[Arm-netbook] What I have done so far

[Russell Hyer]

Thanks, though I feel I should apologise re the USB 3, since the stuff
you show there lists Logitech, and for a time, I was an outsourced
Logitech support rep :(

Russell


On 25/07/2016, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton <lkcl at lkcl.net> wrote:
> On Mon, Jul 25, 2016 at 12:30 PM, Manuel A. Fernandez Montecelo
> <manuel.montezelo at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Your analysis from the other e-mail is very interesting.
>
>  thanks.  more a reminder to myself of the urgency.  i'm hearing that
> there are countries *actively considering* taking their currency off
> of the hyper-inflated U.S. dollar.  if china does that and we don't
> have modular computers (and lighter, smarter-designed cars) so that
> china can ship *small* parts overseas and the rest is manufactured
> locally, we're all royally screwed.
>
>
>> I was only trying to analyse why people in or close to FOSS and libre
>> hardware communities didn't embrace this campaign more enthusiastically.
>
>  i've not been in regular communication with them, i think that's the
> main thing.  i've kept in touch with dr stallman but he's
> eennnoorrrmously busy.  through my sponsor chris from thinkpenguin we
> only began RYF discussions about 3 months before i came over to the
> U.S. - just as the
>
>  really what we need[ed] was[is] someone[s] to *specifically* handle
> awareness and communications, nothing else.
>
>>  As the e-mail says towards the end:
>>
>>   The question is "How do we gather enough passionate recruits to get
>>   this revolution going?" but that question is hard to fit into the
>>   realities of a marketing campaign for a couple of products.
>
>  honestly that's the challenge that i invite everyone - as a community
> - to stand up and solve.  i can only provide the *opportunity* for
> people to go "omg i've been complaining about how hardware
> manufacturers have not been delivering, there's someone actually
> standing up and saying they'll *MAKE* hardware... why don't i do
> something instead of complaining, and wasting my time
> reverse-engineering older crapware machines that have already got
> end-of-life components in them, we have better things to do, let's get
> to it!!"
>
>> But in the end, for the campaign to be successful, it also needs to
>> provide products that people want to pledge for (if nothing else, to
>> meet the minimum quantity to fabricate the chips that Luke keeps
>> mentioning), so everybody needs some kind of hook to engage with the
>> project.  It also serves to gauge interest in future products, once the
>> campaign ends.
>
>  absolutely,
>
>>
>> In your case, you would be thrilled to pledge for the hardware that you
>> mention.  You say that it would have to be dirty cheap,
>
>  no i never said that - i said "the modular approach saves people
> money".  totally different.
>
>> but many people
>> are investing significant amounts of money to get the Neo900 rolling,
>
>  how's the libre firmware working out for them?
>
>> which probably is the closest product in the works resembling what you
>> describe.
>
>  mmmm... it's a highly specialist single-board product with a
> soldered-down SoC onto the same PCB as the modem and the WIFI module.
> we learned already from openmoko that this is an extremely risky
> strategy.  people who remember it, the openmoko took so long that the
> WIFI module went end-of-life *DURING* the development... that
> effectively killed the project because they could not afford yet
> another round of design and PCB testing.
>
>  now, please let's be absolutely clear: the above paragraph is
> ***NOT*** a criticism of the neo900 team's efforts.  it's just that i
> see the various failures and successes of the past 10+ years, and go
> "hmmm if we did X and avoided Y by doing Z instead, then we end up
> with a higher chance of success".
>
>  ... sooo... there is *NO WIFI* on-board any of the PCBs: it's done as
> USB-WIFI.  there is *NO 3G* on board any of the PCBs: i expect people
> to get their own USB-3G modem.  or 2G.  or 4G.  or LTE.  or 5G.
>
> problem goes away.
>
>
>> In my case, I would be interested in a possible range of products, but
>> none of the current meet the expectations in one way or another:
>
>  well you can always pledge for a computer card, then sell it on ebay
> or contact someone on the mailing list, i'm sure someone will take it
> off your hands
>
>> - The only one laptop that I owned with <1000p of vertical resolution I
>>  hated with passion (partly because of the resolution and partly
>>  because of the glossy screen).
>
>  the EOMA68-A20 has an HDMI port, 1920x1080 works perfectly, and you
> can always get a DisplayLink USB-DVI/HDMI adapter
>
>>  So I think that buying a laptop from the campaign with that screen
>>  resolution would be a mistake in my case.  Personally I also need
>>  something much more powerful than the A20 for tasks that I do daily on
>>  the computer (both in terms of CPU and memory).
>
>
>> - Close family are still well served by the options already available
>>  around the home, e.g. Thinkpads a decade old (still from IBM).
>
>  yeahyeah - then this would be not such a bad option for them
>
>> - I will need one or two mini-servers at home in 1~2 months.  I have
>>  several small devices around the house with different architectures,
>>  some not even purchased but given to me for some reason or another,
>>  and that I have not tried yet after 1 year sitting in a bookcase; as
>>  well as older x86 systems that still fit the bill and work fine.
>
>  :)
>
>>  So I could give some use to EOMA cards if I pledge for them (still
>>  deciding), but in that case I would keep the other hardware unused
>>  (not eco-friendly, and a bit of a waste of money).  And I would need
>>  them now-ish, waiting until next spring is not an option for that
>>  small personal project.
>>
>>
>> I think that many people wanting to support the project would have
>> similar conflicts and are not decided about what to do.
>
>  yeahh it's all about timing.
>
>> It's a pity that RFY certification can only start after the campaign is
>> finished.  With lots of visibility, at least it would mean that there's
>> a bigger set of people in the intersection "I want to support this
>> project", "I need this hardware/products in a few months" and "I can pay
>> them now".
>>
>>
>> Meanwhile, pledges keep increasing :-)
>
>  i know... :)  i keep doing updates, it keeps people interested.
>
> l.
>
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