Building an Open Source Laptop • Hacker News Board

Re: Building an Open Source Laptop

#41

Post by rch » Fri, Jan 10, 2014, 5:24 PM UTC

zanny wrote: post #28

hoggle wrote: post #9

Oh my I love this, open source hardware is the future. Come to think of how Red Hat is doing great even though they are an open source company. Why can't this work for hardware as well?

> Why can't this work for hardware as well? I'd be concerned about drafting up blueprints and having them copied by Chinese manufacturers. Though what I'd do is make my first system just standard libre rights on everything, and that should build a platform for me to kickstart / donation fund future design efforts, and when those are done just release those as free as the last without a care if someone dupes the hardw…

I'm more concerned that it seems like my only choice is to buy from Chinese manufacturers.

Re: Building an Open Source Laptop

#42

Post by charlieok » Fri, Jan 10, 2014, 5:40 PM UTC

raphman wrote: post #23

from his blog [1]: "Funny story about travel – I was on my way back from 30C3, going through securty in Frankfurt. The security agent looked at my laptop and asked me what I do. I said “computer engineer”. He then asks, “did you make it yourself?” and I sheepishly say yes. His face lights up and he says, “ah, so you can trust what’s in it! Now that’s taking it seriously.” I was amazed, the guy totally got it. Wish we…

but can you trust what's in it after it's gone through airport security?

Re: Building an Open Source Laptop

#43

Post by AhtiK » Fri, Jan 10, 2014, 5:47 PM UTC

This project is hopefully laying the foundation for a decent laptop with Cherry MX switches! [1]

Yes, current design is using ThinkPad chiclet but we can still hope, right?

[1] There's also Cherry ML for laptops but I haven't seen those switches myself nor heard about a laptop using it...

Re: Building an Open Source Laptop

#44

Post by groups » Fri, Jan 10, 2014, 5:57 PM UTC

AhtiK wrote: post #43

This project is hopefully laying the foundation for a decent laptop with Cherry MX switches! [1] Yes, current design is using ThinkPad chiclet but we can still hope, right? [1] There's also Cherry ML for laptops but I haven't seen those switches myself nor heard about a laptop using it...

It's not a chiclet keyboard. Looks like the keyboard for the thinkpad X220. in my experience it's a very good keyboard. of course I would pay a lot of money for a mechanically-keyed laptop.

Re: Building an Open Source Laptop

#45

Post by AhtiK » Fri, Jan 10, 2014, 6:44 PM UTC

groups wrote: post #44

AhtiK wrote: post #43

This project is hopefully laying the foundation for a decent laptop with Cherry MX switches! [1] Yes, current design is using ThinkPad chiclet but we can still hope, right? [1] There's also Cherry ML for laptops but I haven't seen those switches myself nor heard about a laptop using it...

It's not a chiclet keyboard. Looks like the keyboard for the thinkpad X220. in my experience it's a very good keyboard. of course I would pay a lot of money for a mechanically-keyed laptop.

woops, yes, I stand corrected, X220 is not chiclet .-)

My T520 is so far the best non-mechanical for me. Possibly the same keyboard as in X220?

Re: Building an Open Source Laptop

#46

Post by keithpeter » Fri, Jan 10, 2014, 6:57 PM UTC

stickhandle wrote: post #32

have a look at thinkpengiun.com From the about: Our products are freedom-compatible. Meaning they will work with just about any free software operating system. This is made possible by selling products with free software compatible chipsets. Free software is a set of principles that ensure end-users retain full control over their computer. Free software can be used, studied, and modified without restriction. The chip…

Excellent. What are the keyboards like? Bendy chiclets or something decent?

Re: Building an Open Source Laptop

#47

Post by mds » Fri, Jan 10, 2014, 7:05 PM UTC

MattJ100 wrote: post #34

otoburb wrote: post #2

Bunnie Huang[1] is like the Energizer Bunny that keeps going on and on. Glad to hear that he kept plugging away at the project. [1] http://www.bunniestudios.com/

Off-topic, but something I learned... I thought surely you meant the "Duracell Bunny", however the Energizer Bunny does indeed exist, and apparently although it's the later of the two, Energizer successfully registered the battery-powered bunny trademark in the US and Canada[1]. Here in the UK I'd say the Duracell bunny is the first to most peoples' minds. Yes, yes, it's Friday! [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dur…

Haha, today I learned the opposite of what you learned.

"In Europe & Australia the term "Duracell Bunny" has entered the vernacular as a term for anything that continues indefatigably while in North America the term "Energizer Bunny" has a similar connotation."

Re: Building an Open Source Laptop

#48

Post by keithpeter » Fri, Jan 10, 2014, 7:06 PM UTC

chatman wrote: post #6

"Open source laptop"? Physical objects don't have a source, either open or close. It is rather a laptop capable of running on only "free software" for full functionality.

I am a physical object. I consist of a complex series of 3 dimensional structures, energy flows and chemistry. My source code is a very long one dimensional array of four repeated symbols.

I think it was Ed Wilson who pointed out the 1d DNA leading to 3d structures (perhaps Schroedinger in his book What is Life or Gould in one of the many essays). I can track the reference down if needed.

Meta: I think you are wrong, but I'm surprised at the degree of down-voting.

Re: Building an Open Source Laptop

#49

Post by kelvin0 » Fri, Jan 10, 2014, 7:15 PM UTC

raphman wrote: post #23

from his blog [1]: "Funny story about travel – I was on my way back from 30C3, going through securty in Frankfurt. The security agent looked at my laptop and asked me what I do. I said “computer engineer”. He then asks, “did you make it yourself?” and I sheepishly say yes. His face lights up and he says, “ah, so you can trust what’s in it! Now that’s taking it seriously.” I was amazed, the guy totally got it. Wish we…

Is Frankfurt an American town? Surely it must be, since the Airport security employee was quite polite, enlightened and seemingly open-minded! Awww... time for those delusion pills again ... ;-)

Re: Building an Open Source Laptop

#50

Post by mcb3k » Fri, Jan 10, 2014, 7:39 PM UTC

pjc50 wrote: post #13

if_by_whisky wrote: post #3

Anyone spec the cost of making one?

The cost of making one it probably several thousand dollars, not counting the year and a half of Bunnie's time. From then on it depends on how many you want, and if you can find an assembly house that will take a tiny order for (say) 1000 of them. Even in large runs I can't see it costing less than $1000, partly due to the FPGA on the board. Handcrafted aluminium and leather cases are also likely make up several hund…

>"The positive response has encouraged us to plan a crowd funding campaign around a substantially simplified (think “all in one PC” with a battery) case design"

It sounds like the design of the case will be changed if these are going to hit larger scale production, so I don't think that's going to be an issue. It will still likely be expensive though, unless you do a very large run of them.