Story

What Linux users should know about open hardware

Preview

Watching the sausage getting made, doesn't really help (Score: 1)

by evilviper@pipedot.org on 2014-09-27 09:15 (#2SZ9)

I don't think it's going to help potential customers to know "what's happening behind the news." They're not in it for the joy of experiencing the journey with you... They would simply like to buy the product you promised them. In other industries, an 18-month delay isn't a complete deal-breaker. But in computer hardware, that puts your product a complete generation behind what you promised. It is not remotely the same product it was, 2-year earlier. It has a short shelf-life. You promised grapes and instead delivered raisins...

It's a good cautionary tale to would-be small hardware designers... Getting it to market is a far harder task than you'd imagine. But the key is simple, either get in bed with a big company to push things along, or start with something very small and simple. At the very least, don't start out by making speculative promises, when so many parts of the process are beyond your control.

Re: Watching the sausage getting made, doesn't really help (Score: 1)

by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2014-09-27 20:02 (#2SZF)

You're absolutely right. But it does go a long way in setting expectations for FOSS evangelists rallying for a totally free hardware platform that they can run TrisquelGNU/Linux on and satisfy their philosophical requirements. You're not going to get that kind of hardware easily unless you can whip up demand for a healthy volume of the product, or you're willing to pay some seriously higher margins. That's instructive.

I buy my Linux laptops from either ZAReason or System76 these days. I'm not really saving any money, but it gives me the confidence that the hardware will work perfectly with Linux, and often that's what I'm looking for the most. As I mentioned on the Bodhi article, I'd love a Linux tablet. But I'm not holding my breath, and this article makes it clear why.

Ironically, you get the best 'open' hardware out of China these days. What's that Longsoon machine Richard M. Stallman uses? And isn't it a MIPS chip on the inside? That's a pretty interesting set of circumstances.

Re: Watching the sausage getting made, doesn't really help (Score: 1)

by hairyfeet@pipedot.org on 2014-09-30 09:24 (#2T0X)

Uhhhh...why not just vote with your wallets and affect REAL change? AMD is opening the hardware as fast as humanly possible, supports the coreboot project, even put some extra men on the FOSS APU drivers to get them up to snuff...so why not support the company that is trying to support you by buying AMD and influencing others to do so as well? The bang for the buck is still firmly in the AMD camp and you can get some crazy powerful hardware for peanuts and if enough FOSS supporters vote with their wallets and AMD sees their sales go up because of this? Other companies WILL notice this and be more likely to support you as well.

So instead of trying to make something that if you are REALLY lucky might reach 4 digits in sales why not affect some REAL change and support a company that is really trying to help you whose gear anybody can buy?

Re: Watching the sausage getting made, doesn't really help (Score: 1)

by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2014-10-01 20:41 (#2T1R)

Happy to do so - know anyone who sells AMD Linux boxes? Seems like ZAReason and System76 both sell mostly Intel stuff. (System76 is selling some seriously old-fashioned looking laptops these days, sorry to say. Love it that they run Linux, but you're not going to win any style points sitting behind one. Maybe cover it up with your neckbeard while you sip your tea.)

Junk Status

Not marked as junk