[LINK] Open Source PC Design
Richard Chirgwin
rchirgwin at ozemail.com.au
Sat May 31 16:05:12 AEST 2008
stephen at melbpc.org.au wrote:
> Richard writes,
>
>
>>> I'd buy an open source design house too, maybe with modules from
>>> different companies according to whim.
>>>
>> What bit of civil engineering isn't at least as open as anything in the
>> computer industry?.. my question is simple: what would "open source home
>> building" do that we can't already do? RC
>>
>
> Haha .. that you can already do, not me. I've looked at the regs just for
> radiata-pine building specs, and they're endless as are rsj building codes.
>
Well, that's not unlike computing ... a great many FOSS users (like me)
don't read the code, even though it's provided. We use the product. An
inability to read the specs doesn't make something proprietary.
> Maybe you could build a house extension that passes all laws, but I'd like
> to just buy one. And if my iron-framed house was open source, it'd be easyb
> to plug n play with additional rooms.. like the way any Ford A Deuce Coupe
> hot rod is built, though with much greener components. Open source houses.
>
I'm sorry, but "modular" doesn't define "open source". You can buy
modular housing (although personally I hate the look ...). So being
pedantic, there are two problems; the first is that you haven't
convinced me me that "open source" is needed in this context; the second
is that in this context, you seem to be misusing the expression "open
source".
So what exactly does "open source houses" mean?
RC
> Cheers Richard
> Stephen Loosley
>
>
>
>>> Great post Bernard
>>>
>>> "The idea of open source manufacture is taking shape, and we're going
>>> to see more .. 'open source' hardware .."
>>>
>>>
>>> Yes .. open source engineering .. a few peak designs, and made
>>>
> everywhere.
>
>>> For example, efficient small urban vehicles, hybrid solar/ultra-
>>>
> capacitor?
>
>>> Sure, slow & basic by open source design, but ultra-reliable and mega-
>>>
> green
>
>>> Both self owned, and hired by the hour/day from community re-charge
>>>
> centres
>
>>> Open source car designs may finally transcend commercial car design
>>>
> idiocy.
>
>>> I'd buy an open source design house too, maybe with modules from
>>>
> different
>
>>> companies according to whim. Very satisfactory to live, and drive, so
>>>
> green
>
>>> Just like in computer software, and now computer hardware, I think
>>>
> open
>
>>> source design of common items will indeed become common. Seems a
>>>
> better,
>
>>> non-commercial-fad, wider-community rather than individual-buyer,
>>>
> based
>
>>> design philosophy. May seem communistic, I don't know, or care, but
>>>
> open
>
>>> source engineering design is already happening because people want it
>>>
> to.
>
>>> And I'd like to buy a car that everyone made simply because they
>>>
> wanted to.
>
>>> Cheers people
>>> Stephen Loosley
>>> Victoria, Australia
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> Chip Company Unveils Open Source PC Design
>>>> By Dylan Tweney
>>>> 05.27.08, 6:00 AM
>>>> Wired
>>>> http://www.wired.com/gadgets/pcs/news/2008/05/via_design
>>>>
>>>> Call it the Tom Sawyer approach to selling CPUs.
>>>>
>>>> VIA Technologies, the self-proclaimed No. 3 maker of Intel-compatible
>>>> processors, has unveiled a new "reference design" for ultra-portable
>>>> computers based on the company's own low-power chips.
>>>>
>>>> Making a reference design is common fare in the high-tech industry.
>>>> Chipmakers like Intel have been doing it for years as a way of
>>>>
> proving
>
>>>> the technical viability of a product concept. What sets VIA's
>>>>
> approach
>
>>>> apart is that the company is posting the computer-aided design (CAD)
>>>> files for its OpenBook PC under a Creative Commons license. Anyone
>>>>
> with
>
>>>> design skills and a burning desire to get into the PC business can
>>>> download the files, modify the design and go into business selling
>>>>
> ultra
>
>>>> portables.
>>>>
>>>> Taiwan-based VIA will even help aspiring Michael Dells find Asian
>>>> manufacturers to do the hard work of turning those CAD files into
>>>>
> real,
>
>>>> plastic-and-silicon products.
>>>>
>>>> VIA's design is on the commercial end of a growing spectrum of "open
>>>> source" hardware. On the other, more noncommercial end are hackable
>>>> hardware kits like the Arduino platform, which was used by many
>>>> exhibitors at the recent Maker Faire in San Mateo, California. Open
>>>> source aficionados were also buzzing last week about the release of
>>>>
> the
>
>>>> OGD1, a development kit that could be used to create open-source
>>>> graphics cards.
>>>>
>>>> If VIA's idea takes off, it could help add more juice to the
>>>> already-humming market for ultra portables. That market, which had
>>>>
> long
>
>>>> foundered on the impractical aspirations of a tiny minority of
>>>> mobility-obsessed hardware geeks, took off in earnest last year with
>>>>
> the
>
>>>> success of the Eee PC, Asus' $400, Linux-based ultra portable.
>>>>
>>>> For industrial designer Scott Summit, VIA's move is part of a gradual
>>>> shift toward more highly-customized manufacturing, in which small
>>>> companies and even individuals are able to design and build their own
>>>> products, thanks to the decreasing costs of fabrication.
>>>>
>>>> "The idea of open source manufacture is taking shape, and we're going
>>>>
> to
>
>>>> see more of it because the barriers (to highly customized production)
>>>> are really starting to evaporate," says Summit.
>>>>
>>>> VIA's design calls for a 2.2-pound PC with an 8.9-inch screen, a
>>>>
> webcam,
>
>>>> up to 2GB of RAM, an 80GB or larger hard drive, and built-in Wi-Fi
>>>>
> and
>
>>>> Bluetooth (or, optionally, WiMax or 3G cellular data). It's not
>>>>
> wanting
>
>>>> for ports, either, with an Ethernet jack, three USB ports and an SD
>>>>
> card
>
>>>> slot.
>>>>
>>>> The design is aimed at smaller design-manufacturers and upstart PC
>>>> companies rather than big PC manufacturers like HP or Dell, who
>>>>
> create
>
>>>> their own designs (like HP's new MiniNote) from scratch.
>>>>
>>>> "When we look at reference designs, they're helpful, they're
>>>>
> insightful,
>
>>>> they give us an optimal layout from an engineering perspective -- but
>>>> they don't target what we're aiming for," says Stacy Wolff, a
>>>>
> notebook
>
>>>> design director for HP.
>>>>
>>>> VIA's hope is that its design will encourage new designers to make
>>>>
> ultra
>
>>>> portables that are a little less ugly than the usual fare. It's a bet
>>>> that the PC market will soon follow in the footsteps of the cellphone
>>>> market, where what's under the hood is less important than how it
>>>>
> looks.
>
>>>> "It's not really about the components inside at all," says VIA vice
>>>> president Richard Brown. "It's personal jewelry."
>>>>
>>>> Almost makes the idea of starting your own computer brand sound a
>>>>
> little
>
>>>> sexy, doesn't it? And for the chipmaker, it's not far from the notion
>>>> that if you want to get a fence painted, start painting it yourself
>>>>
> and
>
>>>> try to make it look fun
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>>
>>>> Regards
>>>> brd
>>>>
>>>> Bernard Robertson-Dunn
>>>> Sydney Australia
>>>> brd at iimetro.com.au
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Link mailing list
>>>> Link at mailman.anu.edu.au
>>>> http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
>>>>
>>>>
>>> Message sent using MelbPC WebMail Server
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Link mailing list
>>> Link at mailman.anu.edu.au
>>> http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Link mailing list
>> Link at mailman.anu.edu.au
>> http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
>>
>
>
> Message sent using MelbPC WebMail Server
>
>
>
>
More information about the Link
mailing list