4 ms·

Apple are delivering performance that beats so many other setups running off a battery. And x86 emulation comes close to the real hardware. And at this price p

Apple are delivering performance that beats so many other setups running off a battery. And x86 emulation comes close to the real hardware. And at this price point who cares about the RAM upgrades anymore? The lowest end system matches systems far more expensive than an extra $200. All of this is great for most end users.

fartcannon 6y ago
In the short term, perhaps it's fun. What happens when open computing goes away? When creativity is dictated by one company. Certainly competition with that company will be banned, as it is on iOS. The term 'most users' will slowly shrink until it encompasses no one but consumers. This is the wrong direction. We should be trending to even more open computers. Not appliances that can also run python scripts.
- ulisesrmzroche 6y ago
  Is linux dying off or something? How is open computing going to die away?
- 2muchcoffeeman 6y ago
  I use Linux myself at work and currently as my daily driver. But I can’t in good conscience recommend it to regular people. If you want more competition, open source has to be competitive.
  - tracker1 6y ago
    I've taken half a step back on advocacy this past year... I've been deploying on Linux servers and using containers a lot more, that's got uptake from work. But Linux desktops have been a no-go and beyond this, WSL2 has been pretty decent. I am concerned that Apple will close all paths for open software to keep adding life to unsupported older hardware though. I feel the same about Phones and mobile devices as well. Reduce and Reuse come before Recycle for a reason.
- EricE 6y ago
  Open computing is dying? Drama much? I'll be concerned when the Apple goons barge in my house and bust up all non-Apple technology. Until then I think open computing is perfectly safe. Open computing certainly isn't going away on macOS - despite all your hand wringing about "authoritarian Apple".
- wallacoloo 6y ago
  The part that perplexes me about this -- about the open source fundamentalists with whom I share quite a few views -- is that they ceded control of the base layer half a century ago and never talk about it. No matter how open our software, it still runs on hardware which we can't build. No matter how open the HDL of that hardware, it has to be manufactured on a process we can't replicate. I really want to see more people focus their energy into building an enthusiast-friendly fab. The idea alone gets so readily dismissed because people focus on how extreme top-end fabs are without considering that there might be alternatives if your priorities/requirements were different. But I think it'll still happen, some day. Free the base layer! Make open source eternal!
  - pjmlp 6y ago
    I stoped paying attention when those fundamentalist started buying Apple hardware to develop GNU/Linux software.
  - rcxdude 6y ago
    While it would be cool, such a project is ridiculously far from practical and certainly would not result in anything usable for most purposes. Silicon fabrication is intrinsicly a slow, high-investment process which only pays off if you can get enough volume. There's little room for an open-source approach to this kind of industry (where's our open source HVAC?).
    - wallacoloo 6y ago
      You make a lot of assumptions, maybe without even noticing you've made them. Silicon + CMOS happens to be one really high-performing combination. But it's not the only possible platform for computation. The past has seen us through vacuum tubes, magnetic core memory (and its cousin, magnetic logic), TTL (or resistor/transistor logic if you want to reduce the process steps), and through to modern MOSFET-based technologies. Along with each transition are numerous other computational platforms which didn't catch on -- usually because they didn't optimize for the things which the market demanded (e.g. perf, power, yield, and cost at volume). Among all the possible platforms for logic, it's hard for me to imagine that there's not at least one which has properties usable for at least some set of applications by enthusiasts.
- pjmlp 6y ago
  It goes back to the way we were doing in the older days focusing on platforms, each with its own set of features that made them unique, while triggering discussions on the school's playground which one of them was the best, no big deal.

fartcannon 6y ago

In the short term, perhaps it's fun. What happens when open computing goes away? When creativity is dictated by one company. Certainly competition with that company will be banned, as it is on iOS. The term 'most users' will slowly shrink until it encompasses no one but consumers. This is the wrong direction. We should be trending to even more open computers. Not appliances that can also run python scripts.

ulisesrmzroche 6y ago
Is linux dying off or something? How is open computing going to die away?
2muchcoffeeman 6y ago
I use Linux myself at work and currently as my daily driver. But I can’t in good conscience recommend it to regular people. If you want more competition, open source has to be competitive.
- tracker1 6y ago
  I've taken half a step back on advocacy this past year... I've been deploying on Linux servers and using containers a lot more, that's got uptake from work. But Linux desktops have been a no-go and beyond this, WSL2 has been pretty decent. I am concerned that Apple will close all paths for open software to keep adding life to unsupported older hardware though. I feel the same about Phones and mobile devices as well. Reduce and Reuse come before Recycle for a reason.
EricE 6y ago
Open computing is dying? Drama much? I'll be concerned when the Apple goons barge in my house and bust up all non-Apple technology. Until then I think open computing is perfectly safe. Open computing certainly isn't going away on macOS - despite all your hand wringing about "authoritarian Apple".
wallacoloo 6y ago
The part that perplexes me about this -- about the open source fundamentalists with whom I share quite a few views -- is that they ceded control of the base layer half a century ago and never talk about it. No matter how open our software, it still runs on hardware which we can't build. No matter how open the HDL of that hardware, it has to be manufactured on a process we can't replicate. I really want to see more people focus their energy into building an enthusiast-friendly fab. The idea alone gets so readily dismissed because people focus on how extreme top-end fabs are without considering that there might be alternatives if your priorities/requirements were different. But I think it'll still happen, some day. Free the base layer! Make open source eternal!
- pjmlp 6y ago
  I stoped paying attention when those fundamentalist started buying Apple hardware to develop GNU/Linux software.
- rcxdude 6y ago
  While it would be cool, such a project is ridiculously far from practical and certainly would not result in anything usable for most purposes. Silicon fabrication is intrinsicly a slow, high-investment process which only pays off if you can get enough volume. There's little room for an open-source approach to this kind of industry (where's our open source HVAC?).
  - wallacoloo 6y ago
    You make a lot of assumptions, maybe without even noticing you've made them. Silicon + CMOS happens to be one really high-performing combination. But it's not the only possible platform for computation. The past has seen us through vacuum tubes, magnetic core memory (and its cousin, magnetic logic), TTL (or resistor/transistor logic if you want to reduce the process steps), and through to modern MOSFET-based technologies. Along with each transition are numerous other computational platforms which didn't catch on -- usually because they didn't optimize for the things which the market demanded (e.g. perf, power, yield, and cost at volume). Among all the possible platforms for logic, it's hard for me to imagine that there's not at least one which has properties usable for at least some set of applications by enthusiasts.
pjmlp 6y ago
It goes back to the way we were doing in the older days focusing on platforms, each with its own set of features that made them unique, while triggering discussions on the school's playground which one of them was the best, no big deal.