My mail server returned the Cc of this on December 26 but there is no evidence of it reaching the list. A second copy follows. ================== Aubrey, I admire your enthusiasm and effort; so don't take this as criticism. A collaborative or community project needs more "argument" before participants are convinced of a course of action. Inevitably some egos will be threatened or offended; some participants you might hope for, will take their toys and go home. From: <Aubrey.McIntosh@Alumni.UTexas.Net> Date: Mon, 24 Dec 2012 16:29:25 -0600

... the PIC folks are saying that the libraries are closed and have some critical design bugs and they want an architecture where you can control stuff down to the bits.

Such as the XO? It's a complete machine including advanced Open Firmware to help with startup and debugging, good wireless and a display which can be read in broad daylight as well as in usual cave conditions.

At one level, my project is about a teaching tool.

Precisely what OLPC is about! Of course that doesn't preclude other purposes.

So this brings to mind the question, should I go with a MIPS processor? They are available for about $5 each, ...

Whereas in G1G1 the XO is $400 and on eBay about $120. Apparently the policy in Uruguay is for every primary school child to have one. If Uruguayans can afford them, maybe people in industrialized countries can too. The difference between $5 and $120 is easily justified when you allow for the XO being a well designed complete machine with completely open specs; and allow that the cost of software surpasses the cost of hardware by orders orders of magnitude.

I'd love to see a community project come together.

Many of us agree; but a big obstacle is that people are still pulling in too many directions. To solve this a consensus of focus is needed. First make a list of candidate hardwares. Then evaluate the pros and cons of each. Then decide an acceptable compromise.Then try to move it forward. Best Regards, ... Peter E. -- 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 12 Tel +13606390202 Bcc: peasthope at shaw.ca http://carnot.yi.org/ "http://members.shaw.ca/peasthope/index.html#Itinerary "