Re: build a hack box of choice?

> Scott Serr wrote:
> > I might be narrow minded, but... hardware specifically for WiFi Linux
> > projects.

Watch out!! Long posting!! Sorry about that but I have stuff to say! :-)

Let's spec this thing.

Really you'd want a PC card slot to allow any WiFi radio to be used
but beyond that isn't the rest of the hardware pretty generic?  Don't
get carried away adding sound and video and USB. (I'd love them but
let's keep it as cheap as possible.) How does this sound?

	Geode processor (133 or 233?) (x86 per Keith's suggestion)
	16 MB ram (or 32 if cost effective - is it enough?)
	8 MB flash (how much?)
	10/100 ether w/POE
	9 pin serial port
	A few LED's under software control.
	WiFi card
	Power supply

	plus COMPLETE DOCUMENTATION on CDROM,
	including a Linux-based development tool chain
	and source code and flashable image(s).

	What do you use for development with Geode? JTAG?

	(and of course additional boards available separately)

How much is this worth to you? My experience says that
the tool cdrom is the most valuable, missing part. If it's done so it's useful!

With a single PC slot and sources you could pull the WiFi card and
replace it with other cards to put the box to use in other formats so
it's still got flexibility. I think it might even be worth the extra
to put TWO PC slots in, so that a bad decision on memory space does
not make it obsolete for example. You could add flash or a modem or
USB or another ether port to your own box without the base price going
up for the rest of us.

Would it be worth it to put the flash / ram in sockets to allow
changing it out later? At Coactive we had two boards: development with
lots of LED's and sockets for memory devices and production with
everything soldered in and just the LED's you see on the front panel.

Last night I spent some time looking at Openbrick and about 3 dozen
other SBC's and can't find anything I really want to shell out my own
money for. The disclaimer at the top of the Soekris price list says it
all.  It warns that docs are bad and that you have to know what you
are doing. Sort of the oppposite of documentation. And marketing. :-)

Openbrick is more like a full PC at a full PC price in a small box.
Like the Soekris, the other SBC's generally seem to be sold by
hardware guys and look like they'd be painful for a mortal like me to
learn to use.  I fear I'd spend the bucks and end up using it as a
nice wall hanging. <BTW Soekris really is a pretty good deal on
price.)

Back in the real world we'd hire an engineer and get him to learn the
board inside out and the vendor would offer training to us because
we'd be planning on buying 30,000 units. But here I am all alone and
those are not options... I suspect that I am all alone with several
thousand other people.

--
Brian