6.9 KiB
GNU Guix on Framework 12
Why Framework 12
What I was looking for
I wanted to buy a tablet for my University studies, which should have supported stylus for writing (ex. math, notes) and drawing. I also didn't want to get a tablet with a bloated mobile os, such as iPadOS or Android. I wanted to own my device and make use of it not only for notes, but also for other tasks. It was March 2025 and the only suitable thing I found was Pinenote - an E-Ink tablet with stylus, running Debian with GNOME desktop. It was okay, and I considered buying it, but at that time I found out, that there's a Framework company, that has a goal of building modular, repairable laptops, that are owned by it's user (and not the other way, like with most laptops). I only thought
It would be great to have a tablet built by this company. I would buy it immediately.
Framework 12 was announced
And what do you think? They actually announced Framework 12 a month later, in April 2025. That laptop had everything I wanted:
- Small and Portable
- Stylus support (both MPP and USI)
- Light (1.3 kg)
- Runs the OS you want it to run (a desktop class OS such as GNU Linux)
- Repairable by design
- Upgradable by design
- Powerful enough (I have an i5 Intel CPU with 10 Cores/12 Threads)
So I immediately preordered one of them (a purple one) and received it in late July 2025.
Why GNU Guix
At first I used NixOS on it, but I was interested in installing GNU Guix on it. I like the whole idea of having a 100% reproducible system and having the whole system and home configurations in a git repo. NixOS is a great distro, but it has several flaws:
Flaws of NixOS
Not all packages are source-based
The whole idea of Nix and NixOS is that you build all packages (at least all, that are Free Software) in a reproducible way from source. But there're packages like Joplin, Electron, JQuerry, that are not build from source. The package definitions just download the precompiled binaries/prebuilt packages and call it a day. I think, that defeats the whole idea and purpose of Nix, and also doesn't allow a user to control, how this software is built, and only gives a false feeling of security and peace of mind.
Non-Free Software by default
Yes, when you install NixOS, it askes you, whether you want to enable non-free packages/services on your pc and you can decline it. But what it doesn't say - is that even if you nixpkgs.config.allowUnfree = false;, you're still getting the Non-Free Linux Kernel. You may say
But the Linux Kernel is Free and Open Source Software.
But it's actually not 100% true and that's a problem.
How GNU Guix fixes them
All packages are built from source
Guix maintainers are much more strictly following the idea, that every package should be built from source and I haven't seen any exceptions at the time of writing this.
100% Free Software by default
Guix the package manager, Guix System and the Guix channel (Repository with packages) are all 100% Free/Libre Software. Guix is in the list of FSF approved GNU/Linux distributions, that respect user's freedom, so if you're installing this distro, you're not getting any Non-Free programs, drivers, etc. It uses Linux-Libre kernel with all the propriatory parts stripped out.
Hardware compatibility
GNU Guix is great, but if you want to install it, you should keep some hardware considerations in mind. In case of Framework 12, there's only one hardware component, that will not work when using GNU Guix - it's a WiFi/Bluetooth card. If you want to have internet connection on Framework 12, you can either
- Use USB Tethering with a phone If you connect a phone to laptop and allow USB tethering, then your laptop will have Internet connection.
- Connect Ethernet cable
- Change a WiFi card to one that doesn't need any proprietary drivers/loadable firmware. For example from or from (Not affiliate links)
I personally ordered a and when I was waiting for a delivery, I used USB tethering. Then I replaced the internal WiFi card with a new one (thanks Framework, it was very easy to do).
My experience so far
I use GNU Guix on my Framework 12 for over a month now and the experience was very smooth. I have a good battery life, GPU acceleration, WiFi (thanks to my new WiFi card), and all the apps I need for my University and my own projects.
Steam and Games
The only think I miss (and it's not Bluetooth) is Steam with my favourite games. Yes, you can install Steam and other proprietary sofware, but I wanted to do an experiment: try to live with Framework 12 without any proprietary software at all. So since I installed Guix System, I found some Free and Open Source games, such as SuperTuxKart, , Unciv and Luanti. And they are actually good.
Bluetooth
The Bluetooth story is not as simple as WiFi. If you replace you internal WiFi card with one of those, that I mentioned above, you will get WiFi, but you won't get Bluetooth. And there's no way (as far as I know) to get the internal Bluetooth and WiFi working without any propriatory things at the same time. So you can buy a bluetooth USB dongle (such as and . Links are also not affeliate), but it's not that elegant and you'll have one port less every time you need Bluetooth. I personally don't really care about Bluetooth, as it has shown itself for me as very unreliable. I had problems with Bluetooth for a decade and still get those, when I occasionally try to use it. My headphones can be used with 3.5mm Jack or with USB-C, so I just use those instead of Bluetooth, when I watch movies or videos.
Browser
Since Firefox added their Terms of Use, I stopped using Firefox and was using Librewolf, which is a fork of Firefox with all garbage stripped out. But GNU Guix has it's own fork of Firefox with features and extensions to block Non-Free Software, called GNU Icecat. Since I installed Guix, I was using mostly GNU Icecat (because of it's features and addons) with extra UBlock Origin and Aliasvault extensions installed. The experience was not without flaws (sometimes copy-paste doesn't work), but I'm happy, knowing the fact, that I run only Free Javascript. For websites, that I have to use on occasion, that use Non-Free Javascript, I use Librewolf with UBlock Origin with auto-deletion of Cookies.
Conclusion
All in all, I find Framework 12 a wonderful Laptop to use in synergy with Free Software. It's modular and repairable by design and (when you replace your WiFi card) supports Free Software Distributions. I recommend you to try it out with GNU Guix. If you don't want to use Guix in particular, you can still use other 100% GNU Linux distributions, such as Trisqel or PureOS.