libera/#neo900/ Friday, 2018-11-30

brolin_empeytune: I think “layouter” in this context means someone who does PCB layout.03:22
Joerg-Neo900https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Necunos-Mobile-KDE-Plasma12:09
* enyc meows12:09
Joerg-Neo900Neo900 was too early & too small12:10
enycJoerg-Neo900: good these alternatives are coming-t-obe but I still want to see neo900 !12:10
Joerg-Neo900well, I invested like 5 years of my life into it, incl proper income to take care for my retirement which I hoped to compensate for when Neo900 succeeds. Believe me there's hardly anybody wanting it more to see Neo900 succeed than me13:11
Joerg-Neo900alas I have to say a concept rots over the years. There are a few flaws in Neo900 concept now: weak obsolete CPU, unavailable mech parts aka case, form factor not competitive anymore13:13
Joerg-Neo900I started STEP2 at beginning of year, based on MX.6 and with competitive form factor, with support by VC, and the idea was to offer all Neo900 customers either an upgrade (while still eventually creating the original Neo900 for the "we did it" and handing it out on top as a bonus) . alas VC didn't perform as promised13:18
Joerg-Neo900either an upgrade... or refund13:19
Joerg-Neo900right now I have to say my / Neo900 UG's options are limited and we are in a standby mode, waiting for VC (or a miracle of 500 more preorders *at once*, plus a 500 N900 mech sets) to come in13:21
enycokies13:22
enycand how to publicise thises points, do the right things, ... ??13:22
Joerg-Neo900no idea, I'm sort of paralyzed, by health issues caused by the last 5 years13:23
Joerg-Neo900from burnout to bad teeth13:24
Joerg-Neo900plus a few other more complex things along immune system and cardio13:25
enyco I know all about ocmplexity! been there done that13:26
enycfriends of bmine with complex issues too13:27
Joerg-Neo900one thing I learned: you can't live a 5 years from latte macchiato and sitting in front of PC 24h/d13:27
Joerg-Neo900Now I understood this, I'm trying to start to act accordingly13:28
Joerg-Neo900my VC partners were very excited about STEP2 and it's a pity our plans didn't pan out, but they told me the project is not cancelled but on hold, and I hope they find a way to realize what they planned so STEP2 could resume. Or maybe I can find new VC partners13:34
Joerg-Neo900or you find some13:35
Joerg-Neo900this is a community project still13:35
Joerg-Neo900except on the mere financial level where there exists no concept for community liability yet13:36
brolin_empeyJoerg-Neo900: VC as in venture capital?20:13
Joerg-Neo900yep20:13
brolin_empeyWhat do you think of the Gemini from Planet Computer(s)?20:14
Joerg-Neo900never heard of20:33
sicelo\o20:44
* Kero likes his Gemini PDA. keyboard like the psion 5, which is nice. Openness of mediatek chipset? non-existent.21:13
Keromade by Planet Computers, who is running the crowd funding campaign for the successor of the Gemini, the Cosmo (which I won't buy, Gemini works fine)21:14
Kerosmall company21:15
raveloKero: does navigation work good enough? Gemini has no compass...22:05
raveloI like to wait for Chen's device at the moment22:05
ravelohttps://mobile.twitter.com/chenliangchen22:06
raveloWill be released in Q1 2019 maybe, no crowd funding22:06
Joerg-Neo900what makes Neo900 unique?22:13
Joerg-Neo9001a) full documentation aka "Open Hardware" not in a "DIY" sense but in a "you own your device" sense.  1b) No tivoization aka "Open Hardware", in a "you may do with it whatever you want" sense  2) Resulting from 1a and 1b, you are free to run whatever OS you like on the hardware, just similar to the generic PC motherboard you buy from Asus or Intel or whomever you like. And the manufacturer (Neo900 UG) doesn't even make _any_ "proprietary"22:21
Joerg-Neo900software, neither OS nor any sort of appshop nor any blobs for device drivers (the latter maybe with one or two exceptions for the GPU and the WLAN/BT, though we try hard to use only hardware that has FOSS drivers available. or device doesn't need the blob driver to work)22:21
Joerg-Neo900Q: would Neo900 UG consider raspberry pi "Open Hardware"?   A: no, not really since - even if schematics and full Technical Reference Manual for the SoC was available - there's no booting without a number of closed blobs, see https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/10489/how-does-raspberry-pi-boot22:28
raveloOf course Chen's planned device and Gemini PDA are usual Android phones with closed blobs22:29
Joerg-Neo900now, you may evaluate all the "alternatives" of allegedly "Open" phones out there and make up your mind if they are really Open22:30
Joerg-Neo900"Usual Android phones" are a zillion out there, since ages22:31
raveloSure22:31
raveloThis is for different use case22:31
raveloSome people like to type fast also on mobile22:33
raveloAnd don't care so much about the "Open" and "Security" aspect...22:34
raveloThe perfect device is not there yet22:35
raveloBut maybe approaching...22:35
raveloSo, I would still be very interested to reach the proto v1 status22:36
raveloOf neo90022:36
raveloI think Step 2 is way too high goal22:37
raveloI just learned about the "minimal viable product"22:37
Joerg-Neo900you'd think there are a number of really huge companies providing products for this target group, and there's absolutely no point in trying to compete with them since they have less limitations on component/chip selection (from the 1a, 1b, above) so can build from cheaper components in a cheaper rpocess thanks to economy of scale22:37
raveloMy statement was just meant as a comment on the side talk about the Gemini pda22:39
Joerg-Neo900STEP2 is actually way simpler to build since, like everybody else finally found out they have to do, we chosen M.X6 SoC for it22:39
raveloOh?22:39
raveloI did Not know that22:40
raveloBut what about the case?22:40
Joerg-Neo900make our own22:40
Joerg-Neo900way simpler22:40
raveloOuch22:40
Joerg-Neo900once we make our own case, we can use whatever display and digitizer we want22:42
raveloDo you think you could avoid the troubles that happened with building the pyra case?22:42
Joerg-Neo900yes22:42
raveloIt looks for me like a very huge task22:42
Joerg-Neo900that's why it only flies with VC22:43
raveloHm22:43
Joerg-Neo900do you ask Purism if they think they can get a case made?22:43
Joerg-Neo900do you doubt they will succeed to do so?22:44
Joerg-Neo900why not?22:44
raveloFor the pyra it took i think 4 years to make an not fully perfect case22:45
Joerg-Neo900believe me, there's hardly anything as tough and daunting as successfully finalizing a severely underfunded project22:46
raveloSure22:46
raveloI know very well22:47
Joerg-Neo900see why GolDeliCo HTA04 last run failed: no funds to run a evaluation production of a maybe 50 devices. Ridiculous for a serious business22:47
raveloYep22:47
Joerg-Neo900GTA04*22:47
raveloYep sure, such risks are a common business topic22:49
raveloDid you contact necunos about cooperation?22:50
raveloThey could need some advice22:52
raveloThey do not have a Sim slot22:52
raveloE.g.22:52
raveloactually , No Modem i think...22:53
raveloOK, sry, gotta get some sleep22:57
raveloGood night22:57
Keroravelo: GPS quality is distinctly worse then from my small Garmin hiking GPS. g'night.22:57
raveloOK. Thanks. I need good GPS...22:58

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