> > The trouble with designing hardware in contrast to writing software is that
> > there are no compilers (i.e. chip production plants) available for free on
> > the internet.
> When the GNU project was started, the knowledge required to create
> something like Linux was rather hard core. But now a lot of people know
> their way around, and it doesn't seem so esoteric any more.
ACK
> The central people working on Linux still have a great deal of valuable
> knowledge and experience that the rest of us respect, but the basic
> information needed to join in is becoming more and more accessible.
right.
> Today, fast custom hardware is expensive to produce. One problem is the
> costs of producing multi-layer PCBs, chips in factories etc. But in my
> opinion, the most significant problem is: the knowledge required to
> build something like a high-speed computer motherboard, or a modern
> processor, is still rather hard core. The need for an expensive, hard
> core infrastructure follows from this. Try building a 400MHz digital
> circuit sometime, you will know what I mean.
I am studying "Elektrotechnik" (aiming at what would be comparable to Master
of Science) at the Technical University of Hamburg, so who knows? I'll
probably end up in some dark secret Intel laboratory in a couple years :)
> known. In short, you'll be able to throw something together in your
> living room that requires a whole cooperating industry today.
probably. I'd really welcome this, REALLY. My point was, though, that unless
some invents replicators (which would kind of upset our economy anyway :)
hardware will never be as cheap to produce as software. Because software
doesn't use itself up.
> For now, try FPGAs. They're large enough to hold small processors and
> motherboard glue logic (tie a few together) and fast enough for things
> like PCI and Gigabit Ethernet (barely). Prices vary.
<a href="put something in here">where?</a>
> I look forward to the day someone writes a hardware backend for GCC.
that would probably change a lot, yeah :-)
> But most exciting for me is the day "roll your own" hardware technology
> is readily accessible to me. With a good manual :-)
sure. Open Technology[no_tm]. Which would make these (nonserious,
nevertheless) threats kind of pointless:
*CUT* from the "MS conducts nuclear test" april fool
(...) MS chief tech officer Myrhvold warned users not to replace
Microsoft products with rival operating systems. "I can neither
confirm nor deny the existence of a radioisotope thermoelectric
generator (RTG) inside of every Pentium II microprocessor," said
Myrhvold, "but anyone who installs an OS written by a bunch of
punks on the Internet is going to get what they deserve."
The existence of an RTG in each Pentium II microprocessor would
explain why the microprocessors, made by Intel Corporation, run so
hot. The Intel chips "put out more heat than they draw in electrical
power" said Prof. E. Thymes of MIT. "This should finally dispel those
stories about cold fusion."
*CUT*
well, at least he was right in that bit about "get what they deserve" ;-)
--
_ciao, Jens_______________________________http://www.pinguin.conetix.de_
cat /dev/boiler/water | tea | sieve > /cup
mount -t hdev /dev/human/mouth01 /mouth ; cat /cup >/mouth/gulp
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