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The fact that the public could get these at all. I have another one of these with the BIOS source code. I don't think e.g. HP would publish a schematic or BIOS
by hyperman1 3y ago
The fact that the public could get these at all. I have another one of these with the BIOS source code. I don't think e.g. HP would publish a schematic or BIOS source for one of their laptops today(I'd love it if you prove me wrong, of course) . Otoh, I have an old 1960's tube radio, and the full circuit is attached to the backplate, in the expectation that you might want to replace a resistor some day.
- actionfromafar 3y agoI was gonna say, "or tube", but then again, I think the tubes were standard models so you'd just bring your tubes in to the department store, test them in the tube tester⁰ and get your replacement. 0: http://oldradios.50webs.com/precision/ http://oldradios.50webs.com/precision/
- dekhn 3y agoBIOS is still a shitshow; an ex-coworker of mine has been working on open bios for several decades now https://www.usenix.org/conference/als-2000/linux-bios https://www.usenix.org/conference/als-2000/linux-bios
- froh 3y agohow does their effort relate to coreboot? https://www.coreboot.org/ https://www.coreboot.org/
- dekhn 3y agoI was referring to the author of coreboot
- froh 3y agoyou sure? the Linux bios paper: author = {Ronald G. Minnich and James Hendricks and Dale Webster}, title = {The Linux {BIOS}}, coreboot: Werner Zeh, David Hendricks, and Matt DeVillier. Felix Held Jay Talbott Patrick Georgi Stefan Reinauer Ron Minnich Martin Roth Tim Crawford Felix Singer Marshall Dawson Christian Walter Julius Werner Michał Żygowsk Piotr Krol Arthur Heymans Angel Pons Eric Peers
- bitwize 3y agoThey came with the computer. Tandy's machines came with similarly detailed information and schematics as a part of the purchase. Same for many of the rinky-dink 8-bit home computers like the Commodore 64. Today's machines, if their parts have tech specs at all, they're at the bottom of a locked filing cabinet in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying "Beware of the leopard".
- rbanffy 3y agoTo be fair, to fully document a modern computer would require more paper than what a managed forest that covers an average rocky planet would be able to provide in a decade.
- weinzierl 3y agoThese old radios often had little pouches inside where the documentation, usually including full schematics, was kept.