You can build a laptop out of open source components if you want a bad laptop
1–10 of 35 posts
Re: You can build a laptop out of open source components if you want a bad laptop
#2Title is basically click bait, and reasonably insulting. The laptop is "bad" by some metrics (build quality/speed) and better by others (open hardware/software/hackability).
Re: You can build a laptop out of open source components if you want a bad laptop
#3Title is basically click bait, and reasonably insulting. The laptop is "bad" by some metrics (build quality/speed) and better by others (open hardware/software/hackability).
I don't necessarily agree.
Look at Android phones now. Midrange phones come with more RAM, a comparable or better screen resolution (in 5"), and frequently offer dual band WiFi. [0]
Sure, you can't upgrade anything on the phone and you're lucky if even the kernel source code is released. But the Allwinner A64 chip Olimex is using has crap support in Linux anyway: you won't have hardware accelerated 2D or 3D.
And please, arguments of "it's modular" don't hold water. You can't upgrade the EMMC because it's not socketed. Ditto for RAM and WiFi chipset. So the only "upgrade" path is to replace the entire PCB.
iFixit regularly skewer Apple for putting everything on one board. Conceivably you could upgrade a MacBook by replacing the entire logic board, but no one seriously considers this.
Why not just buy a Raspberry Pi and a laptop shell like the Motorola Atrix? You can buy new old stock for around $50, and every other month there's a kick starter to create a USB3 version for ~$100 [1]
[0] http://m.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_redmi_4_prime-8263.php
[1] https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/andromium/the-superbook...
Re: You can build a laptop out of open source components if you want a bad laptop
#4Title is basically click bait, and reasonably insulting. The laptop is "bad" by some metrics (build quality/speed) and better by others (open hardware/software/hackability).
Insulting how ? First metrics you mentioned are measurable, 2nd base on philosophy.
I can try to convince a rock to split itself with any attitude I believe in, but I'll still be more effective with a hammer.
Re: You can build a laptop out of open source components if you want a bad laptop
#5Title is basically click bait, and reasonably insulting. The laptop is "bad" by some metrics (build quality/speed) and better by others (open hardware/software/hackability).
After reading the title -- before even looking at the domain the link pointed to -- I knew this had to be an article on The Verge.
I'm not sure what's going on over there but it seems that maybe they're A/B testing with these insulting headlines or something.
I thought this recent headline in particular was quite insulting: "Wine 2.0 is out, ready to disappoint you once again" [0]
edit: Just noticed both articles are by the same author.
[0]: http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/1/26/14402028/wi...
Re: You can build a laptop out of open source components if you want a bad laptop
#6Title is basically click bait, and reasonably insulting. The laptop is "bad" by some metrics (build quality/speed) and better by others (open hardware/software/hackability).
I don't necessarily agree. Look at Android phones now. Midrange phones come with more RAM, a comparable or better screen resolution (in 5"), and frequently offer dual band WiFi. [0] Sure, you can't upgrade anything on the phone and you're lucky if even the kernel source code is released. But the Allwinner A64 chip Olimex is using has crap support in Linux anyway: you won't have hardware accelerated 2D or 3D. And plea…
None of the options you suggest have an open PCB layout/schematic (which this does in Kicad).
Not only is this philosophically "good" it also has practical benefits if you are looking to build on the design to say, integrate an fpga.
Re: You can build a laptop out of open source components if you want a bad laptop
#7Title is basically click bait, and reasonably insulting. The laptop is "bad" by some metrics (build quality/speed) and better by others (open hardware/software/hackability).
After reading the title -- before even looking at the domain the link pointed to -- I knew this had to be an article on The Verge. I'm not sure what's going on over there but it seems that maybe they're A/B testing with these insulting headlines or something. I thought this recent headline in particular was quite insulting: "Wine 2.0 is out, ready to disappoint you once again" [0] edit: Just noticed both articles are…
I just read Ben Parr's Captivology, highly recommend btw. He points out negative headlines grab more short-term attention.
The problem is a vie this article and the concept is that negativity grabs our attention because we're wired to detect and process threats...
That means instead of neg attention grabbing us then us reading the article with an open interested intellectual mind, we are drawn to read the article and look for and perceive its information as threatening. To disarm it.
That ends up wasting everyone's time.
In general we should expect fully open systems like this to lag highly capitalized operations somewhat. And we should all, generally, use this as a reference point for improvements using our unique skills.
And that happens somewhat, except for the fact we're approach the article with our mind in the wrong state thanks to the "threateningly" headline.
So great observations on your part!
Re: You can build a laptop out of open source components if you want a bad laptop
#8Title is basically click bait, and reasonably insulting. The laptop is "bad" by some metrics (build quality/speed) and better by others (open hardware/software/hackability).
Insulting how ? First metrics you mentioned are measurable, 2nd base on philosophy. I can try to convince a rock to split itself with any attitude I believe in, but I'll still be more effective with a hammer.
I am not sure you understand. Opensourse is the philosophy so that's the main metric for a open sourse laptop.
Re: You can build a laptop out of open source components if you want a bad laptop
#9Title is basically click bait, and reasonably insulting. The laptop is "bad" by some metrics (build quality/speed) and better by others (open hardware/software/hackability).
Insulting how ? First metrics you mentioned are measurable, 2nd base on philosophy. I can try to convince a rock to split itself with any attitude I believe in, but I'll still be more effective with a hammer.
Being open source is quite measurable:
* Is the OS, OS? [Y/n]
* Is all software OS? [Y/n]
* Is all firmware OS? [Y/n]
* Is all hardware OS? [Y/n]
You can easily count a percentage of open source in your laptop. If your goal is for instance avoid backdoors/surveillance, I would say this is a "very good" laptop, while a COTS laptop would be "bad". As the parent says, good or bad depends on the metric.
Re: You can build a laptop out of open source components if you want a bad laptop
#10Title is basically click bait, and reasonably insulting. The laptop is "bad" by some metrics (build quality/speed) and better by others (open hardware/software/hackability).
After reading the title -- before even looking at the domain the link pointed to -- I knew this had to be an article on The Verge. I'm not sure what's going on over there but it seems that maybe they're A/B testing with these insulting headlines or something. I thought this recent headline in particular was quite insulting: "Wine 2.0 is out, ready to disappoint you once again" [0] edit: Just noticed both articles are…
> Wine 2.0 is out, ready to disappoint you once again
Well, it now allows me to use the same Office version (2013) that I have to produce and share documents with, so I am far from disappointed!