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 <[email protected]> wrote: > On Mon, Jul 25, 2016 at 12:30 PM, Manuel A. Fernandez Montecelo > <[email protected]> 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. > > _______________________________________________ > arm-netbook mailing list [email protected] > http://lists.phcomp.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/arm-netbook > Send large attachments to [email protected] _______________________________________________ arm-netbook mailing list [email protected] http://lists.phcomp.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/arm-netbook Send large attachments to [email protected]
