I'm glad Framework exists but I don't envy them. Selling laptops aimed at the most nitpicky never-satisfied group of people must make it hard to see through the noise. I wish them the best.
Is my framework perfect? No. But it's still the best laptop I've ever owned. Just like open source software, it's not about having the most shiny look and feel, but it's about knowing that the creator wants me to have the freedom and empowerment to open it up and adjust it to my needs and desires. Other companies will just say that I've voided the warranty when I try fixing or tweaking it myself.
Maybe these users are picky, but they are under-served, very influential, and very productive w.r.t. improving support for the laptop in the ecosystem. At this point FW became a go-to laptop for Linux hackers, and it gets great support in all avant-garde tech like e.g. NixOS.
There is a certain rich racingdriver/programmer/macuser who moved his whole company to framework laptops running linux. So they must be doing something right
I don't know who you are talking about but I'm not implying that Framework is doing anything wrong, just that they have chosen a very difficult user base to cater to.
I'm actually curious how much difficulty they have with their actual customers. There are always a ton of negative comments in these threads, but those seem to be from people who just fundamentally value different things than what framework is tyring to do (which is totally fine and valid!), and therefore very specifically aren't the customer base. I can't speak more broadly, but I've been super happy with my Framework16, warts and all (and there are a few).
My guess is that the core audience of people who want a repairable, upgradeable laptop tend to be tinkerers and don't mind a little bit of extra effort.
