[oconnor663]

I think it's interesting even just to try to define an "IP-free computer" in a clear way. Like presumably we don't care if minor components like resistors or screws are proprietary, because it's trivial to replace them with a different supplier. Or taking it to the extreme, obviously we don't care where the steel in the screws comes from. Steel is steel, even if being a steel company requires tons (kilotons?) of proprietary machinery. It's hard to even figure out where the screws in a computer come from, much less the steel.

[pjc50]

Steel is steel, but there's a whole question of "rare" minerals that Freephone were looking at. Tantalum capacitors require a mineral that's sourced from the warzone in the DRC!