[Arm-netbook] Cost of pre-production prototypes?

[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

On Thu, Oct 12, 2017 at 1:41 AM, Jonathan Frederickson
<silverskullpsu at gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm interested as well, though I likewise don't have the low-level
> software experience that would likely be required.

 if it's ok with you the priority will be on people with linux kernel
/ u-boot (etc.) experience

> I'm a Linux
> sysadmin, so Linux I can do, but ARM kernel/boot stuff is a bit out of
> my depth thus far.

 well, "sysadmin" to me says "clearly capable of trusting and
following written instructions to the letter" which surprisingly, from
my brother's experience as a teacher, is a rare skill: he found that
many of the kids just totally locked up and froze, and were literally
incapable of following step-by-step written instructions, even when
verbally prompted as to what to do.

> That said, I do have access to a laser cutter and a
> (small) 3D printer, so I can play around with case designs for the
> micro-desktop.

 great!  that would definitely be worthwhile getting you one of these
prototypes.

> Is it simple enough to put them in PCMCIA cases so I could use it
> day-to-day assuming it works well? (Or do they already have PCMCIA
> cases from the factory at this point?) If so, I'm definitely in,
> unless someone with more dev skills wants one.

they don't... but i have some casework sets.  the primary thing to
make absolutely sure when putting them on is: (a) get the plastic part
on the right way up (as it tells the PCMCIA socket which pin is which)
and (b) make absolutely sure that there's yellow insulating stickers
on the inside, and that they're not damaged in any way.  also bear in
mind they're hell to take off again...but that you really shouldn't
need to.

l.