$9 chip computer reveals its open source details _ make
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With Linux and Creative Commons,The $9 CHIP Computer Reveals ItsOpen Source DetailsBy David Scheltema July 22nd, 2015 5:03 pm Category Electronics, Open Source Hardware
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We’ve been wondering exactly how open source CHIP, the
$9 computer, is. Turns out, it’s really freaking open!
THESE ARE THE FILES YOU ARE LOOKING FOR…
Open hardware files and the general Next Thing Co.docs
page.
The initial launch of
CHIP from the Oakland,
California-based Next
Thing Co. made big
waves a few months
back with its
capabilities (1GHz R8
ARM processor, 512MB
of RAM, 4GB of NAND storage, and WiFi and Bluetooth
built-in) and crazy-low price ( just $9, but international
shipping pushes that higher for some). Ultimately, the team
raised over $2 million dollars through crowdfunding and got
the attention of Makers and mainstream media alike. Yet,
much of the excitement surrounding CHIP has stayed
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focused on the low cost and technical specifications.
Today, Dave Rauchwerk, CEO of Next Thing Co. shared
more details on their board, and we’re impressed with what
we heard: CHIP is licensed as Creative Commons
ShareAlike, the R8 data sheet is available, Next Thing Co. is
joining the Linux Foundation, and CHIP is getting even more
interesting than just a low cost board.
While inexpensive hardware is nice, and high clock rates
move bits and bytes faster, these mean nothing without a
robust software stack for Makers to develop in. To those
ends, Rauchwerk and his team have partnering with Free
Electrons, to add their embedded Linux engineering talents
to the mix, and that partnership is beginning to show with
today’s announcement of CHIP’s Linux support.
Next Thing Co. Releases "World's First" $9
Computer
OTTO, The Raspberry Pi Hackable GIF Camera
Raspberry Pi Inside
This is noteworthy. As of today, CHIP runs the 4.2 Linux
kernel. That’s the absolute most current version of the Linux
kernel and comes with all the latest and greatest features.
Typically, embedded systems running Linux do not use the
latest kernel. Instead, the kernel is downloaded and patched
with software which enables the board to boot it.
Rauchwerk says this will not be the case with CHIP. He and
his team are pushing towards mainlining all of CHIP’s code.
That’s a fancy way of saying the they are working on getting
their code for CHIP into the main branch of the Linux kernel.
Their new relationship with the Linux Foundation will
certainly help them accomplish this.
The biggest benefit of CHIP becoming mainline is to the
users and developers of the board. All the latest features of
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Linux will be available to developers. You will not have to
patch the kernel with custom board files — a laborious
process — and it will be significantly easier for distributions
of Linux to port their code to CHIP.
In addition to announcing that CHIP is currently running
Linux with latest 4.2 kernel, Rauchwerk unveiled their
software development kit (SDK).
Thanks to the way that Rauchwerk structured the shipping
dates for CHIP, the first 1,000 CHIP boards are heading to
kernel developers. While the kernel developer tier is simply
a name, Rauchwerk is confident that many of these backers
are in fact hardcore Linux kernel hackers. Releasing the
boards to developers allows for any potential Operating
System level issues that might arise on a new board to get
sorted out before the majority of backers even get CHIP.
In fact, installing the SDK is quite straight forward. You grab
a copy of VirtualBox 4.3( which is free), download and install
an extension package to enhance VirtualBox, and then clone
Next Thing Co.’s git repository.
git clone https://github.com/NextThingCo
/CHIP-SDK
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DAVID SCHELTEMA
I love to tinker and write about electronics.
My days are spent building projects and
working as a Technical Editor for MAKE.
Once you begin the installation of vagrant, the software will
pull all the necessary files from the Internet and configure
the development environment. Compared to many
development environment setups, it’s sort of magical.
“It’s not fair to the kernel hackers to make them do all this
dev/ops” says Rauchwerk, “Here is an out of the box turnkey
build system and hardware.”
The SDK is not the only new software from Next Thing Co.
They released a version of U-Boot (which has been heavily
modified to support the NAND onboard CHIP), a Linux build,
buildroot, and scripts to flash CHIP with the custom Linux
compiled by the SDK.
Today, Rauchwerk took steps to deliver on the open source
promise he made to all his crowdfunding backers and we
applaud the move. The most exciting thing about CHIP is not
that it is the first $9 computer, but that it is the first truly
Open Source $9 computer.
Related Topics #CHIP #COMPUTER #OPEN SOURCE #NEXT THING CO
#FREE ELECTRONS #KERNEL
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Comments �1
• •
johnBas5 •
If ARM would provide a standard platform for OS.
ARM boards wouldn't have to add their own code to the Linux
kernel constantly.
Server Base System Architecture (SBSA)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
ARM Ecosystem Collaborates to Deliver Initial Server
Platform Standard
29 January 2014
http://www.arm.com/about/newsr...
ARM and Partners Deliver First ARM Server Platform
Standard
http://www.anandtech.com/show/...
ARM finally defines a platform as it sets its sights on the
server room
"Server Base System Architecture" defines the building blocks
of an ARM server.
http://arstechnica.com/informa...
http://www.datacenterdynamics....
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/...
• •
crhylove •
I love this!
• •
Max •
Cute, but no cigar.
1) This is certainly still not open hardware. There's no sign
whatsoever of the schematics for the board, other than some
vague promise to release it in a few months (!). NOT cool.
2) Chip will be a "$9 computer" when one can buy ten of them
for $90 with ~$20 shipping or less. As it is, shipping is more
than the alleged cost of the Chip, and you're not allowed to
order more than one. Actually, you're not allowed to order even
one right now, or more exactly you can't even PRE-order one -
you're only allowed to "reserve" one.
Until all that changes, this is called "proprietary vapourvare
with actual costs hidden into shipping".
Igor S
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