[Arm-netbook] Will EOMA68-A20 be sweatshop-free?

[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

---
crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68


On Sat, Aug 27, 2016 at 1:45 AM, Sam Pablo Kuper
<sampablokuper at posteo.net> wrote:
> Let me start by saying I realise that Luke (& undoubtedly others) have
> already put a *lot* of sweat into EOMA-68, and will likely be working
> some very long hours in the months ahead.
>
> I also realise that even with the tremendous success of the first
> CrowdSupply round, the volume of production is minuscule compared to
> Apple, Acer, Dell, etc, and hence also the risk of exploiting contracted
> workers will be lower - even if only because fewer workers will be
> assembling EOMA68 hardware.
>
> Nevertheless, low resource use; reusability; repairability; RYF
> compliance... these are necessary properties of an ethical computer, but
> not quite sufficient ones. Avoiding slavery, indentured labour, etc, and
> ensuring electronics supply chain workers are able to live decent lives,
> is surely an equally important part of building ethical computers.

 true.

> With that in mind, are there any plans for Rhombus Tech or other EOMA-68
> producers/partners to work with organisations such as these?

 hmmm... don't know... but i can tell you that for this first
production run, i'll be right there.  i'll be *in* the factories,
taking photos and i even want to have a go at operating the machinery
(if they'll let me) for the PCB runs, layout, X-Ray machine and so on,
so i can document it and let you know how it all works.  the 3D
printing factories (they're networked), i'll have to go round there
and ask them if their PLA is as high-quality as Faberdashery's, if
not, we'll have to import it (!) - so it's all hands-on.

 basically, if *i* can't stand it, then i ain't putting up with it and
will find somewhere else :)

 but this is just for the first production run.  by the time we get to
mass-volume it'll be a different story.

l.