When the Raspberry Pi ships later this year, it will be delivered to your door as a finished unit. The more adventurous tinkerers among you, as well as adept system builders, have asked the Raspberry Pi Foundation why they can’t get them in kit form instead. The reason why that wasn’t considered is demonstrated in an image released by Broadcom . . . they are tiny. And unlike a typical system build using an x86 chip that just slots into place, installing these chips requires a very steady hand and just the right amount of solder.
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Member since:2006-06-12
Member since:2005-07-12
Member since:2007-09-22
If you want to really know more about the "GertBoard" as it is called. Read these, you will know all there is to know about it:
http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/411
http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/500
http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/553
Member since:2007-03-26
Sad but good for a laugh the open sores whackjobs are already pouring out of the woodwork bitching about binary distribution and closed source stuff on them... as if that will matter to 99.99% of real people who aren't DUMB ENOUGH to drink the FSF kool-aid.
Rah, rah, rage against the man over inconsequential nonsense... again someone needs to explain "freedom" to these people.
Given that the Pi was originally intended as a cheap programmers board, you must at least see their point?
For me, as long as Linux installs (which obviously it will), I'll be happy. The fact that Arch has already been ported to it is just the icing on the cake
Member since:2010-03-08
Member since:2010-03-08
-specs +reference documentation. Stuff that open-source drivers can be built with.
(We may complain with our closed GPU and networking hardware on x86, but the ARM guys have it far worse. On current ARM devices, it seems that the most trivial things (such as text I/O) require binary blobs.)
Member since:2006-09-01
It's aimed at being a cheap computer for kids to play with, and hopefully get them interested in programming. There is just a pent up demand for an easy to use ARM board in the developer community.
The community should take care of porting other operating systems to the Pi, but the focus of the foundation is on a easy to use package. Arch Linux plus the Pi board provides an ready environment to begin experimenting.
Yeah, it really is Broadcom's fault the drivers are blobs. The head guy behind the Pi works for Broadcom and was one of designers of the chip, so FOSS drivers could be written from what is in his head if Broadcom would sign off on it.
Member since:2005-06-29
I think it will eventually happen, especially if the R-Pi folks put out a second revision with better specs next year (though what you get for the money with this one is quite powerful, just short on RAM for my taste).
Then again, it took Broadcom forever and a day to start releasing source for their old, outdated wifi chipsets, so who knows how long this might actually take?
Member since:2006-09-01
I think a fully open Pi will happen too. It's just going to take some time, and the foundation being successful. It would be great PR for Broadcom to support these guys.
The FOSS Pi could be a tier 2 device for more advanced programming.
For a personal machine, I'd like a little more processor and some more RAM as well, but I like how limited it is for a beginner machine. It's easier to reach the limits of the hardware.
Member since:2008-08-27