[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > Hi > William laudible, but foolish.
Thanks for the vote of confidence. :^) > Many people have built their own 'embedded' solutions. > Technology is changing so fast that even big companies can't keep up > eg Blue Chip Technology I'm not so concerned about that. An LTSP system has, shall we say, less than ambitious processing requirements (which is a good thing!). I don't see the need, or the sense, in staying up on the leading edge. > How soon before the ram you choose is unavailable/costs more than a > motherboard? When that day arrives, I change to a different RAM. A pretty common problem in embedded systems. And it would have to be a *serious* problem before a RAM chip costs more than a motherboard! Remember, I'll *own* the design, which I intend to share with the LTSP community but maintain responsibility for keeping up-to-date. Switching chips will require just a phone call to the fab department. Ditto for a schematic change. > IMHO there are two or three solutions: > > 1) Bog-standard motherboards eg micro atx etc that fit in a small > fanless case and run slower than spec eg VIA EDEN > > 2) One of the many industrial SBCs, take your choice, pay the extra $$ > and have a convenient and easy solution. > > 3) The complete linux-ram-flash on a ram simm header. Right, except that, interestingly, none of these solutions really address the problems you anticipate I'll have to deal with. At all. "Bog-standard" motherboards are a constant supply issue. It doesn't make sense to constantly design-in a system that's always on the way out. Industrial SBCs are easy, but expensive. LTSP is an extremely cost-sensitive application, why throw hardware in that isn't needed and simply costs more money? Complete Linux+RAM+Flash SIMM headers like you allude to are at the same risk of obsolete component selection as any other system. Adopting them doesn't avoid that problem at all, it just moves it to someone else. > Despite the resources of a biggish UK company the Blue Chip boards were > a lot of cr**. They failed, had bios problems, had non-standard hardware > idio-synchrasies. > See Circuit Cellar http://www.circuitcellar.com who once-upon-a-time > made their own solution as you are planning. Hell, I've *written* for Circuit Cellar and I *still* can't find useful articles on their website! But that's an entirely different rant... > IMHO do the project for fun, but don't spend munnie on it that you don't > want to lose. Nothing ventured, nothing lost (or gained). I stand to lose, but all of LTSP's potential users who are locked out because of expensive hardware stand to gain. I don't have a problem with taking that risk--- look at the reward! > Look at disklessworkstations Flash IDE. A brilliant idea, applicable all > over, nicely built too. I guess they covered costs, but are not making > millions. Anybody know better ? Er, that'd be me. :^) First off, that Disk-on-Chip chip has got to go. Waaay overpriced for what it does. Which is the general problem with a general solution. A board designed with LTSP in mind, and implemented by someone like me who is perfectly comfortable hacking code and schematics is a guaranteed net gain. I don't anticipate "bios problems and nonstandard hardware", because I won't stand for them. I have the skills to see that it turns out that way, and I'm willing to apply those skills so that LTSP (and similar projects) can reap the benefits. b.g. > >> > > I'm kicking around a notion to build a designed-for-LTSP single board >> > > computer. The device would be powered by a non-Intel chip, have >> > > onboard video, usb and ethernet, and an extremely rugged, tamper-proof >> > > case that would come in around the size of a pack of playing cards. >> > > The unit price would be about $150-$200 in quantities. Bolt it to a >> > > table, plug it in, and start LTSP'ing. >> > > >> > > I'm an independent embedded consultant with a lot of hardware and >> > > Linux experience, so the real challenge with this project is just >> > > funding the development effort. If I had some commitment, I could >> > > afford to borrow the money (or perhaps seek some NEA/DOE grants) to >> > > bootstrap this project into existence. >> > > >> > > Would anyone be interested in seeing such a project come to life? > > James > > > ------------------------------------------------------- > This sf.net email is sponsored by: OSDN - Tired of that same old > cell phone? Get a new here for FREE! > https://www.inphonic.com/r.asp?r=sourceforge1&refcode1=vs3390 > _____________________________________________________________________ > Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto: > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss > For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.openprojects.net ------------------------------------------------------- This sf.net email is sponsored by: OSDN - Tired of that same old cell phone? Get a new here for FREE! https://www.inphonic.com/r.asp?r=sourceforge1&refcode1=vs3390 _____________________________________________________________________ Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto: https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.openprojects.net
