vicarious
January 20th, 2007, 12:53 AM
[edit] Sorry, didn't see this (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=342063). Good to see there's already discussion about the hardware problem facing FLOSS.
OpenDevices Ltd
Our mission is to work with all free software vendors to develop completely open-specification and innovative hardware systems to the public.
Why we are different:
All systems and devices sold by OpenDevices Ltd. will be fully documented and composed of completely open-specification components that do not require patent agreements, licenses, NDAs, or any other agreement in order to obtain the specifications and write software for our products. Complete hardware documentation for all products is available for free directly on our website.
We sell some products with pre-installed free/open source Operating Systems. We strive to work with all free/open source groups to deliver their products in an acceptable fashion. All distributions are given equal treatment.
All software we develop in-house is developed in an open fashion and public access is available through the entire development process.
We use the leverage from our strong customer base, hardware vendors, and free software groups to push for new products that are unencumbered by exclusive agreements. Most recently we have worked with Nvidia and ATI to produce new lines of open high-end graphics cards for use on our systems. These cards aren't as high-performance or quite as expensive as some of their other cards but we are able to publish the complete specifications for these devices and they still have very good performance -- they are not, however, bleeding-edge. This is a trade-off we are willing to accept in the short term.
Products:
Laptops:
We have a three different lines of laptops that are directed towards different types of users. Our laptops combine the style of a MacBook with the reliability of a ThinkPad and the freedom of completely open devices. All laptops run a LinuxBios and you have your choice of operating system you want installed (Red Hat, Ubuntu, Gentoo, FreeBSD, etc). All devices on the laptop work out of the box with open source drivers. Optionally, we also sell properly licensed, native-implementations of proprietary multimedia codecs for those who require that functionality. Our laptops are available online or at retail computer stores (Circuit City, Best Buy, CompUSA, etc).
Soon to be released is a fully-functional Tablet laptop that works with both Gnome and KDE.
Portable Media/Communication Device:
We have a new innovative multi-purpose device that acts as a cell phone, camera, PIM, web browser, VOIP phone, email reader, music and video player. Like all of our cell phones, the phone is unlocked and we have models that work with any provider. This model has a custom interface based off the enlightenment graphics libraries and is very smooth in its operation. The phone can be connected to your computer through USB, which also doubles as a charger, and can be synced with your contacts (Evolution, Thunderbird, Kmail) over wifi. The wifi can also be used to share music and photos with nearby friends. Additionally, this device has the ability pair with your laptop over bluetooth to provide internet access.
We also have more specialized models -- a simple cell phone/voip phone, a portable media player, etc.
DVD/PVR:
It looks like a skinny DVD player that would normally sit beneath your TV. In addition to playing DVDs, though, it also comes with MythTV. Just plug an ethernet cable into it and you have full internet integration (RSS, weather, videocasts, etc.)
We also have printers, faxes, scanners, desktops, servers, portables, in-car systems, routers, etc. Any device that needs to be open, we work hard to provide.
----------------------------
As you might have noticed, this is a fictional company. I think Linux and the BSDs need a dedicated hardware company to move forward. I know we have some guys out there who are pushing hard for us (Sun, Nokia, IBM, etc.) but these guys have other focuses as well and none of them are doing all of what is needed for us to really move forward. This OpenDevices company wouldn't need to start from scratch, they just need to pull all the open hardware together and provide it to the public in an easier fashion. Perhaps form some kind of partnership with FLOSS-friendly companies. They also need to be innovative and provide compelling hardware devices that are interesting to the general public.
Linux is still relatively obscure because people don't want to install an operating system, they want to be able to buy their computer in a retail store, and they want everything to just work. Right now, we are second class citizens -- Linux is installed on Windows and Apple products. Every time I purchase a laptop, I also purchase Windows XP. How does this help us? I am not going to take the time to try and return Windows. I want a quality laptop with my favorite Linux installed from a reputable supplier.
This is not getting easier. I'm sure most of you read the Vista DRM (http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.html) paper. In the future, thanks to DRM and Microsoft's compliance with the unrealistic demands of content providers, hardware vendors will be required to not release their specifications if they want to work with the DRM mechanisms on Vista. Why don't we have a hardware provider who sells hardware with working open source drivers out of the box? Now is a prime time, too. Microsoft is angering a lot of people with Vista and spyware/malware/viruses are getting worse each year. The defectors are going Apple, though, because it's easier and prettier.
Yeah, I am not in any position to start this company and I don't even know if it is viable. I just wanted to start some discussion on the topic.
OpenDevices Ltd
Our mission is to work with all free software vendors to develop completely open-specification and innovative hardware systems to the public.
Why we are different:
All systems and devices sold by OpenDevices Ltd. will be fully documented and composed of completely open-specification components that do not require patent agreements, licenses, NDAs, or any other agreement in order to obtain the specifications and write software for our products. Complete hardware documentation for all products is available for free directly on our website.
We sell some products with pre-installed free/open source Operating Systems. We strive to work with all free/open source groups to deliver their products in an acceptable fashion. All distributions are given equal treatment.
All software we develop in-house is developed in an open fashion and public access is available through the entire development process.
We use the leverage from our strong customer base, hardware vendors, and free software groups to push for new products that are unencumbered by exclusive agreements. Most recently we have worked with Nvidia and ATI to produce new lines of open high-end graphics cards for use on our systems. These cards aren't as high-performance or quite as expensive as some of their other cards but we are able to publish the complete specifications for these devices and they still have very good performance -- they are not, however, bleeding-edge. This is a trade-off we are willing to accept in the short term.
Products:
Laptops:
We have a three different lines of laptops that are directed towards different types of users. Our laptops combine the style of a MacBook with the reliability of a ThinkPad and the freedom of completely open devices. All laptops run a LinuxBios and you have your choice of operating system you want installed (Red Hat, Ubuntu, Gentoo, FreeBSD, etc). All devices on the laptop work out of the box with open source drivers. Optionally, we also sell properly licensed, native-implementations of proprietary multimedia codecs for those who require that functionality. Our laptops are available online or at retail computer stores (Circuit City, Best Buy, CompUSA, etc).
Soon to be released is a fully-functional Tablet laptop that works with both Gnome and KDE.
Portable Media/Communication Device:
We have a new innovative multi-purpose device that acts as a cell phone, camera, PIM, web browser, VOIP phone, email reader, music and video player. Like all of our cell phones, the phone is unlocked and we have models that work with any provider. This model has a custom interface based off the enlightenment graphics libraries and is very smooth in its operation. The phone can be connected to your computer through USB, which also doubles as a charger, and can be synced with your contacts (Evolution, Thunderbird, Kmail) over wifi. The wifi can also be used to share music and photos with nearby friends. Additionally, this device has the ability pair with your laptop over bluetooth to provide internet access.
We also have more specialized models -- a simple cell phone/voip phone, a portable media player, etc.
DVD/PVR:
It looks like a skinny DVD player that would normally sit beneath your TV. In addition to playing DVDs, though, it also comes with MythTV. Just plug an ethernet cable into it and you have full internet integration (RSS, weather, videocasts, etc.)
We also have printers, faxes, scanners, desktops, servers, portables, in-car systems, routers, etc. Any device that needs to be open, we work hard to provide.
----------------------------
As you might have noticed, this is a fictional company. I think Linux and the BSDs need a dedicated hardware company to move forward. I know we have some guys out there who are pushing hard for us (Sun, Nokia, IBM, etc.) but these guys have other focuses as well and none of them are doing all of what is needed for us to really move forward. This OpenDevices company wouldn't need to start from scratch, they just need to pull all the open hardware together and provide it to the public in an easier fashion. Perhaps form some kind of partnership with FLOSS-friendly companies. They also need to be innovative and provide compelling hardware devices that are interesting to the general public.
Linux is still relatively obscure because people don't want to install an operating system, they want to be able to buy their computer in a retail store, and they want everything to just work. Right now, we are second class citizens -- Linux is installed on Windows and Apple products. Every time I purchase a laptop, I also purchase Windows XP. How does this help us? I am not going to take the time to try and return Windows. I want a quality laptop with my favorite Linux installed from a reputable supplier.
This is not getting easier. I'm sure most of you read the Vista DRM (http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.html) paper. In the future, thanks to DRM and Microsoft's compliance with the unrealistic demands of content providers, hardware vendors will be required to not release their specifications if they want to work with the DRM mechanisms on Vista. Why don't we have a hardware provider who sells hardware with working open source drivers out of the box? Now is a prime time, too. Microsoft is angering a lot of people with Vista and spyware/malware/viruses are getting worse each year. The defectors are going Apple, though, because it's easier and prettier.
Yeah, I am not in any position to start this company and I don't even know if it is viable. I just wanted to start some discussion on the topic.