Another future for libre computing?
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The crowdfunding campaign for "the world's first ATX-compatible, workstation-class mainboard for the IBM POWER8 processor." has just started: https://www.crowdsupply.com/raptor-computing-systems/talos-secure-workstation
The company describes their new project as follows:
" Talos™ is the world's first ATX-compatible, workstation-class mainboard for the new, free-software friendly IBM POWER8 processor and architecture. Designed for security-conscious users requiring high performance, the flexible and extensible Talos™ mainboard includes two Coherent Accelerator Processor Interface (CAPI) capable slots; utilizes libre-toolchain FPGAs for system control and routing; provides a plethora of PCI Express slots; and includes a GPIO header for custom peripherals. Talos™ schematics[1] and libre (fully open and auditable) firmware also are included.
Why POWER?
POWER is the only open, owner-controllable architecture that is competitive in performance. No other architecture comes close to POWER's unique advantages.
See a direct comparison of POWER8 with libre and non-libre systems.
Why Talos™?
Security-minded individuals and corporations can own a Talos™ Secure Workstation mainboard, complete with an entry-level 8-core 130W POWER8 CPU, heatsink / fan assembly, and ATX I/O shield, for around $5,300 USD. Because Talos™ is specifically designed for workstation use, you don't need to have a small server under your desk to realize the advantages of POWER8!"
I'm happy about this campaign because having more hardware options to choose from can never be a bad thing. In particular, that does not mean that other efforts (such as the EOMA68 devices) are any less worthy...
I am a translator!
excellent, but we place these in the lounge, the articles need the lounge :)
Yea, this project is pretty fantastic!
Though, to be honest, the $3mil goal seems, er, a tad too steep for our community.
I'm a little worried we won't make it /(;~:)\
Yea, this project is pretty fantastic!
Though, to be honest, the $3mil goal seems, er, a tad too steep for our community.
I'm a little worried we won't make it /(;~:)\
Dang, another double-post.
It's certainly interesting and I wish them well, but way above my budget; I did the math, and if I worked 40 hours a week at my current job (I currently don't), one of these computers would be roughly half a year's salary.
I suspect our community will not have much of an impact on its success, either. Especially considering this is a terrible computer for us as it currently stands, considering the AMD or modern Nvidia GPU it comes with. (Not that there's much in the way of options, but still, $7500 for a computer that can't do 3-D acceleration is quite a stretch.) It's mostly going to have to be open source boosters and other security-oriented people.
Yes, when I saw this I thought pretty much what onpon4 said. I wish them luck, but the price is definitely steep. The low price was a big selling-point of the EOMA for me, even at the cost of high performance.
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