some shops manipulated the systems before they were delivered to this distributors and shipped from them to the customer. that’s a very common problem in this delivery-chain and you should never trust any os that is preinstalled on these systems while the hardware itself is okay. i would always recommend to purge the preinstalled os and setup a fresh and clean one.
Indeed it is frustrating. I probably would ask for a refund then buy a laptop from Manjaro website’s products. Can you ask for refund? Speaking of supporting, another way that we can do to support Manjaro is by donating via Open Collective Manjaro’s Page. I make a small monthly donation and I guess that is is totally safe and trustworthy .
After we launch the Zotac gaminghandheld with Manjaro pre-installed, we may look also into MiniPCs with them. Slimbook, also one of our partners provides some MiniPCs. Currently we work on the second laptop project with them, the CREATIVE model.
We also had a partership with Tuxedo, which also ended.
There is also the Belgium shop which offers hardware with Manjaro pre-installed: Manjaro Computers However we don’t actively promote it on our side anymore.
Doing hardware gigs can be complex and sometimes frustrating.
So far we recommend our current partner StarLabsLtd, slimbook and Zotac. So far only StarLabsLtd might have stock others not yet.
Thanks, all. I really recognize and honor the work that the Manjaro team and collaborators do, and thank you for it. An Open Collective contribution is a great idea—I’ve just made one there in recognition of the excellent experience I’ve had with the OS over the years. (h/t @RuKsu)
@linux-aarhus In my view, the fault of the Manjaro team was in not maintaining a part of your website that relates to large financial transactions—representing a purchase from Minisforum as a) involving preloaded Manjaro, and b) supporting the Manjaro project. If you are promoting large purchases to your community, you should stand by the current information on your website. Otherwise you should not ask community members to spend money on your behalf.
@RuKsu Thanks for your understanding of my frustration! I am able to get a refund, but I have to pay for the return shipping since the hardware itself is not defective.
For folks in the US looking for Linux-focused hardware, I would add to the list System76, which produces computers in Denver and develops the PopOS and COSMIC software projects. S76 uses open firmware as well. I’ve also heard great things about StarLabs but haven’t tried their machines yet.
@Olli, I would just add that while purging the OS can be part of the solution, trusted firmware is also important. Have you seen cases of corrupted firmware from manufacturers like Minisforum?
no, and there is till now nothing reported. these brands, especially acemagic, had been compromised cause there had been some shops where they bought the computers for reselling them and all known cases where malware and pishing that was preinstalled on the preinstalled ms-windows. the people that infected the pc’s hadn’t the experience for such technical attacks. their intention was to scam windows-users.
Normally with all our past partners as in Tuxedo, Minisforum, Beelink, Slimbook we had a good relationship and good support for our users. Slimbook and StarLabsLtd always go beyond normal user support as in software and hardware issues. We currently have a great partnership with Zotac.
So all in all, long as it lasts, the company makes sure that the products are solid. All earnings will go to the company, which them employed people like me, Roman, Bernhard, Vitor, Artem and Dan to take care of Manjaro.
Those who want to support the community development should donate.
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