Purism planning to start manufacturing laptops in Ker

US-based tech firm Purism is planning to start manufacturing of laptops in Kerala and the initial talks in this regard have begun, according to company founder and CEO Todd Weaver.
Purism, headquartered in San Francisco, manufactures free software laptops and mobile phones under the brand name 'Librem'.
The company will also soon launch the free software cellphone Librem 5, Weaver said while speaking on the sidelines of the 6th edition of SWATANTRA 2017, the two-day triennial free software conference.
The conference has been organised by International Centre for Free and Open Source Software (ICFOSS), an autonomous organisation under the Kerala governments IT Department.

"Kerala has a mandate for using free software and we can also do assembly anywhere. During the initial stage, 10 per cent of the manufacturing of the laptop, mainly assembly, will be done in Kerala and it will be increased gradually," he said.
"We are in touch with the Kerala officials if we can supply and start local assembly and then move to fabrication that allows us to sell the products in the Indian market", a press release quoting him said.

The company's growth plan was to work with the state government to start local assembly, and afterwards we will start fabricating the mother board, he said.

"We produce hardware products combined with free software. We make it a convenient bundle and thus allow average users to be able to open up a machine and use completely free software fully supported," the CEO said, adding that the firm stands for ease of use.
The company sells the 13-inch laptop at a price of USD 1399 while a 15-inch laptop is priced at USD 1599. The free software cellphone is priced at USD 599.
Founded in 2014, Purism manufactures premium quality laptops, tablets and phones, creating powerful devices meant to protect users digital lives without requiring a compromise on ease of use.

Thirty-six speakers from around the globe led sessions at the event that discussed various facets and implications of free and open source software.
Around 400 free software enthusiasts from the IT sector attended the conference.