OK hows about this for a thought. There are lighter and faster free kernels out there that are GPLed than the Linux kernel. How enthusiastic would people be if we specified a graphics card, a sound card, a chip, a motherboard and a network card from existing PC specs, chose a freeware kernel and posted a lightweight OS on top of it - no need for a UI straight away it could have the SAM look and feel using TTY type interactions and said "This is the SAM specifications".
Reasons this would help: (1) It would be cheap as anything (2) We could upgrade the specs when we wanted (3) Because we would pick one chip, one set of hardware cards it would be possible to drive the metal rather than having to use indirection ( AKA DirectX ). (4) It could also run Windoze/Linux in some kind of dual boot mode (5) It could have a SAM Emulator directly overlaid onto it (6) It could have a standard case and decals to give it a brand image (7) We get free hardware upgrades on the back of the PC market ;-) (8) It would be our OS (9) It would probably only really need about 2Mb RAM to run most stuff ;-) (10) It could be built and sold from specifications and shown off at trade fairs e.g. AMD K6-II range 400-600Mhz ( really cheap to buy in bulk now or induvidually and still the brunt of low end chip sales ) Motherboard [x] 32-128Mb RAM ( again - cheap ) ATI Rage Pro [ choose one - perhaps board mounted ] 100Mbs PCI Ethernet [ choose one! ] Roadrunner Kernel New SAM OS with Sam 1 Emulator built on Roadrunner kernel DVD-ROM drive Some PC case e.g: http://www.pccase.com/products/AT588B.html ( or less nasty looking than this ) Some PC keyboard and mouse TV display card/LCD panel/Monitor ( I dont like monitors that much these days they belch out too much radiation ) Total cost after import duties from the states: 300-400UKP to build one from scratch. If we community source our software ( rather than open source ) we can port existing applications to it, when we build another we can share the source amongst those that have joined the community. Word of caution though, people get used to getting things for free - look at the zealots on Slashdot ( http://www.slashdot.org ) who hate paying for anything. You are probably going to tell me this has been done before and why not Linux et al. I use Linux day in and day out and whilst I dont object to the experience I dont "enjoy" it. I am also aware of the Amiga direction and I get excited about it although it looks interesting. Obviously we wont get the SAM trademark ( unless its going for a sum of money that I can afford and people are really keen on doing this ). It would just be nice to have a UK made home computer again in the hands of people who can really be creative with it. It would be nice to sit in front of a special machine again with the SAM logo emblazoned across it and have people going "whats that!!" when it is outperforming the badly implemented 3d routines on todays games. It would be nice to have a home computer again actually!!! What about the FRED trademark ;-) It would be nice to house the keyboard and case together - or at least linked so that you can unhook the main case and place it elsewhere ( this would imply some sort of infra-red connection or spooled cable ) but anything custom is going to be expensive or have to be fabricated. Doesnt have to be PC based, could be ARM or other Risc based. Being PC based means we get a familiar instruction set and it can be real cheap. Could boot directly into an EPROM to allow a user to tailor it to the individual - e.g. child access mode, games mode, productivity mode, professional mode and being EPROM it would be flash upgradeable. If you peeps think this is really stupid just say. Dave "probably you think Im a nutter" :-).
