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Why hasn't anyone built an entirely free computer yet? (lemmy.world)
submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by Zeon@lemmy.world to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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Hello everyone,

I've been wondering, why has no one built an entirely free (as in freedom) computer yet? For humans to be unable to share each other's knowledge to build one of the most important technologies ever created for society, how is it that we have yet to have full knowledge about how our systems operate?

I get that companies are basically the ones to blame, and I know there are alternatives like the Talos II by Raptor Computing, but still, how do we not have publicly available full schematics for just one modern computer? I'm talking down to firmware-level stuff like proprietary ECs, microcode, hard drive/SSD firmware, network controllers, etc. How do we not have a fully open system yet?

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[-] krellor@kbin.social 48 points 9 months ago

Years and years ago I built my own 16 bit computer from the nand gates up. ALU, etc, all built from scratch. Wrote the assembler, then wrote a compiler for a lightweight object oriented language. Built the OS, network stack, etc. At the end of the day I had a really neat, absolutely useless computer. The knowledge was what I wanted, not a usable computer.

Building something actually useful, and modern takes so much more work. I could never even make a dent in the hour, max, I have a day outside of work and family. Plus, I worked in technology for 25 years, ended as director of engineering before fully leaving tech behind and taking a leadership position.

I've done so much tech work. I'm ready to spend my down time in nature, and watching birds, and skiing.

[-] TimeSquirrel@kbin.social 12 points 9 months ago

This isn't you, is it?

http://www.homebrewcpu.com/

[-] krellor@kbin.social 12 points 9 months ago

That's awesome, but no, they made something far more useful, lol. I'm glad to see projects like that though; it's a lost art!

[-] BaumGeist@lemmy.ml 6 points 9 months ago

Very cool. I was expecting like a Ben Eater style breadboard, but bigger. This is so much more.

[-] boonhet@lemm.ee 11 points 9 months ago

At the end of the day

Way to make me feel incompetent, building all this in a day ~/s~

[-] krellor@kbin.social 8 points 9 months ago

With coffee ~~all things~~ heart palpations are possible. It took me about a year and a half between work and studies. Definitely not a day. 😀

this post was submitted on 06 Feb 2024
101 points (89.8% liked)

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