Re: Debian GNU/Linux on tablet hardware
Rob van der Hoeven <robvanderhoeven <at> ziggo.nl> writes:
> > > I think the hardware of this tablet can also be used as a server or
> > > desktop computer. The tablet is mass produced and very cheap (i got mine
> > > for 149 euro).
> > For that price, to make a server, I would rather buy a loco board or any
> > other development board
> These boards are not mass produced which makes them relatively
> expensive.
The i.MX LOCO board, the OMAP panda board, and some of the others cost about the
same as your tablet.
> Hardware that is not mass produced has some other issues,
> namely availability and vendor lock-in
You think that your tablet is going to have better availability and less lock-in
than a board from Freescale or TI? That seems unlikely to me. Look at the
BeagleBoard; it would be hard to find any smartphone or tablet device that has
been available for as long as that has.
> I think it must be possible to buy an android motherboard for just a
> fraction of the price that i paid for my tablet.
Why do you think that? I have personally never seen an "Android motherboard"
offered for sale at all, let alone for a low price.
> Why is relying on
> hardware with a SoC such a bad idea? If the SoC is popular it will not
> go out of production for a long time.
No, that's not how it works. Both popular and unpopular chips are replaced on a
schedule that's determined by advances in manufacturing technology. This also
applies to the consumer products that are made from them: even if a device is
popular, it will soon be replaced with something that is faster and cheaper.
Regards, Phil.
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