Re: build a hack box of choice?

Hi

I don't remember when I had a nice talk about future,
like the ones you guys are having here these days...

about the subject, ppl from east asia usually asks the eyes
on your face for linux developing kits/boards/CDs/manuals
(when they didn't ask N.D.A. from you!). i.e. ubicom
charge US$3K for the unit that bases Linksys WET11/Karlnet
KN-50!! it is too much just for a manual with GPL'd
software!!

I don't think any of us would have success dealing with
Acctontech/Conexant and other OEM-ers from east asia...
not competing with cisco(linksys), dlink, smc and others
that buys tens of thousands units at a time!!

snapgear.com sells good SOHO routers with linux and
capable of running their snapgear.org distro. the problem
is that they are twice the price others are :-(

personally, I don't mind buying from these big guys
(cisco/dlink/smc etc). what I need is better docs on
the hardware I'm _paying for_. I don't need surprises
every time I go shop and buy a new SOHO router!!

crappy firmware is also a constant (I use cheap routers a
lot. when we found a reproducible bug they usually do
nothing about it -- i.e. MTU problems on all Linksys
BEFSR's for almost two years without any solution, yet!)

sending the units to be exchanged with newer versions
isn't an option, for us overseas (yes, Linksys always
offer that when I found a bug!!)

running linux would easy for these guys, I think, but as
you said, it's more earn more/quickier and "go hell" to
customers that are capable of more than just point & click
their router

it is nice that current hardware could run unstripped linux,
and the efforts to port to them are good, too. the pitty is
that the guys who knows how to do this quickier don't
have time/conditions ($$$) to do so for us, normal ppl
just tweak their distro ;-)

well, time to turn back to reality!! LoL

Cheers
!3runo

Scott Serr wrote:
> On the EOL problem [down below from !3runo] ... if you are paying the 
> producer for mass quantity, they will be willing to not EOL so fast.  
> It's the SOHO vendors that want the churn.  Newer/cheaper quicker.  I 
> don't think it's their suppliers especially.  The quantity producer 
> likes to have long runs I think, more profit.  Where I work we do custom 
> ASICs for things like medical and automotive, one of our selling points 
> to these "low tech" customers is we can keep the ability to supply them 
> with more for 10 years.  We probably don't care about more than 3 years 
> anyway though.
> 
> Along with Moore's law...  The good part is these SOHO type boxes are 
> now at a point where they can run Linux and tools well without stripping 
> things down too bad.  So we don't have to chase Moore's law really.
> 
> Right now, there is probably the right reference design out there for 
> us.  The down-side...  As soon as NetGear/Linksys/D-link see you making 
> money, they will whip up a similar offering.  But I guess it will take 
> this to get them thinking.  Just like no enterprise database vendor 
> would port to Linux in about 1997, one finally did... and the rest 
> scrambled.
> 
> -Scott