Re: Debian GNU/Linux on tablet hardware
On Fri, Oct 28, 2011 at 3:51 PM, Bill Gatliff <bgat@billgatliff.com> wrote:
>> > I think it must be possible to buy an android motherboard for just a
>> > fraction of the price that i paid for my tablet.
only if you're prepared to place a cash up-front order for a large
number of units, because you're dealing "direct" with the factory.
the exceptions to that, that i know of, will be companies like the one
i'm dealing with (because they trust me), and franson who runs
quickembed would almost certainly be happy to sell you an
off-the-shelf motherboard from something he's designed (or licensed)
already.
>> Why do you think that? I have personally never seen an "Android
>> motherboard"
>> offered for sale at all, let alone for a low price.
>
> Yes, you have: LOCO, Panda, Beagleboard, etc.. The OP disagrees due to an
> unclear definition of "motherboard".
>
> And the nice thing about the aforementioned boards is, they come with
> schematics. That erases the stability and availability problems by
> significantly lowering the barriers to producing the boards yourself if the
> need arises.
well... that's only if there's no modifications required. IGEPv2 and
DEVKIT8000 are "clones" of the beagleboards: you can't get *their*
schematics.
the problem with using the pandaboard, beagleboard etc. is that the
components are *not* available at reasonable prices. the 1k price of
the OMAP3530 is... well, you can check for yourself on the web site.
and then these boards use POP RAM (package-on-package) which is
high-density RAM, is *not* a mass-produced part and thus is insanely
expensive (relatively speaking).
the project i'm working on, our goal is to only use parts that are
mass-produced, large volume, and thus the cost is jaw-droppingly low.
hence it's really important to be able to point this little factory at
the debian archives to show them "yes, there are people who are
interested in buying, here they are".
it's up to you, people. if you want a low-cost freedom box, or a
low-cost server, or a low-cost tablet or a low-cost nettop or whatever
but, unlike many offerings, with an actual decent CPU that won't have
you regretting spending the money, you have to say so, publicly, so
that i can refer the factory to the archive posts so that they have
the confidence to go ahead *without* you needing to put down any money
up-front.
alternatively, you can place an order with the factory directly, pay
their fees up-front (which aren't high) etc. etc. - i mention this
purely as an option which i'm sure you wouldn't _really_ want to do,
but i have to mention it for completeness.
alternatively, i'm quite happy to put people directly in touch with
the factory: anyone who wants to take over the negotiations and
maintain a dialog with them is entirely at liberty to do so. i will
then be able to buy whatever product results from the efforts of your
work.
l.
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