(this post is a bit longer, read on in the thread)
i'm at a crossroads concerning the LS1028A for MNT Reform and would like your input. the first batch of 50 is now basically sold out, the last 5 of it are going to Crowd Supply as part of initial stocking of a bunch of our expansions and peripherals (which is great, finally!).
the LS1028A module is quite special to me because:
- it is fully OSHW (Altium, but can be opened in KiCAD)
...
- can be run without binary blobs (if you don't use the eDP output, i.e. in a desktop or server)
- 16GB RAM
- real QoriQ PCIe controller that can drive GPUs etc
the downside is it has only 2 modest A72 cores and 28nm tech is getting old.
it was a really rocky ride (at times painful and i wanted to cancel the project several times because it felt so cursed) to get it to work and ship and now that it works, i'm not sure if the demand is there for another batch.
back in the day there was a lot of talk from the FSF scene wanting blob-free hardware, but i'm not sure if it's still there and/or real (i.e. including a will to fund more of it).
is there demand for another batch, perhaps in conjunction with the Rack form factor? or would you rather have a more powerful CPU and tolerate some binary blobs?
@mntmn I think that there is still demand for platforms w/o blobs, however that aspect is one of many that factors in with the price/performance ratio of a product. Currently these platforms are a bit of a hard sell as they generally cost far more and have less performance.
For me, things not having blobs mattered because it was analogous to being well supported in Linux for extended periods. If I can get extended product support even w/blobs then this is okay at least for me.
